JTS Plagiarism Policy
- Category: Current Students
According to dictionary.com, Plagiarism is “an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author…” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism)
Plagiarism is tantamount to stealing someone else’s idea, and in the days of copyrights can be a very costly crime. Academic institutions will not tolerate instances of plagiarism, and JTS is no different. Therefore, if a student is suspected of plagiarism or admits to such, the following steps will be taken:
- The faculty member will meet with the student to discuss the situation. If plagiarism is determined, the faculty member will then inform the Academic Office by filling out the “plagiarism discovery form” and submitting it to the Dean’s office. The incident is then recorded on the school’s “Student Plagiarism Database,” to determine whether or not this is the first infraction of the student, and what action is appropriate.
- Once plagiarism has been confirmed and the incident recorded, penalties will follow as stipulated below:
- For a first offence, the student will be asked to redo the paper/assignment making the necessary corrections. The paper/assignment will then be scored with no more than the minimum passing grade.
- A second offence will attract a total failure of the course and suspension from school for at least one semester.
- A third infraction of plagiarism will result in the student’s expulsion from the institution.
- At all stages of the process the student is to be warned in writing by the Academic Office of what stage of the process s/he is at, the sanctions applicable and possible increased sanctions if the offense is repeated.
- Students may exercise their right to appeal by making such appeal in writing, to the Academic Affairs Committee, no later than fourteen (14) days after being informed of the decision regarding their plagiarism. If such does not provide a satisfactory outcome to the students they may appeal the decision to a higher authority, namely Academic Dean and then President for a final decision.
