Academic Integrity Policy

Academic Integrity is a core value of Vancouver Community College (VCC; the College). Recognizing that Academic Integrity is a culturally informed construct and taking a developmental approach, VCC is committed to the following values as parts of Academic Integrity: intellectual and academic honesty, truthfulness, fairness, respect, responsibility, dignity, integrity, and compassion. This policy integrates Indigenous and diverse ways of beings into the resolution of student academic misconduct and to building capacity for intercultural understanding.

Vancouver Community College (VCC; the College) has the right and responsibility to set academic standards and to enforce these standards. 

This policy sets out the College's standards for Academic Integrity, the consequences for breaching these standards, and the process by which an alleged offence is reviewed and actionable.

This policy applies to the individual or collective academic conduct of all students of the College, and includes academic conduct while students are engaged in Academic Work on or off campus. 

1. VCC expects students to demonstrate honesty and integrity in their academic work.


2. VCC recognizes Academic Integrity based on intellectual and academic honesty; truthfulness; fairness; respect; responsibility; dignity; integrity; and compassion.


3. The College will make every attempt to inform students of their obligations relating to the standards of Academic Integrity and the potential consequences of violating these standards.


4. Students are responsible for educating themselves about VCC policies and procedures, including standards of Academic Integrity. Ignorance of VCC policies and procedures does not excuse students from responsibility for their actions.


5. VCC reserves the right to review all academic work submitted by a student for authenticity and originality; such review may include but is not limited to the use of software tools and third-party services including internet-based services.


6. The College will actively investigate allegations of academic misconduct, make informed decisions regarding the seriousness or confirmation of alleged misconduct, and respond in accordance with this policy's related procedures. . This includes the application of Procedural Fairness in any investigation of Academic Misconduct.


7. Alleged matters of academic misconduct will be considered based on the frequency of events, the magnitude or impact of the event, and the impact on the academic integrity of the course, the program and/or the College.


8. Students and employees are strongly encouraged to report known academic misconduct to the relevant Instructor, Department Leader, or relevant Dean/Director.

Academic Work

Any product, process, or project that is graded or required for the completion of a course or program.

Academic Misconduct

Behaviour that undermines the College's ability to fairly evaluate students' academic achievements, or behaviour that a student knew, or reasonably ought to have known, could gain them or others unearned academic advantage or benefit.

Academic Misconduct Review Panel

The body that investigates matters of student Academic Misconduct.

Cheating

A form of Academic Misconduct representing an act of deception or misrepresentation that includes, but is not limited to:
a. exchanging information with another person during an examination or using unauthorized material during an examination or facilitating another student to copy one's examination;
b. representing or impersonating another or permitting oneself to be represented or impersonated by another in taking an examination or submitting academic work;
c. submitting work from another course or the same course without instructor approval;
d. purchasing or otherwise obtaining work prepared by another person and submitting all or a portion of the work as one's own;
e. unauthorized use of any device in a test or exam;
f. violating the integrity of an assignment, test, or other evaluation; and
g. knowingly or purposefully violating the expectations or rules of an assignment, test, or other evaluation.

Contract Cheating

A form of Academic Misconduct that involves purchasing or otherwise obtaining, with or without payment, work prepared by another person and submitting all or a portion of the work as one's own.

Damaging, Tampering or Interfering with the Academic Environment

A form of Academic Misconduct that includes but is not limited to the following:
a. obstructing, altering, and/or disturbing the academic activities of others;
b. preventing another student from completing a task for academic assessment;
c. tampering with, stealing, or destroying another student's academic work;
d. altering a grade on academic work for the purposes of having the recorded grade changed;
e. removing, altering, misusing, or destroying College property to obstruct the work of others;
f. persisting with bias to influence others for academic gain, such as a change in grade.

Fabrication

A form of Academic Misconduct that is the creation and use of information known to be untrue, including false research data or reference to a source that does not exist.

Facilitation

a form of Academic Misconduct that represents assisting or attempting to assist another person to violate the standards of academic integrity. Helping or attempting to help another commit an act of academic misconduct. This can include impersonation, facilitating cheating, or submitting work as another student.

Inappropriate Use of Digital Technologies

A form of Academic Misconduct where the use of any digital technology to commit any form of student academic misconduct.

Misrepresentation or Falsification

A form of Academic Misconduct relating to personal identity or academic performance, this includes but is not limited to the following:

a. submitting stolen or purchased assignments, research, or creative work;
b. representing or impersonating another or permitting oneself to be represented or impersonated by another in person, in writing, or electronically, in taking an examination or submitting academic work for the purpose of academic evaluation;
c. falsely identifying oneself or misrepresenting one's personal performance outside of a particular course, in a course in which one is not officially enrolled, or in the admissions process (e.g. submission of portfolios, essays, transcripts, or documents);
d. providing altered, forged, or falsified medical or other certificates, or documents for academic consideration, or making false claims for such consideration, including in or as part of an academic appeal, or the academic misconduct investigation process.

Plagiarism

A form of Academic Misconduct that represents the unacknowledged use of someone else's words, ideas, sentence structure or data regardless of source (printed texts, internet, etc.). This can include self-plagiarism when previously graded work is submitted without acknowledgment. It also includes taking credit or presenting the work of others as one's own without identifying and giving proper credit to the original source. This includes but is not limited to the following:

a. submitting academic work that has been, entirely or in part, copied from or written by another person, including information found on the Internet, without full and proper acknowledgement;
b. using the exact wording of a source without putting the borrowed words in quotation marks, or following the syntax (structure) or wording of the source too closely;
c. paraphrasing someone else's ideas or work by changing only a few words, without full and proper acknowledgement of the source;
d. submitting academic work which has been written, rewritten or substantially edited by another person.

Procedural Fairness

The principles ensuring that a dispute is fairly decided. Both the Student and Respondent(s) have equal right to:

a. Have a policy applied equally;
b. Have a College decision or action communicated in writing with sufficient detail;
c. Dispute an initial College decision or action;
d. Appeal a subsequent College decision or action;
e. Be provided with sufficiently detailed and timely reasoned notice of activity;
f. Have a timely and reasonable opportunity to be heard and present a case before impartial/neutral decision makers;
g. Be provided with sufficiently detailed, reasoned and timely tribunal decisions; and
h. Seek representation or advocacy.

Self-Plagiarism

A form of Academic Misconduct relating to submitting an assignment for which previous academic credit was given, or submitting the same assignment, in whole or in part, for credit in two or more courses, or in the same course more than once, without the prior written permission of the Instructor. Self-plagiarism can also include presenting one's own previously published work as though it were new.

Student Conduct File

A record held by the Student Conduct and Judicial Affairs Office, separate from the student's academic record, that contains a complete record of any alleged academic misconduct by the student.

Student

A person who is registered in full-time or part-time credit or non-credit courses offered by VCC. Persons are still considered students if they withdraw after allegedly violating the Academic Integrity policy or have been subject to involuntary withdrawal by the college.

• Admissions (301)
• Appeal of Final Grade (322)
• Appeal to Education Council on Educational Matters (321)
• Appropriate and Responsible Use of Educational and Information Technology (505)
• Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (420)
• Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (501)
• Grading, Progression and Withdrawal (411)
• Lending and Borrowing College Equipment (416)
• Prevention of Harassment, Discrimination, and Bullying (201)
• Records Management (520)
• Standards of Employee Conduct & Conflict of Interest (202)
• Student Appeal of Suspension to Board of Governors (320)
• Student Non-Academic Conduct (324)
• Accommodation for Students with Disabilities (327)

• College and Institute Act, RSBC 1996, c 52