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Academic Policies & Procedures
When an instructor judges that a student’s behavior is interfering with the learning of others or
compromising the instructor’s ability to conduct class in an orderly and respectful manner, the
instructor should warn the student either verbally or by email within 24 hours, making specific reference
to the behavior and the expected correction. Students whose behavior is egregious may be dismissed
from a particular session and asked to leave the classroom immediately; if the student refuses to leave,
the instructor should contact Campus Safety. Repeated incidents from the same student may result in
dismissal from the course (see below).
More serious offenses
Disruptive behaviors which will trigger more severe sanctions include (but again, are not limited to)
use of profanity or other objectionable language; coming to class or lab impaired by the use of alcohol
or other substances; theft or sabotage of instructional equipment; harassment; verbal, physical, or
emotional abuse; and acts or threats of physical violence directed toward oneself or another. These
behaviors will result in the student’s immediate dismissal from the classroom for the duration of the
class session, and may result in dismissal from the course. The department chair and the office of the
vice president for academic affairs are to be immediately apprised of these cases; where appropriate
(particularly in cases of violent behavior or destruction of property), the instructor should call Campus
Safety at once, and contact the dean of students.
Conditions attributable to physical or psychological disabilities are not considered as a legitimate
excuse for disruptive behavior.
Sanctions and appeals: An instructor who judges a student’s behavior to be intentionally, persistently,
or seriously disruptive of the classroom learning environment, or to threaten the well-being of the
instructor or another student, should report the incident(s) to the office of the vice president for
academic affairs, together with a description of the incident(s) and any intermediate warnings given
to the student. The vice president will then either refer the matter to the dean of students, or decide
upon and levy a sanction. This could be a grade penalty for the course reflecting missed work, dismissal
from the course with a grade of F, up to dismissal from the university. Students may appeal decisions or
sanctions to the student judicial council under its regular procedures.
Academic Dishonesty
Students at Saint Mary’s University are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic
honesty. Academic dishonesty, in any form, will not be tolerated and will subject the student to
disciplinary sanctions up to and including dismissal. Academic dishonesty comes in a variety of forms.
The most common forms are plagiarism, fabrication, abuse of internet sources, cheating, and academic
misconduct.
• Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s words, ideas, or data as one’s own. When a student
submits work for credit that includes the words, ideas, or data of others, the source of that information
must be acknowledged through complete, accurate, and specific references, as well as quotation
marks if verbatim statements are included. By placing his/her name on work submitted for credit,
the student certifies the originality of all work not otherwise identified by appropriate acknowledgments.
Examples of plagiarism include: copying someone else’s previously prepared material such
as lab reports, class papers, etc.; copying a paragraph or even sentences from other works, and selfplagiarism
(turning in for new credit your own work from a previous class without authorization).
• Fabrication is the intentional use of invented information or the falsification of research or other
findings with the intent to deceive. Examples include: the citation of information not taken from the
source indicated; submission in a lab report of falsified, invented or fictitious data; submitting as the
student’s own work prepared by another, including purchasing or downloading from the Internet,
and falsely representing hours or experience in a field experience or internship.
• Abuse of Internet sources is the acquisition or presentation of information obtained by purchase
or downloaded for free from the Internet without explicit written acknowledgment of the source.
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