Cheating Policy

The general academic policies on cheating and plagiarism established by the University apply within the Computer Science Department. The decision as to whether a student has cheated depends on the intent of an assignment, the ground rules specified by the instructor, and the behavior of the student. The following two guidelines help an instructor decide if cheating has occurred:

• Program plagiarism will be suspected if an assignment that calls for independent development and implementation of a program results in two or more solutions so similar that one solution can be converted to the other(s) by a series of simple commands;
• Cheating will be suspected if a student who completed an assignment independently cannot explain both the intricacies of the solution and the techniques used to generate that solution.

It is unreasonable to expect a complete definition that would cover all cases because each situation is important enough to merit careful, individual scrutiny; however, it is helpful to have guidelines and precedents. Here are some examples that are clearly cheating and clearly not cheating. Examples of Cheating:

• Turning in someone else's work, in whole or in part, as your own (with or without his/her knowledge). Turning in a completely duplicated assignment is a flagrant offense.
• Allowing another student to turn in your work as his/her own.
• Several people writing one assignment and turning in multiple copies, all represented (implicitly or explicitly) as individual work.
• Stealing an examination or solution from the instructor.

Examples of Not Cheating:

• Turning in work done alone or with the help of the course's staff.
• Submitting one assignment for a group of students if group work is explicitly permitted (or required).
• Getting or giving help about using the computers.
• Getting or giving help about solving minor syntax errors.
• High level discussions of course material for better understanding.
• Discussing assignments to better understand them.

The Computer Science Department will not condone cheating. When cheating is suspected, instructors will take reasonable action to establish whether it actually occurred. If it has, the instructor will apply appropriate disciplinary policy. The ordinary University penalty for cheating is failure of the course. (See the CMU Student Handbook.) Penalties less severe than the recommended penalty will be imposed when appropriate. A list of possible disciplinary actions is given below. Actions within the course include:

• Negative credit for the assignment;
• No credit for the assignment and loss of a letter grade for the course;
• Forced drop in the course;
• Failure of the course.

Actions within the Computer Science Department include:

• Suspension from Departmental courses for a designated period;
• Expulsion from Departmental courses. Actions by the University include:
• Warning;
• Probation;
• Suspension from the University for a designated period;
• Expulsion from the University.

The following policies apply to all cases of cheating and plagiarism:

• First Offense Ñ The penalty will always be more severe than the penalty for failing to turn in the assignment (or take the exam) in question.
• Flagrant or Repeated Offense Ñ The instructor shall either refer the incident directly to the University for action or assign a penalty no less severe than failure of the course.

STUDENT RIGHTS

In the event that a faculty member accuses a student of cheating and imposes a penalty, the student who believes that the accusation is unjust has the right to request that the charge of cheating be heard before the University Committee on Discipline.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES AND STANDARDS OF BEHAVIOR

Certain constraints on behavior must be followed in any community of individuals who share space and limited resources (with our apologies to the vast majority of responsible students). Please be aware of the following standards of behavior. Violations will not be tolerated. Appropriate disciplinary actions include loss of computing privileges, course failure, ineligibility for subsequent courses offered by the Computer Science Department, dismissal from the University and/or criminal prosecution. At minimum, any student who violates these rules can expect to find his/her access to facilities revoked. Prohibited behavior includes but is not limited to

• Theft, tampering, or other abuse of the system/network software;
• Theft or tampering of other users' files or disks;
• Disabling or damaging computers, disk drives, or other facilities/equipment;
• Any action that compromises system/network performance, subjects other students to harassment, or otherwise adversely affects other students' work;
• Smoking, drinking, and eating in Wean 5419.