Cheating Policy
Tyson Henry
I report many cheating incidents to Student Judicial Affairs, more
than most other CSU Chico faculty (some argue this is because it is
easier to catch cheating in computer science than any other field).
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.
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) Unless I request a meeting, 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 (this is a University rule).
When I am not sure:
If I suspect that you have cheated
but am not sure, I will request to meet with you to discuss your
program/assignment. If you refuse to meet with me, I will assume
that you have cheated and report you to Student Judicial Affairs.
At that point you will have to meet with me and someone from Student
Judicial Affairs. If you continue to refuse to meet with me, I
will pursue a formal disciplinary hearing.
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 (I caught one student 9 days before his graduation).
- 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.