Academic Standards and Integrity

Academic Standards

Maintenance of Standards

Each student is expected to make satisfactory progress toward meeting degree requirements. Instructors teaching undergraduate students are asked to identify, during the fifth and eighth weeks of the semester, all who are having difficulty in their classes. This information is available to students and advisors to determine strategies for improvement.

All undergraduate students who have a cumulative GPA below 2.0 are subject to having their academic records reviewed by the Academic Standards Committee, which will determine appropriate action as indicated below. For purposes of record, students who are not under academic probation and have not been suspended or dismissed are defined as being in good academic standing.

Students who do not meet the general criteria for good standing will receive letters of warning, probation, or suspension. In viewing the records of students in academic difficulty, the Academic Standards Committee normally uses specific guidelines in decision‐making. These guidelines are available from faculty advisors, the Pathways Center or the Registrar’s Office.

Policy Guidelines for determining Academic Standing

**If an appeal is denied, student will not be able to take classes until appeal is approved.

Suspended students who wish to reenter the College must attend a hearing with the Academic Standards Committee for readmission after they have complied with the conditions of their suspension. Academic Standards Committee will determine if a student is academically eligible to return. Students must still apply and meet all requirements for readmission located in the Readmission section.

Appeals

Undergraduate students who have been placed on probation or who are suspended may appeal their status to the Academic Standards Committee. Appeals requests must be submitted to the Committee, in writing, by the deadline stated. Appeals will not normally be heard after the start of the semester.

The Committee, or its designee(s), will hear each appeal, and the student must present his or her views. The student may be accompanied, if he or she chooses, by an advocate from within the College community. The committee may confirm or change the student’s academic status with such conditions as it deems appropriate. The student and parent(s), if appropriate, will be provided with written statements of the actions taken by the committee in regard to the student’s appeal. Adverse decisions by the committee may be appealed, on procedural grounds only, to the Chief Academic Officer or their designee, who will review the matter and make a final determination.

Notification

Students placed on probation or who are suspended shall be notified in writing. In compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, parents may also be notified.

Academic Standards for Extracurricular Activities

Academic standards for participation in extracurricular activities are determined by the individual student group or by the intercollegiate organization with which the group is affiliated.

Policy on Disruptive Behavior in an Academic Setting

Disruptive Behavior in an Academic Setting

New England College is committed to establishing an educational community that is respectful of all members. This includes balancing free speech, including the expression of controversial opinions, with appropriate behaviors in all academic settings. Students and faculty share responsibility in maintaining an appropriate learning environment.

Disruptive behaviors hinder the educational process. Although these types of actions are addressed in the New England College Student Handbook, the purpose of this policy is to clarify what constitutes disruptive behavior in an academic setting, what actions a faculty member and/or the Office of Academic Affairs may take in response to disruptive conduct, and the interim procedures that will be followed if a student needs to be removed from an academic setting pending the outcome of an investigation and student conduct process.

Classifying and Defining Disruptive Behaviors

Disruptive behaviors in an academic setting are those behaviors that a reasonable faculty member would view as interfering with normal academic functions and/or the emotional and/or physical safety of all members of the class community. For the purposes of this document, disruptive behavior is divided into three categories based on the degree to which conduct includes aggression or harassment.

Category One: A category one disruption is behavior that is disruptive, but which has no element of aggression or harassment, i.e., no one feels threatened, endangered or at‐risk. Such situations might include but are not limited to:
A student is sleeping during class.
A student talks incessantly during class.
A student uses a cell phone during class.

Category Two: A category two disruption is behavior that has some element of aggression or harassment without an immediate risk. Such situations might include but are not limited to:
A student swears loudly and repeatedly upon getting a grade.
A student makes disparaging comments about other students.
A student tears his paper up in class upon receiving it.
A student appears to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Category Three: A category three disruption is behavior that has clear and immediate potential for risk or harassment. Such situations might include but are not limited to:
A student threatens a faculty member, staff member, or student.
A student says he/she has a gun and knows how to use it.

Policy

Students are expected to adhere to the standards described in the Academic Catalog and the Student Handbook; specifically, students are to refrain from disrupting classes and other academic settings. Academic settings may include, but are not limited to, campus facilities, classrooms, off site locations, virtual learning management systems, and other locations, platforms, and environments in which academic experiences are conducted.

Category One Offenses

A faculty member should tell students who are disruptive to stop the disruptive behavior and to warn the student that such disruptive behavior, if continued or repeated, may result in academic or disciplinary action.

A faculty member is authorized to ask a student to leave the classroom or other academic setting if the faculty member deems such action necessary. If the faculty member takes such actions, he/she shall notify the Office of Academic Affairs within 24 hours. The Office of Academic Affairs may share this information with the Student Development Office. If, upon consultation with the Student Development Office, it is determined that the student presents a risk, the Office of Academic Affairs will request that the faculty member complete a Disruptive Behavior in an Academic Setting Report. This report documents the events that occurred in this incident.

