Information for Faculty and Staff

Instructional Offenses

Instructional offenses are a very serious matter and all cases are referred to the Dean for assessment or confirmation of penalty. Read the relevant section in the University Calendar.

One of the principal things to avoid is the situation in which you feel the cutting of corners is the only way out. Students in course X are encouraged to build on material developed in course which they have previously taken. This is a reasonable practice, especially in view of the transferability of concepts and the linkages between different areas of the discipline. However, to use that material without identifying its source or to resubmit a thinly veiled modification of previous work is not acceptable.

You must note:

• The same, or substantially the same, work may not be submitted as assignments in two or more courses. The penalty is that both (or all) such submissions will be graded zero.
• Work written by someone other than oneself and submitted as one’s own work is a form of fraud and will be viewed as plagiarism.
• To use the ideas of others without acknowledgment is plagiarism – and the penalty is heavy. Plagiarism, most simply defined, is submitting the work of others as one’s own written work. Plagiarism is, therefore, a form of fraud, whether the work represented as one’s own has been published, as in a textbook, or unpublished as in a university essay. Plagiarism is a serious instructional offense, and may result in failing a course, a reprimand, and mandatory withdrawal from the university. Plagiarism occurs when a student:
  
  (a) directly copies written work without acknowledgment;
  
  (b) closely paraphrases the equivalent of a short paragraph or more with our acknowledgment;
  
  (c) Borrows, without acknowledgment, any ideas in a clear and recognizable form in such a way as to present them as the student’s own thought, where such ideas, if they were the student’s own, would contribute to the merit of his or her own work.

Furthermore, in the age of the Internet, it is tempting to “grab” lengthy passages or even entire essays from a web site and use them as your own. But this clearly constitutes plagiarism. And make no mistake: instructors will realize that the material is not yours and will take appropriate action.

Students are encouraged to speak to the instructor if they are not absolutely sure of how to make correct use of the material(s) of other writer(s) used in an assignment. You might also want to visit the Writing Tutorial Service’s page on plagiarism.

Regulations concerning student access to graded assignments and final exams:

The policy of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences:

• all final examinations must be retained by the instructor/department for at least one term;
• upon request, students should normally be allowed to peruse a corrected examination without opportunity to remove or to adjust the examination;
• mid-term examinations may be retained or returned at the discretion of the instructor;
• term papers or assignments are normally returned to students. You may either pick them up from the instructor, or submit a pre-addressed, postage paid envelope with the paper.