Ethics

Academic Honesty / Honor Code

Any instance of cheating diminishes the NOVA brand and is a violation of other students right to fairness and justice. Instances of cheating include:

• Plagiarism – NOVA has a strict policy against the deliberate reproducing of work of another person or institution without acknowledgement. All sources used for any piece of work should be fully referenced and acknowledged.
• Unlawful Collusion – Collusion between students in the production of materials included in the grading process, whether taking place in the classroom or at home, other than teamwork explicitly assigned by the teacher in unlawful is not allowed. Students are expected to complete their own work.
• Unlawful Copying – Copying from another student’s examination, with or without his/her consent, using course material during a closed book exam, submitting the same work for more than one course without prior permission of both instructors, violating any examination recommendations or any rules relating to academic conduct of a course, unauthorized use of cell phones, calculators, dictionary, books, computer during an examination, are instances of unlawful copying.

When there is any suspicion of cheating in any form, the instructor will refer the student(s) to the Director of Masters Studies. The Director will gather the facts and, if their seriousness is confirmed, refer the matter to the Masters Pedagogical Council (MPC). The MPC will hear the facts and confront the student(s), less than 10 days after the event. The Council will decide on an immediate punishment, under the Director’s suggestion. The minimum sanction will be the failure in the course, and maximum sanction will be expulsion from the program. The MPC will also discuss if there are attenuating circumstances that thwart the case from being referred to the “Disciplinary Council” of the University. If the MPC fails to agree on such circumstances, the case will be automatically referred to the Disciplinary Council. In case of repeated transgressions, confirmed by the MPC, the sanction should be strongly incremental.