Category Two Offenses

A faculty member is authorized to ask a student to leave the classroom or other academic setting if the faculty member deems such action necessary. The faculty member must report such instances to the Office of Academic Affairs within 24 hours. Working collaboratively with the faculty member and the Student Development Office, the Office of Academic Affairs will take appropriate action that may include initiating interim removal and/or initiating an investigation and student conduct proceeding.

Category Three Offense

A faculty member is required to report all Category Three offenses to Campus Safety. This report will result in an immediate interim removal of the student from the academic setting, pending the outcome of the investigation and student conduct proceeding. The faculty member will notify the Office of Academic Affairs about the incident as soon as possible. The faculty member must complete a Disruptive Behavior in an Academic Setting Report within 24 hours of the incident.

Interim Removal from an Academic Setting

The Office of Academic Affairs, in consultation with the faculty and the Student Development Office, may enact interim removal pending resolution of the matter by sending the student a written notice informing the student of the interim conditions and advising the student of the pending investigation and student conduct process.

The Office of Academic Affairs will work with the student to try to establish an interim means to allow the student to continue to make satisfactory academic progress. This may include reassigning the student to a different class section or a different academic advisor. While it is the intention of the College to assist a student in making satisfactory academic progress, the College will not compromise the safety of faculty, staff, or students in order to do so.

Any incident that results in interim removal will be referred directly to the Student Development Office within 24 hours.

Student Conduct Proceedings

Generally, a student will not be permanently removed from an academic setting without a formal student conduct proceeding. A student who is removed from an academic setting on an interim basis has the following rights:

• The Student Development Office will conduct a Student Conduct Hearing pursuant to an investigation and student conduct processes as defined in the New England College Student Handbook.
• The student can request an expedited review of the incident. If such a request is made, the Student Development Office shall review the incident through a Student Conduct Hearing within three business days of the date that the student requests such review.

In addition to the sanctions that are possible through a Student Conduct Hearing, the following possible sanctions are available to the instructor and the Office of Academic Affairs.

Authority of Instructor:

• Warning
• One‐time removal from a class session or an academic setting
• Academic sanctions if course participation and/or attendance are a component of the final grade and are indicated in the syllabus

Authority of the Office of Academic Affairs:

• Interim exclusion from the instructor’s academic area, pending the outcome of a student conduct procedure
• Interim reassignment to a different class section or alternative means by which to make satisfactory academic progress
• Interim reassignment to a new academic advisor

Appeals

There is no appeal of a faculty member’s one-time decision to remove a student from a class. To appeal an interim decision, the student must contact the Office of Academic Affairs.

Appeals for the outcome of the student conduct proceedings will follow the appeals process described in the Student Handbook.

Students with Disabilities

All students, regardless of disability status, are expected to adhere to the same community standards and academic policies Sanctions for student conduct or academic honesty violations and guidelines for due process procedures must be equally applied without regard to a student’s disability.  Accommodations may be provided in the process if requested and appropriate.  Faculty are encouraged to consult with the Office of Student Access and Accommodations if issues arise around student conduct, academic integrity or other behavioral concerns that may be a related to a student’s disability.

Students’ Rights to Privacy

All information and discussion regarding the disruptive student shall be handled in a confidential manner. The privacy of the student’s educational records, including misconduct cases, is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).

Disruptive Behavior in an Academic Setting Report Form

The Disruptive Behavior in an Academic Setting Report form should include the following information:

• Date of incident
• Student’s name
• Instructor’s name
• Instructor’s phone number
• Instructor’s email
• Title of course, course number and section
• Detailed summary of incident including a description of the disruptive behavior
• Names of witness and identification of witness status (student, faculty, staff, etc.)
• Action, if any, taken by the instructor (e.g. student warned, asked to leave class, campus security contacted, etc.)
• Recommendations for a course of action and reason for this: what do you want to have as a potential outcome?
• Instructor’s signature

Academic Integrity Policy

Academic Honor Principle

We as a community at New England College embrace an academic honor principle. It consists of honesty, trust, and integrity. Honesty is being true to oneself and others, engendering a culture of trust. Trust builds mutual respect, fostering a disposition of responsibility and civility. Integrity denotes inner strength of character: doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong. As members of the NEC community, we accept these values as fundamental guides to our actions, decisions, and behavior.

