Academic Conduct Code
September, 2011
Dear CGS Student,
I am pleased to welcome you to the new academic year. Because the College and University take very seriously the matter of academic integrity, I write to you to call your attention to the Academic Conduct Code, located at http://www.bu.edu/academics/. (You can download a copy here: http://www.bu.edu/academics/files/2011/08/AcademicConductCode.pdf
CGS students are responsible for knowing and following the Boston University common code of academic conduct. We believe this recently revised document articulates the standards for academic integrity and ensures that each student will be treated in a consistent and fair manner. This code applies to all of the undergraduate schools and colleges at Boston University.
Although the great majority of students conduct themselves responsibly, each year we do have some students who are charged with and found guilty of academic misconduct. The penalties are severe. By far the greatest number of academic misconduct cases arise out of plagiarism from the Internet, especially cutting and pasting Internet sources which then go into a paper without attribution. It is your responsibility to inform yourself about academic policies in each of your courses; ignorance of the policies is not considered an acceptable defense.
Please take this opportunity to read the code carefully and heed this warning. When students describe why they plagiarized a paper or cheated on an exam, they often tell me they were desperate. Those who plagiarized say they did not leave enough time to complete the assignment, and in desperation they simply downloaded a paper or a segment of a paper off the Internet. I tell them faculty will find the source just as easily as they found it. It would be much better to face the consequence of a last-minute effort in the form of a low grade, rather than risk the severe and long-term consequence of cheating. It is possible that academic misconduct committed as an undergraduate can follow you into your graduate or professional careers.
I urge you to review carefully the Academic Conduct Code and to speak with your professors about it. We want you to be successful in your work as a student at the College of General Studies and later when you continue into your junior and senior years at Boston University. Please do not commit a foolish act of misconduct that will adversely affect your future.
Sincerely,
Linda Wells
Dean