Statement
The
School of Social Welfare is committed to upholding the ethical standards
required of social workers in their relationships with clients, colleagues,
and members of the public. These standards apply to all graduate social
welfare students, not only in internships but also in classroom, research,
and other School activities. Ethical conduct requires integrity, tolerance,
academic honesty, confidentiality, and a respect for privacy. The
School does not tolerate violent or abusive behavior; disruption of
classes, School-sponsored meetings or events; sexual harassment; racist,
sexist, or homophobic comments; or academic dishonesty. Violations
of the School’s ethical standards will result in disciplinary action.
Two
areas of student conduct, therefore, are of primary importance --
professional and academic.
Proper professional conduct requires students to behave
in a manner consistent with the ethical principles and standards of
the social work profession, as formalized in the NASW "Code
of Ethics". Students enrolled in Berkeley’s graduate program
are required to demonstrate their commitment to the profession’s core
values of service, social justice, honesty, and competence. Among
other expectations, students must be able to maintain constructive
interpersonal relations with Berkeley faculty and staff, field agency
representatives, fellow students, and others; they must be able to
deal with conflict and disagreement in a respectful and forthright
manner; and they at all times must be able to act ethically in conformity
with the law, agency and University standards, and social work values.
Like all Berkeley students and faculty, graduate students are expected
to show respect and courtesy to other members of the campus community.
Proper academic conduct requires students to conduct
themselves in a manner compatible with the University’s function as
an educational institution fostering individual growth, freedom of
expression, a sense of community, and educational excellence. Proper
academic conduct requires students to fully participate in the learning
process, to carry out, to the best of their ability, their academic
responsibilities, and to complete their class and field obligations
fully and honestly.
The
Berkeley Campus Code
of Student Conduct specifies standards of academic conduct
in a number of areas (see uga.berkeley.edu/sas/rights.shtml).
The basic tenets of academic honesty prohibit cheating, plagiarism,
or other forms of misrepresentation.
Plagiarism
The
Code
of Student Conduct defines plagiarism as “the use
of intellectual material produced by another person without acknowledging
its source.” Examples include:
-
Wholesale copying of passages from works of others into one’s
homework, essay, term paper, or dissertation without acknowledgment.
-
Using the views, opinions, or insights of another without acknowledgment.
-
Paraphrasing another person’s characteristic or original phraseology,
metaphor, or other literary device without acknowledgment.
Students and others often misunderstand what plagiarism is, and its
seriousness as academic misconduct. To avoid plagiarism the following
guidelines should be followed:
-
When using a phrase, sentence, or longer passage from any source,
put them in quotation marks and cite the source using conventional
referencing procedures.
-
When paraphrasing someone else’s ideas, cite the source.
-
When relying on someone else’s ideas, even when not quoting or
paraphrasing, cite the source.
The
consequences of plagiarism are serious, and can include expulsion.
Instructors have the right to assign an “F” for any work produced
by cheating without determining whether the student has a passing
knowledge of the relevant factual material. That is an appropriate
academic evaluation for a failure to understand or abide by the basic
rules of academic study and inquiry. An instructor also has the right
to assign a final grade of “F” for the course if you plagiarized a
paper for a portion of the course, even if you have successfully and,
presumably, honestly passed the remaining portion of the course. It
must be understood that any student who knowingly aids in plagiarism
or other cheating, e.g., allowing another student to copy a paper
or examination question, is as guilty as the cheating student.
Other
Forms of Academic Dishonesty
Academic
dishonesty is any action or attempted action that may result in creating
an unfair academic advantage for oneself or an unfair academic advantage
or disadvantage for any other member or members of the academic community.
Below
are types of academic dishonesty with examples of each. Please note
that this list is not exhaustive.
Cheating.
Cheating is defined as fraud, deceit, or dishonesty in an academic
assignment, or using or attempting to use materials, or assisting
others in using materials which are prohibited or inappropriate in
the context of the academic assignment in question, such as:
-
Copying or attempting to copy from others during an exam or on
an assignment.
-
Communicating answers with another person during an exam.
-
Preprogramming a calculator to contain answers or other unauthorized
information for exams.
-
Using unauthorized materials, prepared answers, written notes,
or concealed information during an exam.
-
Allowing others to do an assignment or portion of an assignment
for oneself, including the use of a commercial term-paper service.
-
Submitting the same assignment for more than one course without
prior approval of all the instructors involved.
-
Collaborating on an exam or assignment with any other person without
prior approval from the instructor.
-
Taking an exam for another person or having someone take an exam
for oneself.
Academic
Misconduct
-
Removing, defacing, or deliberately keeping from other students
library materials that are on reserve for specific courses.
False
Information
-
Furnishing false information in the context of an academic assignment.
-
Failing to identify oneself honestly in the context of an academic
obligation.
-
Fabricating or altering information or data and presenting it
is legitimate.
-
Providing false or misleading information to an instructor or
any other University official.
Theft
or Damage of Intellectual Property
-
Sabotaging or stealing another person’s assignment, book, paper,
notes, experiment, project, electronic hardware or software.
-
Improperly gaining access to, or electronically interfering with,
the property of another person or the University via computer
or other means.
-
Obtaining a copy of an exam or assignment prior to its approved
release by the instructor.
Disturbances
in the Classroom
-
Interfering with the course of instruction to the detriment of
other students.
-
Disrupting classes or other academic activities in an attempt
to stifle academic freedom of
-
Failing to comply with the instructions or directives of the course
instructor.
-
Phoning in false bomb threats.
-
Unnecessarily activating fire alarms.
Alteration
of University Documents
-
Forgery of an instructor’s signature on a letter of recommendation
or any other document.
-
Submitting an altered transcript of grades to or from another institution
or employer.
-
Putting one’s name on another person’s exam or assignment.
-
Altering a previously graded exam or assignment for purposes of
a grade appeal or of gaining points in a re-grading process.
Distribution
of Lecture Notes
-
Selling or distributing course lecture notes, handouts, readers,
or other information provided by an instructor, or using them for
any commercial purpose without the express permission of the instructor.
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