Academic Catalog 2026-2027

Academic Catalog 2026 - 2027

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY Academic integrity is the responsibility of all Beacon College faculty and students. All students are expected to do their own work and to uphold a high standard of academic ethics. Definitions: Plagiarism is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary of English Language as the use and passing off of ideas or writings of another as one’s own. Examples of student plagiarism include submitting a paper, or parts of a paper, not written by the student, quoting or paraphrasing text without citing the original source, creating false references in a bibliography or proposing an idea as “original” when another source proposed it first. Cheating is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary of English Language as taking an examination or test or completing an assignment in a dishonest way, as by improper access to questions or answers. Fabrication is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary of English Language as deliberately using untruthful statements or data in one’s work. Students are responsible for the authorship of all their work. Plagiarism, cheating, and fabrication are NOT acceptable and students whose work shows evidence of academic dishonesty will be subject to the following sanctions. Sanctions 1. First offense – Warning and revision of work. The student will also be required to complete the on-line plagiarism module accessed in the Writing Center and pass the unit assessment with a score of 80% or higher. 2. Second offense – Zero for work. 3. Third offense – Student is referred to a hearing before the Academic Committee for a decision. Response to Academic Integrity Violations 1. Written report of incident to instructor if discovered by someone other than instructor 2. Instructor reviews allegations 3. Proceeds to Department Chair to review allegations 4. If student appeals the allegation, the case goes to the Vice President of Academic Affairs for final determination . CREDIT HOURS DEFINED Beacon College awards semester credit hours on the basis of federal regulations and SACSCOC accrediting guidelines. For purposes of the application of this policy and in accord with federal regulations, a credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates: 1. Not less than one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours out of class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time, or 2. At least an equivalent amount of work as required outlined in item 1 above for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, experiential learning opportunities, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.

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