Academic Standards

JAMES MADISON COLLEGE POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

The James Madison College Faculty Policy on Academic Dishonesty reads as follows:

The faculty recognize that it is the responsibility of the instructor to take appropriate action if an act of academic dishonesty is discovered.  It is further understood that a student may appeal a judgment of academic dishonesty to the Student‑Faculty Judiciary.  The Faculty Assembled recommend that in cases involving proven academic dishonesty, the student should receive, as a minimum, a 0.0 in the course and that a record of the circumstances, sanctions, and any appeal, be placed in the student's confidential file. (In accordance with University policy, the record may be made available to faculty if such information is deemed necessary in the discharging of their respective responsibilities).  The individual faculty member or the Dean may recommend further action, including dismissal from the University, to the Student‑Faculty Judiciary.  If a second case of academic dishonesty should occur, the recommendation is that the faculty, through the Office of Academic Affairs, should seek the student's dismissal from the College and the University.  In accordance with University policy, all records of academic dishonesty will be retained for five years after the graduation of the student or five years after the non‑graduate withdraws from the University.

The Faculty Assembled declare it a violation of College standards to submit the same written work for more than one course without prior express consent of the instructor(s) involved.  It should be understood that violation of this standard may result in sanctions being applied, and at the discretion of the instructor these sanctions may include those that are applied in cases of academic dishonesty.

Any student assigned a penalty grade based on academic dishonesty is entitled to challenge the charge.  The student should first consult with the Dean.  If the issue cannot be resolved, a College‑Level hearing will be held.  Subsequent challenges may be referred to the appropriate University‑Level hearing board. Students should consult the Academic Freedom Report.

CODE OF TEACHING RESPONSIBILITY

The University's Code of Teaching Responsibility is available on the WEB: http://www.msu.edu/unit/facrecds/FacHand/code.html. It outlines the expectations of instructors and procedures by which students may handle complaints.  We do not reprint the Code here, but affirm that Madison faculty abide by it as all University faculty are expected to.

MADISON POLICY ON CREDIT/NO-CREDIT GRADING

The Credit/No-credit system is intended to allow MSU students to study in areas outside their major fields of study without jeopardizing their grade-point average.  Students may opt to enroll for a class "CR-NC," but for credit to be granted in that course the student must perform at or above the 2.0 level.Students must contact the Registrar in the first week of classes to be eligible for Credit/No Credit. Grades on the "CR-NC" system are not included in computing the semester or cumulative grade-point average.

Integrative Studies requirements in the University are excluded from the Credit/No-Credit system (they must be taken on the numerical grade scale).  Each college is empowered to select the particular courses from the Credit/No-Credit system.  For Madison students, all College and Major required courses are excluded from the Credit/No-Credit system.  This includes micro and macro-economics, MC 111-112, 201-202 and all Major requirements.  It also includes the courses used to fulfill the Foreign Language requirement, but first year-level Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and African languages may be taken Credit/No credit.  For a detailed explanation of Credit/No-credit grading, see MSU's Academic Programs Catalog.