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following infractions:
Plagiarism
Misrepresentation
Facilitation of Academic Dishonesty
Cheating

Two Levels of Academic Dishonesty

Because academic dishonesty violates academic integrity, it cannot be condoned at NEC. Nevertheless, because there are various degrees of academic dishonesty, some more serious than others, NEC classifies offenses into two levels: minor violations and major violations. In accordance with academic freedom, NEC entrusts all decisions regarding cases of academic dishonesty (i.e., whether they be minor or major) to the discretion of each instructor, accepting as a premise that instructors honor intellectual property rights and wish to promote academic integrity in their students.

Minor: a minor violation is any case of academic dishonesty that an instructor deems of such a nature that it does not compromise academic integrity or reflect a flagrant breach of NEC’s Academic Honor Principle (see above). It typically involves cases of accidental omissions or unintended oversights.

Major: a major violation is any case of academic dishonesty that an instructor deems serious enough to warrant reporting. A major violation compromises academic integrity and constitutes a flagrant breach of NEC’s Academic Honor Principle (see above). It typically involves cases in which a student deliberately commits an act of academic dishonesty.

Procedures for Minor and Major Cases of Academic Dishonesty

As indicated above, instructors use their discretion in determining whether instances of academic dishonesty are minor or major.

Minor

In the case of a minor offense, the instructor should meet with the offending student to notify him or her of the charge and explain the meaning and importance of academic honesty. In addition, the instructor, in consultation with the offending student, decides any associated penalty: e.g., should the work be redone, should it receive a grade deduction, should it receive a failing mark? If the case is indeed minor, it is understood to have been an accident, a mistake, or an oversight. Hence, the purpose of meeting with the student is to educate so that he or she will know how to avoid similar acts of academic dishonesty in the future. An initial case of a minor offense in a course is not reported to the Registrar.

Major

In the case of a major offense, the instructor collects relevant evidence, meets with the offending student to notify him or her of the charge, explains the seriousness of the charge (including the penalties associated with violations: see below), and submits a report of academic dishonesty to the Registrar. In the meantime, the instructor decides how the offense will affect the offending student’s grade in the course.

Sanctions for Major Cases of Academic Dishonesty

All major infractions of academic dishonesty will result in the student’s name being reported to the Registrar, who enters that student’s name in a log for future reference. The information is confidential, to be kept among those parties immediately concerned: the instructor of the course, the student, the Registrar who enters the name, and any others directly involved, such as the Dean of the Academic Division, the student’s advisor, the Academic Standards Committee, and the Academic Integrity Board.

First Reported Case: In response to an initial case of academic dishonesty, a student must successfully complete and pass (all questions answered correctly) an assigned plagiarism tutorial/test on academic integrity via Blackboard, or else the student will be put on academic suspension. The student will have three weeks upon being enrolled in the Bb course (the plagiarism tutorial/test itself) to pass the tutorial/test. The test may be taken as many times as necessary within those three weeks for the student to pass it. Failure to pass it will result in academic suspension.

Second Reported Case: In response to a second case of academic dishonesty, a student must attend a hearing with the Academic Integrity Board. Penalties for a second case of academic dishonesty may include suspension. Suspension can be appealed according to the policies described below. Readmission to NEC after suspension due to cases of academic dishonesty will be determined by the Academic Standards Committee.

Third Reported Case: In response to a third case of academic dishonesty, a student must attend a hearing with the Academic Integrity Board. Penalties for a third case of academic dishonesty may include permanent expulsion from NEC. Expulsion may be appealed according to the policies described below. Readmission to NEC after expulsion is not allowed.

Academic Integrity Board and Hearings

The Academic Integrity Board consists of at least two members of the Academic Standards Committee and a staff member. Hearings will include the Academic Integrity Board and the student. The student may also invite a witness or advocate from within the college community. When appropriate, hearings may also include relevant instructor(s), witness(es), or advocate(s) from within the college community that the instructor(s) invites.

Appeals Procedures

A student may appeal to the Academic Integrity Board an instructor’s accusation of academic dishonesty or the instructor’s decision to fail, for example, an offending student for an assignment or the course. Within ten class days of receiving notice of the disputed accusation or decision, the student must submit a written request for a hearing to the Academic Integrity Board. The request will contain a statement of the basis for appeal, as well as any supporting evidence. The instructor will receive a copy of the student’s appeal. After the hearing and within ten class days, the Academic Integrity Board will inform the student and the instructor of its decision. If the decision of the Academic Integrity Board reverses an accusation of academic dishonesty, all records pertaining to the case will be destroyed.

A student may appeal the decision of the Academic Integrity Board. The appeal must be submitted in writing within ten days of the decision and can rest on procedural grounds only. It is to be given to the Chief Academic Officer or their designee, whose decision is final.

A student may also appeal a decision by the Academic Integrity Board regarding penalties associated with a second or third case of academic dishonesty (e.g., suspension or expulsion). Such appeals must be submitted in writing within ten days of the decision, on procedural grounds only, to the Chief Academic Officer or their designee whose decision is final.