Discipline and Appeal for Academic Violations Procedure

I. Overview

The Chief Academic Officer is responsible for implementing student discipline procedures for academic-related violations. The College is committed to providing an excellent educational experience for all students. Academic integrity is an essential component to this level of education. The academic penalty for academic-related violations should be clearly stated by the instructor in each course syllabus and review at the beginning of the first-class meeting.

These procedures only apply to academic-related violations, outlined herein and defined in Standards of Student Conduct Policy. For non-academic violations, see Discipline and Appeal for Non-Academic Violations.

II. Sanctions For Violations

Sanctions for academic-related violations are outlined in all instructors’ syllabi. Be aware that some divisions, such as Health Sciences, have a standard approach to sanctions across all divisional courses.

Potential sanctions include the following: 

• Warning and resubmission requirement 
• 0 (letter grade of “F”) for the assignment 
• 0 (letter grade of “F”) for the course and removal from the course
• 0 (letter grade of “F”) for the course, removal from the course, and removal from the program 

Penalties may vary based on the severity of the dishonesty, repeated incidents of dishonesty, and such other aggravating or mitigating factors that may be present in an individual case. 

III. Instructor’s Investigation and Determination

A. Instructor’s Investigation

An instructor suspecting an incident of an academic-related violation shall follow these steps to address the concern: 

1. The instructor suspecting the alleged violation shall first present concerns to the student and provide an opportunity for the student to explain or refute the concerns. 
2. The student will be allowed to comment on the evidence or to present evidence to clarify the issue in question. 
3. Based on the evidence presented and the student’s comments, the instructor shall determine whether or not an academic violation has occurred. This determination will result in one of the following findings: 
   1. An academic-related violation did not take place and the issue is resolved.
   2. An act of academic dishonesty did occur in the instructor’s opinion.

B. Instructor’s Determination

The instructor will communicate his/her findings via email to the student’s official College email address within five (5) business days of the initial meeting with the student. If an email address is not available, the instructor shall send his/her written findings to the student’s mailing address on record with the College. The findings must contain, with specificity, the evidence supporting the instructor’s determination. The instructor shall also inform the student of the imposed academic sanctions. The sanction will remain in place unless modified or overturned on appeal.

IV. Plagiarism

Any case of student writing which takes the ideas, facts, phrases, or sentences of another author without acknowledging the original source through appropriate citation methods.

Examples of Plagiarism (this list is not exhaustive): 

• Including a full References, Works Cited, etc. page with no in-text citations. 
• Putting a single citation at the end of a full paragraph when other sentences in the paragraph are clearly from the cited author. 
• Using verbatim quote but failing to use quotations marks. 
• Including a proper in-text citation but failing to list the source on the citations page. 

Surry Community College considers two types of plagiarism

Documentation Errors/Unintentional Plagiarism: Phrases, sentences, concepts, or facts presented without proper citation but to a limited degree. These errors are usually not intentional but are often careless mistakes and are less serious to the degree that they appear in Flagrant Plagiarism. 

Examples of Documentation Errors/Unintentional Plagiarism (this list is not exhaustive):

• Including a full References, Works Cited, etc. page with no in-text citations. 
• Putting a single citation at the end of a full paragraph when other sentences in the paragraph are clearly from the cited author. 
• Using verbatim quotes but failing to use quotations marks. 
• Including a proper in-text citation but failing to list the source on the citations page. 

Flagrant: Complete ideas, sentences, paragraphs, or whole papers submitted without giving credit to the original source/sources with the intent to conceal the origin of the writing. Students commit this type of plagiarism to avoid the work of writing. 

Examples of Flagrant Plagiarism (this list is not exhaustive):

• Resubmitting another student’s paper. 
• Copying large sections from another author with no attempt at citation and no References, Works Cited, etc. 
• Resubmitting the student’s own paper previously submitted in another class without asking the faculty member’s approval.

Plagiarism Sanctions

Plagiarism is a serious offense for academic writers, including student writers.

Flagrant Plagiarism:

1. If student writing contains flagrant plagiarism, the student receives a zero or failing grade for the assignment and an academic early alert will be submitted. The instructor will discuss with the student why the assignment contained plagiarism and direct the student to campus resources (in the course or in the library) about avoiding plagiarism.
2. If a student commits flagrant plagiarism a second time, the student will be withdrawn from the course with a WF, and another early alert will be submitted. 
   
   Instructors have discretion in identifying whether a failing grade is “D,” “69”, etc. Students should see individual syllabi for specifics.

Documentation Error: 

1. If student writing is determined to contain documentation errors, the student will be allowed to revise the writing for a lower grade. The grade and time given to revise the writing is at the discretion of the instructor.
2. If a student commits serious documentation errors a second time the student may receive a zero for the assignment or be allowed to revise the assignment a second time at the instructor’s discretion. 

