Study Guide

Academic Honesty

University policy governs the whole topic of cheating in any and all university courses. You should read it; it's not very long:
Student Code of Conduct, Article 3, Section 1

You should also read the sections on cheating and plagiarism, which are in the same Handbook:

If I find evidence of plagiarism I will notify the student and give him or her the chance to re-write the assignment in their own words. If there is no response, or if it appears there is disagreement over the violation, I will then follow the procedure in the Student Handbook.

This all sounds terribly formal and it is.

Doing your own work is not only at the heart of your education, it's also at the heart of the academic community. It's of the same importance as ethics for a doctor: without it, the entire profession is brought into disrepute.

In all my years of teaching I have had almost no cases of plagiarism, but it's still important to state these principles and to let the students know that it is not a trivial matter. It's also important to let them know that a formal process exists for handling such matters.

You should also know that the university subscribes to a service for checking plagiarism, and that as the University Webmaster I know a thing or two about how to research these matters.