Acknowledgement of Academic and Professional Responsibilities

The Tseng College (the "College") is committed to providing an educational environment that fosters the highest standards of academic and professional responsibility. This commitment extends beyond the university environment into the professional lives of our students and faculty. To achieve such an environment, students and faculty are asked to reflect on and acknowledge their responsibilities prior to their involvement in any of our programs.

When the College offers a program promising to advance students' professional competence, it assumes the responsibility of providing a program with the highest level of quality. The College is not only committed to delivering quality programs; it is also committed to communicate the College's obligations to our students. By the same token, students should understand and acknowledge what is expected of them with respect to their participation in the program.

This document sets forth the expectations you as a student can reasonably expect from those of us who direct, staff, and teach in any of our professional development programs. It also states the expectations that we have of our students.

What You Can Expect of Us

The College, as a major center of professional education within California State University Northridge (the "University"), is a significant force for preparing competent and ethical leaders in a variety of organizations within the private, nonprofit, and government sectors. Our role as set forth within the mission statements of the University and the College is to provide an effective learning environment that will be of maximum benefit to the students we serve directly and to the public interest we represent.

We are committed to providing you with an educational program that is highly relevant, practical, and valuable. Program directors are responsible, innovative, and responsive to your concerns. Our staff members are knowledgeable and student-service oriented. Our programs are designed to ensure that faculty members are current in their profession and in the courses they teach, that learning objectives are clearly identified to you, and that classroom environments encourage the expression of varying viewpoints and ideas.

We consider it central to our mission that there is excellence in the classroom and in the administration of the program. We strive to achieve an environment that provides the highest standards of academic and professional education. You are encouraged to speak to your program director if any concerns should arise about what you can expect from us or about any other issues related to the program.

What We Expect of You

Competence, integrity, and a strong work ethic are expected of you as a student and are critical to your success as a business or public service professional. The College commits to providing an environment that fosters these qualities. The university/student relationship is one that imposes the highest of ethical standards on both students and on University staff. This is especially the case for educational programs that seek to develop the competence, integrity, and work ethic of its students in their professional life.

Entering an educational program requires a commitment of energy and reliability. You are signifying an intention of devoting your maximum effort and talent to learning. It requires you to acknowledge that the value gained from advanced education comes as much from your consistent efforts as it does from the excellence of course design and instruction. It requires a mind that is open to many points of view, a willingness to struggle with difficult issues and the courage to accept new ways of thinking. It also requires you to acknowledge that most of your efforts will be focused on self study, research, reflection, and writing and that your preparation for class sessions will be essential to gaining value from the discussion in the classroom.

Our class sessions are highly interactive, and the College expects you to contribute by creating a stimulating and enlightening environment for shared learning. A central theme of professional education at our College is the constant application of academic theories and principles to professional settings. You are expected to listen carefully to your classmates and instructors and to contribute your own insights and experiences. Because all of our programs support classroom environments that encourage the expression of varying viewpoints, you are expected to respect the opinions of others even if different from your own.

When asked to list the qualities of competence expected of our graduates, business and government leaders invariably place effective writing, speaking, and listening near the top of their lists. Your oral and written communication skills are expected to improve throughout the program, and it is your best efforts that will play a key part in this process. Research skills and academic writing are a central part of a professional education. You will be expected to research, analyze, and present data accurately and appropriately. Building valuable reports and analyses on the foundation of the found wisdom of others and the created insights of your own thinking is a treasured outcome of effective teaching and effective student learning.

Appreciating and acknowledging the contributions of other authors to the development of your work are absolutely required in all of your academic work. Understanding your responsibilities to the authors of the sources which you reference in creating your work is a key component of your academic and professional responsibility. Crediting the ideas and expressions of your sources must be done fully and correctly. Failing to do so is considered to be a serious breach of professional integrity.

The University's "Student Conduct Code" and its statement regarding plagiarism are a part of this document (see following material). It is expected that you will also read carefully the rules for proper attribution in some accepted writer's manual, such as Diana Hacker's A Pocket Style Manual. Instructors will be vigilant for instances of academic dishonesty and they have the available computer software for checking for possible infractions. If infractions are found, University policy authorizes faculty members to assign a lower grade or a failure in the course. They may also choose to notify the Student Affairrs offices and request that a written warning be issued or that a formal disciplinary action be initiated. Because the penalties for plagiarism are so severe, it is important that our students ask for the instruction and the coaching that will avoid any problems. The College is committed to working with our students to avoid any breaches of academic honesty.

