1. Honor in Honors

1. In The Honors College, the term “honor” refers both to academic accomplishment and character. Students in Honors should therefore adhere to and be held to the highest standards of personal academic accountability. Academic dishonesty in any form, including plagiarism, is antithetical to the very definition of being an Honors student at FIU. Consequently, an Honors College student found responsible for academic misconduct will be dismissed from the College.
   
   
2. Academic misconduct is a violation of the University Code of Standards, the Code of Academic Integrity, the ethical relationship between the student and the academic community, and especially between the student and the instructor. It is the responsibility and prerogative of the instructor to make an initial determination about the extent and severity of an instance of academic misconduct; the instructor may opt to make a referral for further adjudication in appropriate cases.

2. Plagiarism

1. This Policy views plagiarism as one form of academic misconduct, and adopts the definition of the university’s Code of Academic Integrity, according to which plagiarism is
   
   the deliberate use and appropriation of another’s works without any indication of the source and the representation of such work as the student’s own. Any student who fails to give credit for the ideas, expressions or materials taken from another source, including internet sources, is guilty of plagiarism.
   
   
2. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to:

1. Term papers acquired online or from other sources;
2. Copying of original material without attribution;
3. Use of other students’ work;
4. Copying and pasting, verbatim, information from Internet sources, without quotation marks and correct citation.

3. Availability of Information

1. All Honors students are expected to know what constitutes academic misconduct and to be willing to abide by all university policies on academic conduct and integrity. In order to facilitate this, The Honors College will prominently post and distribute information and links on these policies, and will strongly encourage students to review the Code of Academic Integrity, which is part of the FIU Student Handbook.
   
   
2. Faculty of The Honors College will:
   
   
   1. Describe in or link to their syllabi information about the academic conduct policies of the University, the College, and the instructor, and
   2. Provide clear statements defining plagiarism and cheating in their syllabi.

4. Procedures and Penalties

1. Procedures
   Charges of Academic Misconduct may be brought against an Honors student by an Honors faculty member. If the faculty member suspects plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, within one week of the discovery of the suspected act the faculty member will hold an informal meeting with the student in order to inform him/her of the allegation(s), provide any evidence available, and allow the student to respond.

   The faculty member will decide whether to pursue informal resolution, file formal resolution charges, or take no further action, and will follow the procedures outlined in the Academic Misconduct Procedures, available at http://www.fiu.edu/~oabp/misconductweb/1acmisconductproc.htm.

   The student will have the right to appeal the outcome of the meeting with the instructor within one week of the faculty’s decision, when the decision is to pursue informal resolution or file formal resolution charges. The appeal will take the form of a letter to the Dean outlining the circumstances of the case and the reason for the objection to the professor’s recommendation. The Dean or his designee will examine the case and make a final determination about the pursuit of Informal Resolution or the filing of formal resolution charges.

2. Penalties
   An Honors College student found responsible for plagiarism or other academic misconduct by informal resolution or formal resolution will receive an F in the relevant Honors course, and will be dismissed from Honors by the Dean, effective from the end of the semester in which the infraction occurs. Dismissal will be in writing and will entail the loss of all privileges and benefits of being in The Honors College, and the student will not be readmitted to The Honors College. The decision of the Dean will be final. This decision relates solely to the student’s status in The Honors College and does not affect the student’s right to appeal the original faculty decision.

   The penalty of dismissal from The Honors College may apply to academic misconduct in any course within Florida International University and not only to courses offered by The Honors College. In the case of courses outside The Honors College, the Dean of The Honors College will rely on the Office of the Provost for notification about the infraction(s). More stringent penalties, such as dismissal from the university, may be pursued through the university’s established academic misconduct process.

This Policy follows the University Academic Misconduct Procedures of the Code of Academic Integrity, with modification to provide for appeal within The Honors College.

This Policy becomes effective from Spring 2005.