Cheating Policy

Cheating Policy
Tyson Henry

I probably report more cheating incidents to Student Judicial Affairs than almost all other CSU Chico faculty. If you are planning on cheating this semester I strongly suggest that you don't cheat in my classes.

The first time I catch you cheating on an assignment or an exam I will:

1) Immediately report you to Student Judicial Affairs
2) Send you an e-mail outlining my case against you
3) Give you a zero for the assignment or exam or an F in the class

If I don't give you an F for cheating the first time, the second time I catch you cheating I will:

1) Immediately report you to Student Judicial Affairs
2) Send you an e-mail outlining my case against you
3) Give you an F for the entire course

If I catch you cheating:

1) You may not talk to me about it in person (I am tired of cheaters lying to me).
2) You may submit a written rebuttal via e-mail. If you convince me in your written rebuttal that you have not cheated then I will notify Student Judicial Affairs and restore your grade.
3) You may NOT take the course for grade forgiveness.

Over the years I have caught many students who faced serious consequences for cheating. For example, students I have caught cheating have:

Been kicked out of the University
Not graduate and thus are unable to start their new job
Lost financial aid
Lost financial support from their parents
Lost their visas
Lost their last chance to obtain a college degree

If you are unclear what constitutes cheating come talk to me. "I didn't know it was cheating" is NOT a viable defense.

Cheaters are always surprised:

You don't know the tools and techniques that I use to catch cheaters. Since you don't know my methods, it is silly to think you can evade them. I have caught many very clever cheaters who were certain they knew how to hide the fact they were cheating. But since they didn't know all of my methods, their attempts failed.

Every semester I develop new and more powerful techniques to catch cheaters.

Advice to would be cheaters:

If you are caught cheating you may not take the course for forgiveness (this makes it very hard for a graduate student to finish the degree because of the 3.0 GPA requirement).
If you do not want any of these things to happen to you, DO NOT CHEAT.
If you have already been reported to Student Judicial Affairs, think carefully about the consequences of being caught again.
If you feel so stressed that you are about to resort to cheating, come talk to me. I can help you survive the course without cheating.
Do not underestimate my ability to catch cheaters. I have caught many bright and clever cheaters.
I often analyze student assignments after the semester has ended. If you don't get caught during the semester, don't be surprised if you get caught later. There is no statute of limitation on cheating.

Advice to non cheaters:

Do not give your assignments to anyone, even if they promise not to turn it in.
Do not give your password to anyone. If you have given it away, change it.
Do not post your assignments on the web.
Make sure the protection on your assignment directories is set so others cannot read your files ("$ chmod 700 112" will set the protection for the directory named "112" so no others can read it).
If you are suspicious that a fellow student is cheating, tell me. I can spend some extra time examining their work.

Examples of cheating:

copying code from another student without a clear and detailed reference
copying code from a book without a clear and detailed reference
copying code from the internet without a clear and detailed reference
getting a friend to write your code
paying someone else to write your code
stealing code
letting someone steal your code (e.g. giving out your password, incorrect file protection)
giving your code to another student (both giving code and taking code are forms of cheating)
helping another student so much that he/she is not doing the assignment (both helping too much and getting helped too much are forms of cheating)

On the other hand, you are allowed to discuss projects and you may get help finding bugs. Just make sure you don't get so much help that you are no longer doing the work. Talk to me if you are unsure if you are getting too much help.