We know from experience that ignorance, carelessness, and the desperation of a last-minute effort to make a deadline explain most instances of student plagiarism, rather than a calculated attempt to cheat or deceive. But because of the seriousness with which infractions are considered, it is required that everyone know University policy. In the event that a student engages in academic misconduct such as "cheating, fabrication, facilitation of academic dishonesty and plagiarism" (as described in the University's Policy on Academic Dishonesty), the College will take action in accordance with the Policy and the Student Conduct Code. A copy of both are included in following pages for your review and reference. Discipline could include, but is not limited to, failure of the course and/or expulsion from the University.

You have the responsibility to clarify any issues in this document that you do not understand or that may be unclear and to raise any other questions that you have.

Finally, success in professional development education depends upon a dedication to learning and personal growth. It depends on mutual respect and a collegial relationship among students, instructors, directors, and College staff members. There are few opportunities in life more deeply satisfying than participating with fellow professionals in a collective effort to examine the issues of our time and of our work in order to build our capacity to understand, to perform, and to be of service. The College and its students, together, create a learning community dedicated to high standards of education, ethical behavior, and public service. We are partners in this endeavor. By our signatures, we hereby acknowledge our academic and professional responsibilities set forth herein.

Academic Dishonesty

The maintenance of academic integrity and quality education is the responsibility of each student within this university and the California State University system. Cheating or plagiarism in connection with an academic program at a campus is listed in Section 41301, Title V, California Code of Regulations, as an off ense for which a student may be expelled, suspended, or given a less severe disciplinary sanction. Academic dishonesty is an especially serious off ense and diminishes the quality of scholarship and defrauds those who depend upon the integrity of the campus programs. Such dishonesty includes:

Cheating

Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise. Comments:

Faculty members are encouraged to state in advance their policies and procedures concerning examinations and other academic exercises as well as the use before examinations of shared study aids, examination files, and other related materials and forms of assistance.
Students completing any examination should assume that external assistance (e.g., books, notes, calculators, conversation with others) is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the instructor.
Students must not allow others to conduct research or prepare any work for them without advance authorization from the instructor. This comment includes, but is not limited to, the services of commercial term paper companies.
Substantial portions of the same academic work may not be submitted for credit in more than one course without authorization.

Fabrication

Intentional falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Comments:

"Invented" information may not be used in any laboratory experiment or other academic exercise without notice to and authorization from the instructor. It would be improper, for example, to analyze one sample in an experiment and covertly "invent" data based on that single experiment for several more required analyses.
One should acknowledge reliance upon the actual source from which cited information was obtained. For example, a writer should not reproduce a quotation from a book review and indicate that the quotation was obtained from the book itself.
Students who attempt to alter and resubmit returned academic work with intent to defraud the faculty member will be in violation of this section. For example, a student may not change an answer on a returned exam and then claim that they deserve additional credit.

Facilitating Academic Dishonesty

Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to commit an act of academic dishonesty. Comments:

For example, one who knowingly allowed another to copy from his or her paper during an examination would be in violation of this section.

Plagiarism

Intentionally or knowingly representing the words, ideas, or work of another as one's own in any academic exercise. Comments:

Direct Quotation: Every direct quotation must be identifi ed by quotation marks, or by appropriate indentation or by other means of identification, and must be promptly cited in a footnote. Proper footnote style for any academic department is outlined by the MLA Style Sheet or K. L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations. These and similar publications are available in the Matador Bookstore and at the reference desk of the Oviatt Library.
Paraphrase: Prompt acknowledgment is required when material from another source is paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in your own words. To acknowledge a paraphrase properly, one might state: "to paraphrase Locke's comment..." and conclude with a footnote identifying the exact reference. A footnote acknowledging only a directly quoted statement does not suffice to notify the reader of any preceding or succeeding paraphrased material.
Borrowed Facts or Information: Information obtained in one's reading or research which is not common knowledge among students in the course must be acknowledged. Examples of common knowledge might include the names of leaders of prominent nations, basic scientific laws, etc. Materials which contribute only to one's general understanding of the subject may be acknowledged in the bibliography and need not be immediately footnoted. One footnote is usually sufficient to acknowledge indebtedness when a number of connected sentences in the paper draw their special information from one source. When direct quotations are used, however, quotation marks must be inserted and prompt acknowledgment is required.

