Purpose:

Students are expected to aspire to the same high level of ethics and professionalism that is demanded of workers in the field. This requires students to conduct themselves as professionals and to fully engage the learning process by fully preparing for all classes and participating in classroom discussions, activities, and exams. Aspiring to the highest standards is critical to the success of our academic programs and the success of our graduates in the nursing profession.

All students are expected to abide by the rules set forth in Policy 02:26:00 Student Standards of Conduct and to conduct themselves in accordance with the Platt College Honor Code.

Nursing Honor Code

Ever mindful of my obligations to my patients and colleagues, I will conduct myself honorably in spirit and in action, and in a manner that upholds the highest values of the nursing profession, Platt College and those of the nursing program. I will not gain unfair advantage over my peers, faculty, or any other member of the Platt Community, nor will I act in a manner that jeopardizes patient care.

Revision Responsibility: Dean of Nursing

Responsible Executive Office: Dean of Nursing

Created: August 11, 2009, Revised: January 17, 2011 to reflect revised organizational chart, December 1, 2012 to eliminate The School of Design Honor Code, April 18, 2014 to include "abuse, misuse or fail to use Proctor U, the on-line examination proctoring service, as required per syllabus, January 5, 2015 to reflect the removal of ProctorU. Revised July 1, 2018 to reflect student code of conduct policy, May 20, 2019 to include additional definition under plagiarism and cheating, procedure has been added and clarification regarding informal complaint/grievance process.  

Policy:

Honor Code

Platt College's Honor Code is based on the shared core values stated in the School’s Mission and Values Statement. Each member of the College community, whether student, faculty or staff, holds himself or herself and others to the highest standards based on the values of diversity, excellence in the learning process, personal development, community, ethics and integrity.

 Statement of Purpose

Each member of the Platt College community not only has an individual obligation to sustain and preserve the Honor Code, but a shared responsibility to help others do likewise. This shared responsibility requires the College community to exercise initiative in sustaining and upholding the Honor Code.

The Honor Code is based upon the assumption that students enrolled at Platt College do not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those who do; that they aspire to enter an honored profession; and that their character and conduct while attending Platt College will reflect favorably upon their future profession, the College, and themselves.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Participation in programs at Platt College carries with it the obligation of students and faculty to aspire to the highest standards of academic integrity and ethical behavior in all classrooms, labs, clinical learning experiences, and other College activities.

Violations of this Policy:

Violations of this policy by students may occur whenever a student has, or has attempted to, gain unfair academic advantage.

The following are examples of academic dishonesty:

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is presenting others' work without adequate acknowledgement of its source, as though it were one’s own. Plagiarism is literary theft, intentional or unintentional. It is the use of a unique idea or phrase that does not originate with the user, without proper acknowledgment of the source. Plagiarism can occur in all student work including discussion posts, assignments, quizzes, exams, short answer tests, written clinical preparation and/or assignments, and case studies as examples. It is not solely limited to the writing of papers.

Some examples of plagiarism:

• Copying material and not using quotation marks or citations
• Paraphrasing information without citing the source
• Borrowing ideas from a source without credit the original author
• Rearranging words from a source and/or using a synonym to substitute for a word

The term “source” includes published works such as books, magazines, newspapers, textbooks, websites, movies, photos etc. Unpublished sources are materials from a search engine, blogs, class handouts, lectures, notes, speeches, social media etc. Using words, ideas, computer codes, or any work without giving proper credit is plagiarism. A citation is required any time a student uses information from a source.

In order to assist students in the avoidance of plagiarism, Platt College uses a process whereby students are expected to submit their papers to the Turn-It-In plagiarism software check.  

Cheating

Cheating is deceiving a faculty member or other individual who assess student performance into believing that one’s mastery of a subject is greater than it is by a range of dishonest methods. Students witnessing cheating are expected to contact the appropriate faculty member.

Some examples of cheating:

• Bringing or accessing unauthorized materials during an examination (notes, books, or other information accessed via cell phones, computers, other technology or any other means)
• Providing assistance to acts of academic misconduct/dishonesty (e.g., sharing copies of exams via cell phones, computers, other technology or any other means, allowing others to copy answers on an exam)
• Submitting the same or substantially similar work in multiple courses, either in the same semester or in a different semester
• Submitting work (papers, homework assignments, quizzes, exams, clinical assignments etc.) that was created by another, substantially or in whole, as one's own
• Submitting answers on an exam that were obtained from the work of another person or providing answers or assistance to others during an exam
• Submitting evaluations of group members’ work for an assigned group project which misrepresent the work that was performed by another group member
• Altering or forging academic documents, including but not limited to admissions materials, academic records, clinical preparation assignments, clinical compliance documentation, add/drop forms, course registration forms, etc.
• Taking screenshots of exams, quizzes and/or assignments.

There cannot be a list of all prohibited conduct, and in aspiring to the highest levels of honesty, it is important that students always act to avoid even the appearance of impropriety and not simply look to a specific list of rules that cannot be violated. For example, students are expected to clearly determine and understand the policies of faculty regarding collaboration on assignments, or the use of notes or materials during exams, and exam reviews, before making assumptions about what behaviors are expected.

Affirmative Duties

All students, faculty, and staff have the duty to report promptly to the Dean of Nursing (nursing and science/cognates) or the Faculty Chair (foundational liberal arts) all circumstances believed to constitute a clear violation of academic integrity.  

Procedure

The Associate Dean will informally investigate policy violation allegations. During the investigation phase all parties under investigation may be placed on temporary suspension. The student is required to meet with the Associate Dean and provide a written statement of the situation under investigation. The student will be notified of the investigation findings and discipline action if applicable though a Student Advising Record within 3 business days from the reported policy violation allegation.

Discipline

Violation of the above principles will be subject to one or more of the following actions:

• A grade of zero (0)
• Course failure 
• Suspension
• Termination

This policy allows for the consideration of infractions on a case-by-case basis. Final actions will depend on the seriousness of the infraction, the circumstances surrounding the case and prior policy violations. In accordance with Policy 02:16:00 Informal Complaint and Grievance, students may not submit an informal or formal grievance to reverse a course failure and/or termination due to violating student standards of conduct in accordance with Policy 02:26:00 and/or academic integrity in accordance with Policy 02:17:00.