Identifying Plagiarism
Instructors may use several tools to identify plagiarism, including digital plagiarism detection programs (SafeAssign, Turnitin, etc.), internet searches for exact word matches, and assistance from the SCC Library Specialists. An instructor may also identify plagiarism on their own by observing when the student’s abilities and writing styles do not match their submitted work. 

Type of Assignment 
Plagiarism can occur in all types of assignments, including low-stakes discussion forum posts and high stakes final papers. Instructors may adjust the policy to fit the type of assignment. 

V. Appeal Procedures

A. Students should follow the Academic Appeals Policy.

In order to be fair and guarantee students due process, Surry Community College recognizes the need for an Academic Appeal Policy. The adoption of an Academic Appeal Policy does not relieve students of making every effort to resolve a complaint before an appeal to the next authority. Students should recognize that faculty members have the right and responsibility to determine the assessments and grading procedures for their classes using their professional judgment. Students have grounds for an appeal if they believe a grade has been awarded capriciously, arbitrarily, or prejudicially. This policy does not apply to allegations of harassment or discrimination. Such allegations are governed by the Harassment and Discrimination Policy. Disciplinary-related appeals are handled through the Disciplinary Appeal Policy.

Appeal Procedure 

For any academic issue occurring in or otherwise related to the classroom, students are to implement the following procedure: 

1. Schedule within five (5) days following the occurrence an appointment with the instructor to discuss the action in question. 
2. If not resolved with the instructor, schedule within five (5) days of the appointment with the instructor an appointment with the respective division chair/director. 
3. If the matter is not resolved, submit to the appropriate dean within five (5) days of the division chair appointment a written request for an appeal conference. This request should include a brief summary of the issues in question and the reasons for the appeal. 
4. Within five (5) days of receiving the written request, the Vice President of Instruction shall conduct an appeal conference with the student and the instructor. The Vice President shall determine in his/her sole discretion whether or not any other person(s) is (are) to be present at this conference. The Vice President may make and enforce such other procedural rules regarding this conference as they deem appropriate. The Vice President shall issue a written decision within five (5) days following completion of the conference. A copy of the decision shall be delivered to the student and the instructor and the original shall be filed with the Chief Academic Officer (CAO). 
5. If a student is not satisfied with the decision from the appeal conference held with the Vice President of Instruction, the student may appeal the decision to the Appeal Council. Written notice of appeal must be submitted to the Chief Academic Officer within ten (10) days following receipt of the decision. 

Academic Appeal Council 

The Academic Appeal Council is composed of the Chief Academic Officer, three (3) independent and unbiased faculty representatives selected on an ad hoc basis by the President or an officer of the Faculty Senate, and a student representative selected by the Chief Academic Officer. 

Scheduling of the Appeal 
The Academic Appeal Council shall conduct an appeal within ten (10) days following its receipt of the student’s written request. 

Notice of the Appeal 
Written notice of the date, time, and place of the appeal shall be given to the student and the affected faculty member not less than three (3) days prior to the date of the appeal. 

Appeal Proceedings 
At the appeal, the student and respondent may present evidence and arguments. The Academic Appeal Council shall determine whether or not other persons may participate in this appeal and shall announce and enforce such time limitations or other procedural rules regarding the conduct of the appeal as it deems appropriate. The committee will hold its deliberations in closed session in accordance with Open Meetings Law unless otherwise requested in writing by the student. Neither the college nor the student will be permitted to have legal representation during the grade appeal session. The decision of the Academic Appeal Council shall be based solely upon the evidence presented at the appeal. In the event of a split decision, the Chief Academic Officer will cast the deciding vote. The Academic Appeal Council shall issue its decision within ten (10) days following completion of the appeal. Notification of the need to extend this time period shall be given by the Academic Appeal Council to all parties. 

The decision of the Academic Appeal Council is binding and may not be appealed. 

Day; Time Limitations 
For purposes of this policy, the term “day” is defined as a regularly scheduled working day and does not include weekends, holidays, or other days in which the College is not open for regular business transactions. The time limitations specified in this policy may not be extended except for extraordinary causes not within the control of the party requesting the extension. 

Prohibition Against Retaliation and Abuse of the Policy 

Retaliation against any person who in good faith exercises his/her rights under this policy is strictly prohibited. Any complaint of retaliation is to be made to the Chief Academic Officer within ten (10) days from the act upon which the complaint is based. If the complaint of retaliation is against the Chief Academic Officer, it is to be filed with the President of the College.

Adopted by Board of Trustees June 14, 1976
Amended by the Board of Trustees August 19, 1996
Revised by the Board of Trustees November 30, 2009; March 8, 2010; March 11, 2014, Amended November 13, 2023