ETHICAL STANDARDS & STUDENT CONDUCT
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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