This information is taken from the HCC Student Conduct Code. It is recommended that all faculty and lecturers become familiar with this document.

Because the University is an academic community with high professional standards, its teaching, research, and service purposes are seriously disrupted and subverted by academic dishonesty. Such dishonesty includes cheating and plagiarism as defined below. Ignorance of these definitions will not provide an excuse for acts of academic dishonesty.

1. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, giving or receiving unauthorized assistance during an examination; obtaining or distributing unauthorized information about an examination before it is given; using inappropriate or unallowable sources of information during an examination; falsifying data in experiments and other research; altering the record of any grade; altering answers after an examination has been submitted; falsifying any official University record; or misrepresenting the facts in order to obtain exemptions from course requirements.

2. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, submitting, in fulfillment of an academic requirement, any document that has been copied in whole or in part from another individual's work without attributing that borrowed portion to the individual; neglecting to identify as a quotation another's idea and particular phrasing that was not assimilated into the student's language and style or paraphrasing a passage so that the reader is misled as to the source; submitting the same written or oral material in more than one course without obtaining authorization from the instructors involved; or dry labbing, which includes obtaining and using experimental data and laboratory write-ups from other sections of the course or from previous terms or fabricating data to fit the desired or expected results.

3. In cases of suspected or admitted academic dishonesty, the instructor shall attempt to discuss the matter with the student. If appropriate, the instructor may bring it to the attention of the departmental chairperson and the student's advisor. Additionally, an instructor may refer such case of academic dishonesty to the Dean of Student Services for action under this code. In cases where the student admits that an act of academic dishonesty was committed, the instructor may, within the context of the course, require the student to re-do the assignment, give the student a failing or reduced grade for the assignment, or give a failing or reduced grade for the course. If the student contests the suspected behavior, the instructor may not take action against the student but must refer the case to the Dean of Student Services for hearing and disposition under this code. The Dean of Student Services may pursue such matters as disciplinary actions under this code if, after a preliminary investigation, it is his/her determination that probable cause exists to establish that acts of academic dishonesty took place.