Indiana University–Purdue University Columbus Indiana University–Purdue University Columbus IUPUC

Academic Policies & Procedures

Indiana University has adopted a code that applies, with only minor differences, to students on all Indiana University campuses. The code spells out what constitutes unacceptable behavior and the procedures to be followed when there are alleged cases of misconduct. What follows is not the code but rather abbreviated and paraphrased statements on key elements of the code: academic and personal misconduct as well as a section on what students should do if they believe that other students, faculty, or staff have violated their rights. The code also explains the procedures employed and how students may appeal decisions. For more information, consult the IUPUC Office of Registrar Services.   For an online copy of the code, visit our website.

A. Academic Misconduct
The university may discipline a student for academic misconduct, which is defined as any activity that tends to compromise the academic integrity of the institution and undermine the educational process. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Cheating
  1. A student must not use external assistance on any "in-class" or "take-home" examination, unless the instructor specifically has authorized such assistance. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, the use of tutors, books, notes, and calculators. 
  2. A student must not use another person as a substitute in the taking of an examination or quiz. 
  3. A student must not steal examinations or other course materials. 
  4. A student must not allow others to conduct research or to prepare any work for him or her without advance authorization from the instructor to whom the work is being submitted. Under this prohibition, a student must not make any unauthorized use of materials obtained from commercial term paper companies or from files of papers prepared by other persons. 
  5. A student must not collaborate with other persons on a particular project and submit a copy of a written report which is represented explicitly or implicitly as the student's own individual work. 
  6. A student must not use any unauthorized assistance in a laboratory, at a computer terminal, or on fieldwork. 
  7. A student must not submit substantial portions of the same academic work for credit or honors more than once without permission of the instructor to whom the work is being submitted. 
  8. A student must not alter a grade or score in any way.
2. Fabrication

A student must not falsify or invent any information or data in an academic exercise including, but not limited to, records or reports, laboratory results, and citations to the sources of information.

3. Plagiarism

A student must not adopt or reproduce ideas, words, or statements of another person without an appropriate acknowledgment. A student must give due credit to the originality of others and acknowledge an indebtedness whenever he or she does any of the following:

  1. Quotes another person's actual words, either oral or written;
  2. Paraphrases another person's words, either oral or written;
  3. Uses another person's idea, opinion, or theory; or
  4. Borrows facts, statistics, or other material, unless the information is common knowledge.
4. Interference
  1. A student must not steal, change, destroy, or impede another student's work. Impeding another student's work includes, but is not limited to, the theft, defacement, or mutilation of resources so as to deprive others of the information they contain.
  2. A student must not give or offer a bribe, promise favors, or make threats with the intention of affecting a grade or the evaluation of academic performance.
5. Violation of Course Rules

     A student must not violate course rules as contained in a course syllabus or other information provided to the student.

6.  Facilitating Academic Dishonesty

     A student must not intentionally or knowingly help or attempt to help another student to commit an act of academic misconduct.

B. Personal Misconduct on University Property

The university may discipline a student for the following acts of personal misconduct which occur on university property:

1. Dishonest conduct including, but not limited to, false accusation of misconduct; forgery, alteration, or misuse of any university document, record, or identification; and giving to a university official information known to be false.

2. Initiating or circulating a report or warning concerning an impending bombing, fire, or other emergency or catastrophe, knowing that the report is false; making a false report concerning a fire or that a bomb or other explosive has been placed in any university building or elsewhere on university property; or transmitting such a report to an official or an official agency.

3. Release of access codes for university computer and duplicating systems and other university equipment to unauthorized persons; use of an access code for a purpose other than that stated on the request for service.

4. Lewd, indecent, or obscene conduct.

5. Disorderly conduct which interferes with teaching, research, administration, or other university or university-authorized activity.

6. Actions which endanger the student, the university community, or the academic process.

7. Failure to comply with the directions of authorized university officials in the performance of their duties, including failure to identify oneself when requested to do so; failure to comply with the terms of a disciplinary sanction.

8. Unauthorized entry, use, or occupancy of university facilities; refusal to vacate a university facility when directed to do so by an authorized official of the university.

9. Unauthorized taking or possession of university property or services; unauthorized taking or possession of the property or services of others.

10. Damage to or destruction of university property or of property on university premises belonging to others.

11. Unauthorized setting of fires on university property; unauthorized use of or interference with fire equipment.

12. Unauthorized possession, use, manufacture, distribution, or sale of illegal fireworks, incendiary devices, or other dangerous explosives.

13. Possession of firearms or other weapons on university property contrary to law; possession or display of any firearm on university property frequented by the public, except, in the course of an authorized activity, possession of weapons in residence halls on university property in violation of residence hall rules; and intentional possession on university property of a dangerous article or substance as a potential weapon.

14. Acting with violence; and aiding, encouraging, or participating in a riot.

15. Sexual harassment, as defined in section I.A.3 (above) of this code.

16. Harassment based on sexual orientation, as defined in section I.A.4 (above) of this code.

17. Racial harassment, as defined in section I.A.5 (above) of this code.

18. Hazing, defined as any conduct which subjects another person, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or psychologically, to anything that may endanger, abuse, degrade, or intimidate the person as a condition of association with a group or organization, regardless of the person's consent or lack of consent.

