DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY INVOLVING PROGRAMMING
This document is addressed to all students enrolled in either undergraduate or graduate classes computer science classes. Every students enrolled in a computer science course is expected to be aware of and adhere to the University's policies on academic honesty as described in ``Digest of Rules and Regulations''. That document can be found in the campus telephone directory. The guidelines given in this document are the official Departmental policy on academic dishonesty and plagiarism in programming projects and exercises. They represent an extension and clarification of the University's policy on academic honesty as it pertains to the special situations arising in computer programming projects and exercises.
One of the following policies will be adopted regarding how much cooperation and joint work is permitted in each of these classes:
Policy A is the policy that will be used unless the instructor specifies in
writing (e.g., in their syllabus) that one of the other policies will be
followed. Students are to clarify with their instructors any questions they
may have about how much cooperation and joint work is permitted on programming
assignments. Independent of the value of the particular programming assignment
in question or of a student's performance on other course requirements,
violation of this plagiarism and cheating policy is likely to result in
failure in the course. In addition, instructors are expected to report all
cases of cheating or plagiarism to the student conduct officer. Further action
may also be imposed under the code of student conduct. This action may
include probation, suspension, or disciplinary dismissal from the University.
Further details concerning the University's cheating and plagiarism rules can
be found in the ``Digest of Rules and Regulations'' in the University's
Telephone Directory. Some information also may be found in the Graduate or
Undergraduate Catalogs.
In cases involving cheating or plagiarism, a person who knowingly assists
another person in cheating or plagiarism is considered as guilty as the person
receiving help. Using solutions or code from a problem assigned in a previous
semester without the explicit permission of the instructor is also considered
to be cheating or plagiarism. It is each student's responsibility to place
protection on their files containing assignments, avoid leaving their computer
account open in the labs when they are not present, protect current and old
printouts of their code, and take other reasonable precautions to ensure these
files are not accessible to another student. A student who becomes aware of
cheating is strongly encouraged to report this matter. It is important that
the students and instructors work together to achieve an academic environment
that is fair to all students.