Student Conduct

Student Conduct

Colleges recognize the student as an adult pursuing an education. Just as a student does not lose citizenship rights upon enrolling at a college, the student also does not become immune to society’s obligations and laws or to the responsibilities of daily living in a broader society. In general, the behavioral norms expected of the college student are those of common decency and decorum, recognition of and non-infringement upon the rights and property of others and of the College, honesty in academic work and all other activities, and observance of local, state, and federal laws.

When students enter Eastern Wyoming College, they take upon themselves certain responsibilities and obligations including satisfactory academic performance and social behavior consistent with the lawful purposes of the College. Student conduct, therefore, is not considered in isolation within the college community but as an integral part of the education process. All students are expected to know and abide by the Student Code of Conduct (Board Policy 5.13). 

Attendance

Students are expected to attend all sessions of each course in which the student is enrolled. Active participation in all scheduled learning activities is essential for the student to satisfactorily achieve the educational objectives of any course. An instructor is authorized to withdraw a student from a course for excessive, unexcused absences that exceeds 20% (twenty percent) of the scheduled sessions for the semester.  

It shall be the instructor’s responsibility to submit the withdrawal form to the Registrar’s Office either:

1. Prior to the last date to withdraw as defined in the academic calendar; or
2. As soon as it is determined that the number of excessive absences exceed 20% (twenty percent) of the scheduled sessions for the semester, or the student has been absent 6 (six) consecutive class hours in the course.

Students shall be responsible for all course requirements from the start of the course, not from the time at which the course was added to their schedule. Each instructor shall establish an attendance requirement for each course and publish it in the course syllabus. (Board Policy 5.8) 

Leave of Absence

A student who must be absent for an extended period of time because of health or other unavoidable circumstances may petition the Vice President of Academic and Student Services for a leave of absence. A leave accounts for absences from classes, but does not relieve the student from making up all work missed, nor does it excuse the student from going through the regular withdrawal process if the student discontinues attendance for the remainder of the semester.

Academic Dishonesty

Eastern Wyoming College regards all forms of academic dishonesty as serious offenses that cannot be condoned. Actions constituting violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Cheating. Includes but is not limited to use of any unauthorized assistance for academic work and use of resources beyond those authorized by the faculty member(s) in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems, or carrying out other assignments.  Also included is the acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a member of the College faculty or staff.
2. Collusion. Includes but is not limited to assisting another to commit an act of academic dishonesty such as paying or coercing someone to acquire unauthorized academic material, taking a test or doing an assignment for someone else, unauthorized group work, use of unauthorized electronic devices, or allowing someone to do these things for one’s own benefit.
3. Fabrication. Includes but is not limited to falsifying data, information, or citations in completing an academic assignment or other institutional document. This also consists of providing false or deceptive information to an instructor concerning the completion of an assignment.
4. Plagiarism. Includes but is not limited to use of someone else’s language, ideas, or other original material that is not common knowledge without attribution to the source.  This definition applies to all student work, not limited to print materials, online materials, manuscripts, oral discussion, and the work of other students.  Examples include submitting someone else’s language, ideas, or materials as one’s own; inadequate paraphrasing and/or direct copying of material without academic  20 citations, and self-plagiarism, which includes the unauthorized submission for credit of academic work that was previously submitted for credit in another course.

For a first offense, a student will be subject to the instructor’s disciplinary action which may include a grade of zero on the affected coursework, lowering of the final grade in the course, receiving a grade of F in the course or withdrawal from the course. The student who commits such an offense a subsequent time will be assigned the grade of F and may be subject to dismissal from the College with the reason for dismissal specifically stated and retained in college records. A student who has been the subject of disciplinary action for academic dishonesty may follow the EWC Grievance Procedure included in the Student Grievance and Student Complaint Policy (Board Policy 5.14, AR 5.14.2.

Turnitin is a cloud-based text review service utilized by EWC for originality checking, including improper citations or potential plagiarism. Student work in a course may be submitted to and retained by this service, though the student retains copyright of their written work. Students can view information regarding Turnitin’s privacy and copyright policy at www.turnitin.com.

Sexual Harassment Policy

Eastern Wyoming College strives to create a working and learning environment that is desirable for all employees and students and adheres to all state and federal guidelines. Definition: Eastern Wyoming College endorses the definition of sexual harassment provided under A) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with reference to B) Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972, i.e., below:

a. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

b. No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

Sexual harassment of employees or students is reprehensible, illegal and will not be tolerated at Eastern Wyoming College.  Such activity which influences employment decisions or the academic success of students is contradictory and antithetical to the environment provided by this institution, and prompt and remedial action will be taken by Eastern Wyoming College upon any finding of sexual harassment. (Board Policy 3.12)

All complaints of sexual harassment will be investigated. Student complaints should be registered with the Vice President of Student and Academic Services or the Human Resources Director. Victims of sexual harassment are strongly encouraged to disclose any episode(s) of sexual harassment.  Such disclosure will assist EWC in its attempts to prevent future episodes of sexual harassment. Any student who violates this policy will be subject to prompt and appropriate discipline.  Such discipline may result in the student being expelled from Eastern Wyoming College. No employee or student shall suffer reprisal from Eastern Wyoming College as a consequence of filing a “good faith” complaint. Further information can be found under the Student Code of Conduct (Board Policy 5.13) policy. 

Complaint Log

Eastern Wyoming College maintains a record of all formal student complaints received in the office of the President, or the Vice President of Academic and Student Services. Student complaints are defined as those which are nontrivial in nature, either academic or nonacademic, made formally in writing, signed by a student, and addressed to and submitted to an organizational officer with the responsibility to handle the complaint. The formal Complaint Log is maintained in the office of the Executive Dean of Student Services and contains the following information:

1. Date the complaint was first formally submitted to an appropriate officer;
2. Nature of the complaint (e.g. dispute about a grade, allegation of sexual harassment etc.);
3. Steps taken by EWC to resolve the complaint;
4. EWC’s final decision regarding the complaint including referral to outside agencies; and
5. Any other external actions initiated by the student to resolve the complaint, if known to the institution (e.g. lawsuit, EEOC investigation, etc.).

EWC will maintain, at a minimum, records of complaints for a two year period. The log is available for review by college staff, representatives of accrediting agencies, and by other, appropriate outside agencies. The names of any individuals involved in the complaint (including the names of any student(s) or EWC staff directly involved) are not part of the log.

Complaints, at EWC, are first addressed through the Informal Grievance procedure as outlined in the EWC Student Handbook. Those complaints that are not resolved using the Informal Grievance procedure, are resolved using the Formal Grievance Procedure also outlined in the EWC Student Handbook. The Handbook contains the EWC Student Code of Conduct (Board Policy 5.13) that addresses how behavioral and other issues, including student complaints, are addressed by the College.

Student Grievance and Student Complaint Policy

Please see Board Policy 5.14 for Student Grievance and Student Complaint Policy.