Standards of Ethical Behavior

The personal behavior and ethical conduct of each student at California State University, Northridge impacts, positively or negatively, on the climate and reputation of the entire institution. Thus it is imperative that each student act at all times with integrity and with respect toward all members of the campus community. The University assumes that all students will conduct themselves as mature, responsible, and law-abiding citizens who will comply with University policies and regulations.

Student discipline

Inappropriate conduct by students or by applicants for admission is subject to discipline as provided in Sections 41301 through 41304 of Title 5, California Code of Regulations. These sections are as follows: 41301. Expulsion, Suspension and Probation of Students. Following procedures consonant with due process established pursuant to Section 41304, any student of a campus may be expelled, suspended, placed on probation or given a lesser sanction for one or more of the following causes which must be campus related.

Cheating or plagiarism in connection with an academic program at a campus.
Forgery, alteration or misuse of campus documents, records, or identification or knowingly furnishing false information to a campus.
Misrepresentation of oneself or of an organization to be an agent of the campus.
Obstruction or disruption, on or off campus property, of the campus educational process, administrative process, or other campus function.
Physical abuse on or off campus property of the person or property of any member of the campus community or of members of his or her family or the threat of such physical abuse.
Theft of, or non-accidental damage to, campus property, or property in the possession of, or owned by, a member of the campus community.
Unauthorized entry into, unauthorized use of, or misuse of campus property.
On campus property, the sale or knowing possession of dangerous drugs, restricted dangerous drugs, or narcotics as those terms are used in California statutes, except when lawfully prescribed pursuant to medical or dental care, or when lawfully permitted for the purpose of research, instruction or analysis.
Knowing possession or use of explosives, dangerous chemicals or deadly weapons on campus property or at a campus function without prior authorization of the campus president.
Engaging in lewd, indecent, or obscene behavior on campus property or at a campus function.
Abusive behavior directed toward, or hazing of, a member of the campus community.
Violation of any order of a campus President, notice of which had been given prior to such violation and during the academic term in which the violation occurs, either by publication in the campus newspaper, or by posting on an official bulletin board designated for this purpose, and which order is not inconsistent with any of the other provisions of this Section.
Soliciting or assisting another to do any act which would subject a student to expulsion, suspension or probation pursuant to this Section.
Unauthorized recording, dissemination, and publication of academic presentations for commercial purposes. This prohibition applies to a recording made in any medium, including, but not limited to, handwritten or typewritten class notes.

For the purposes of this Article, the following terms are defined:

The term "academic presentation" means any lecture, speech, performance, exhibition, or other form of academic or aesthetic presentation, made by an instructor of record as part of an authorized course of instruction that is not fixed in a tangible medium of expression.
The term "commercial purpose" means any purpose that has fi nancial or economic gain as an objective.
"Instructor of record" means any teacher or staff member employed to teach courses and authorize credit for the successful completion of courses.
The term "member of the campus community" is defined as meaning California State University Trustees, academic, non-academic and administrative personnel, students, and other persons while such other persons are on campus property or at a campus function.
The term "campus property" includes: A) real or personal property in the possession of, or under the control of, the Board of Trustees of the California State University, and B) all campus feeding, retail, or residence facilities whether operated by a campus or by a campus auxiliary organization.
The term "deadly weapons" includes any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a blackjack, slingshot, billy, sandclub, sandbag, metal knuckles, any dirk, dagger, switchblade knife, pistol, revolver, or any other fi rearm, any knife having a blade longer than fi ve inches, any razor with an unguarded blade, and any metal pipe or bar used or intended to be used as a club.
The term "behavior" includes conduct and expression.
The term "hazing" means any method of initiation into a student organization or any pastime or amusement engaged in with regard to such an organization which causes, or is likely to cause, bodily danger, or physical or emotional harm, to any member of the campus community; but the term "hazing" does not include customary athletic events or other similar contests or competitions.

Classroom Misconduct

Instructors are responsible for setting both the academic and behavioral standards for their courses. Students are expected to comply wiThestablished class standards as well as the Student Conduct Code. Students who display disruptive, threatening or abusive behavior in class are subject to student discipline. Faculty may eject a student from a single class session when necessary to end seriously disruptive or threatening behavior. Such actions will be reported to the appropriate campus offi cials.

Reporting Misconduct

Behavior believed to be in violation of the Student Conduct Code should be reported, in writing, to the Assistant vice President for Student Life. For assistance, call (818) 677-2391.