Student Academic Ethics and Attendance Policies

Students of the university must conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of academic honesty and integrity. Academic dishonesty by a student will not be tolerated and will be treated in accordance with this policy.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Violations of procedures that protect the integrity of a quiz, examination, or similar evaluation, such as:
   1. possessing, referring to, or employing open textbooks or notes or other devices not authorized by the faculty member;
   2. copying from another person’s paper;
   3. communicating with, providing assistance to, or receiving assistance from another person in a manner not authorized by the faculty member;
   4. possessing, buying, selling, obtaining, giving, or using a copy of any unauthorized materials intended to be used as or in the preparation of a quiz or examination or similar evaluation;
   5. taking a quiz or examination or similar evaluation in the place of another person;
   6. utilizing another person to take a quiz, examination, or similar evaluation in place of oneself;
   7. changing material on a graded examination and then requesting a regrading of the examination;
   8. cooperating with someone else on a quiz, examination, or similar evaluation without the prior consent of the faculty member.
2. Plagiarism or violations of procedures prescribed to protect the integrity of an assignment, such as:
   1. submitting an assignment purporting to be the student’s original work that has been wholly or partly created by another person;
   2. presenting as one’s own the work, ideas, representations, or words of another person without customary and proper acknowledgment of sources;
   3. submitting as newly executed work, without the faculty member’s prior knowledge and consent, one’s own work which has previously been presented for another class at Ball State University or elsewhere;
   4. knowingly permitting one’s work to be submitted by another person as if it were the submitter’s original work.
3. Cooperation with another person in academic dishonesty, either directly or indirectly, as an intermediary agent or broker.
4. Knowingly destroying or altering another student’s work whether in written form, computer files, art work, or other format.
5. Aiding, abetting, or attempting to commit an act or action that would constitute academic dishonesty.

Implementation Procedures

Cases of academic dishonesty will be handled according to procedures outlined in the Student Academic Ethics Policy, found in the Faculty and Professional Personnel Handbook. For more information, contact the associate provost.

Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities

The Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities outlines behaviors expected of students at Ball State University. The standards of conduct apply to students while on the campus, when attending university-sponsored events, or when otherwise relevant to the security or integrity of the university community. View it online at www.bsu.edu/sa/srcs/studentcode.

Student Attendance

At Ball State University student attendance at class meetings is expected. Faculty shall establish attendance policies for their courses. Such attendance policies must be communicated to students by faculty through course syllabi or outlines.

Absence caused by field trips in one of the student’s courses or by official university responsibilities shall be announced in advance to instructors of the other course(s) in which the student is enrolled. A notice will originate in the office of the department chairperson and be brought to the instructor(s) by the student. This notice should be shown to the instructor(s) at least three (3) days before the field trip. All trips should be scheduled after the first week or before the last two weeks of a semester (last two weeks—including the examination period). Exceptions to these periods will be granted only after consultation with and approval by the provost and vice president for academic affairs and the vice president for student affairs and enrollment management.

Detailed information regarding requirements for veterans’ attendance may be obtained from the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. This information is kept current by directives received from the administrator of the Veterans Administration, VACO, Washington, D.C.