VCHS Academic Integrity Policy

All Valley Catholic students are expected to ‘live valiantly’ and strive for excellence in everything they do, especially their academic work. A crucial hallmark of all academic communities is the foundation of academic integrity. This means being the author of your own work all the time, never doing work for another person, and always giving proper credit to outside sources when used. Cheating comes in many forms — copying from others, using illicit aids in tests and quizzes, and plagiarism, including failing to document outside sources — all of which are forms of dishonesty and theft. Students are expected to learn from and take pride in doing their own work. Attempting to pass off the work of another as your own damages intellectual growth and personal integrity.

Potential Violations: Students caught engaging in any academically dishonest act will be reported for violating the academic integrity policy. Although it is impossible to list every possible type of violation, the following is a list of those most commonly seen:

  • Using any type of aid forbidden by your instructor while taking an assessment or completing an assignment
  • Copying from the work of another person, including homework, essays, quizzes, and tests
    • Allowing another person to complete your assignment, partially or fully
    • Completing an assignment, partially or fully, for another person
  • Plagiarizing or copying part of another person’s work or outside source and submitting it as your own work
  • Submitting the work of another as your own
    • Failing to properly cite and/or document outside sources
    • Misrepresenting any aspect of your written work to your teacher
  • Submitting part or all of an assignment in more than one class without receiving prior permission

Procedure Following a Violation of the Academic Integrity Policy

Academic violations will be addressed in this way:
  • The teacher will discuss with the student the work in question.
  • If the student has violated the policy, the teacher will notify the dean of academics, who will in turn talk with the student.
    • Parents will be notified of the violation.
    • The student and his or her parents/guardians may be required to meet in person with the dean of academics.
    • The college counselor will be notified of the violation.
Possible Consequences: Any violation will result in a zero with no chance of recovering those lost points. Additional consequences may be applied, depending on the severity of the violation. A repeat offence will automatically incur one or more of the following consequences, which will be determined during a meeting with the student, his or her parents, the dean of academics, the college counselor or principal, and possibly the teacher or teachers involved:
  • Assigned reflective writing and/or research
  • In-school suspension
  • Expulsion from Valley Catholic High School

This policy was issued by the Dean of Academics on 11 January 2018, was subsequently revised, and was current as of 6 June 2018.