19. Physical abuse of any person, including the following:

  1. The use of physical force or violence to restrict the freedom of action or movement of another person or to endanger the health or safety of another person;
  2. Physical behavior that involves an express or implied threat to interfere with an individual's personal safety, academic efforts, employment, or participation in university-sponsored extracurricular activities and causes the person to have a reasonable apprehension that such harm is about to occur; or
  3. Physical behavior that has the purpose or reasonably foreseeable effect of interfering with an individual's personal safety, academic efforts, employment, or participation in university-sponsored extracurricular activities and causes the person to have a reasonable apprehension that such harm is about to occur.

20. Verbal abuse of another person, including the following:

  1. a. An express or implied threat to:
    1. Interfere with an individual's personal safety, academic efforts, employment, or participation in university sponsored activities; or
    2. Injure that person, or damage his or her property; and under the circumstances causes the person to have a reasonable apprehension that such harm is about to occur; or
  2. "Fighting words" that are spoken face-to-face as a personal insult to the listener or listeners in personally abusive language inherently likely to provoke a violent reaction by the listener or listeners to the speaker.

21. Unauthorized possession or use of alcoholic beverages.

  1. The following actions are prohibited by Indiana University:
    1. Use or possession of alcoholic beverages on university property, or in the course of a university activity or student organization activity, contrary to law;
    2. Use or possession of alcoholic beverages in any undergraduate residence supervised by the university, including fraternity and sorority houses;
    3. Use or conspicuous possession of alcoholic beverages in or on any property of the university frequented by the public, except in areas specifically designated by the chief administrative officer of the campus.
  2. The possession or use of alcoholic beverages is not forbidden in the following areas of the university unless otherwise prohibited by law:
    1. In designated graduate housing and residence hall buildings designated as restricted to students who are twenty-one years of age or older, including residence rooms and certain common areas approved for such purpose by the Dean of Students. The Dean of Students may enact rules to regulate such use or possession.
    2. In designated undergraduate residences supervised by the university when temporary permission is granted by the Dean of Students for events at which persons twenty-one years of age or older may lawfully possess and use alcoholic beverages.
    3. In designated family housing, including residence rooms, apartments, and certain common areas approved for such purpose by the Dean of Students. The Dean of Students may enact rules to regulate such use or possession.
    4. In Union Buildings, including guest rooms and certain other areas specifically approved by the chief administrative officer of the campus.
    5. In other areas, such as private offices and faculty lounges, not accessible to the public and specifically approved by the chief administrative officer of the campus.
  3. Student organizations that serve or permit possession of alcoholic beverages at student organization functions, on or off campus, may be disciplined if violations of alcoholic beverage laws or of university regulations occur. Individual students who plan, sponsor, or direct such functions also may be subject to discipline.

22. Unauthorized possession or use of illegal drugs.

  1. The following actions are prohibited by Indiana University:
    1. Use or possession of any drug or controlled substance, or of drug paraphernalia, on university property or in the course of a university activity or student organization activity, contrary to law. It is not a violation of university regulations for students to possess such drugs or controlled substances if they are possessed under the terms of a valid and legal prescription for such drugs or controlled substances.
    2. Use of university facilities to manufacture, process, or distribute any drug or controlled substance contrary to law.
    3. Sale, gift, or transfer of drugs, controlled substances, or drug paraphernalia to Indiana University students, whether or not such sale, gift, or transfer occurs on university property or in the course of a university activity or student organization activity.
  2. The term "controlled substance" is defined in Indiana law, and includes, but is not limited to, substances such as marijuana, cocaine, narcotics, certain stimulants and depressants, and hallucinogens.

23. Violation of other published university regulations, policies, or rules.

24. A violation of any Indiana or federal criminal law.

C. Personal Misconduct Not on University Property

The university may discipline a student for acts of personal misconduct on or off university property. Acts of personal misconduct that are not committed on university property but arise from university activities that are being conducted off the university campus, or if the misconduct undermines the security of the university community or the integrity of the education process are also subject to disciplinary action. Examples of this kind of personal misconduct are:

  1. Altering academic transcripts
  2. Arson
  3. Battery
  4. Drug trafficking
  5. Forgery
  6. Fraud
  7. Harassment of a student
  8. Hazing
  9. Rape
  10. Sexual Assault
  11. Trafficking in term papers
  12. Unauthorized use of a computer off the campus to obtain access to information on campus
  13. Participation in group violence

D. Complaints Against Faculty, Staff, and Students

When a student believes that any of his or her rights, as defined in Part I of the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct have been violated by another student or by a member of the university faculty, administration, staff, or a student organization, the student should ordinarily attempt to resolve the matter by making an informal complaint to the person or organization involved.

If the problem is not resolved to the complainant's satisfaction by contacting the person(s) involved, personnel in the Dean of Students Office or other appropriate persons can be consulted about options for resolution of the problem.

E. Disruptive Conduct

IUPUC strives to maintain a spirit of civility in a community in which diversity is welcomed. Every student, staff, and faculty member plays a significant role in promoting an environment that is conducive to academic excellence by fostering a climate of civility and mutual respect. In all circumstances it is expected that everyone will act with respect for one another. Difference of opinion and dissent are ordinarily thought of as disagreement or debate. They are not "disruptive conduct" as long as they do not impinge upon the rights of others or interfere with the teaching/learning process in an academic setting. As a community which values the uniqueness of people, behavior which is thought of as "different" or "unusual" is not "disruptive behavior" unless it infringes upon the rights of others or seriously interferes with the teaching/learning process in an academic setting.

The IUPUC instructional program is based on the premise that students enrolled at IUPUC are entitled to receive instruction free from interference by other students. When students are admitted to IUPUC, they accept the responsibility to conform to all IUPUC rules and regulations. Students are expected to comply by conducting themselves in an orderly and cooperative manner.