Ethical Standards & Practices

Code of Conduct

The University has established the following Code of Conduct for all current or former students and alumni. As a member of the NCU Community, each student is expected to understand the terms and conditions set forth in this Policy, comply with the standards, and conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner. (See the Employee Handbook and Faculty Handbook for the Code of Conduct applicable to staff and faculty.)

Northcentral is committed to maintaining an inclusive community with exceptional ethical standards of professional and academic conduct. Substantiated violations may result in disciplinary sanctions, up to and including expulsion from the University.

Community members of the University are expected to conduct themselves professionally, and refrain from acts of misconduct including but not limited to the following seven categories:

• Dishonesty, cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation or furnishing false information, forgery, or misuse of academic or administrative materials
• Harassment, stalking, humiliation, name-calling, the use of insulting or offensive language, cyber-bullying, threatening communications, abuse and intimidation
• Conduct, in speech, written communication or behavior, that is disrespectful or unprofessional or racist, sexist, ageist, or that is otherwise prejudicial against a particular community or social group
• Failure to follow community guidelines for University-sponsored events (i.e., commencement ceremony, dissertation boot camps, etc.) or University run social media engagement platforms (i.e., The Commons, Alumni Association app, etc.) to include any social media posts that are contrary to university values and lead to disruption in the NCU Community.
• Disruption or obstruction of the normal operations of the University; including unauthorized use of any of the University’s facilities, informational or material properties, and resources
• Conduct, in speech, written communication or behavior, that is disorderly, lewd, lascivious, indecent, sexually abusive, or otherwise inappropriate, or that constitutes a breach of the peace; including violation of the University’s policy that prohibits bringing alcohol, recreational drugs, or firearms onto University property or any location during a University-sponsored event
• Failure to cooperate during a University investigation

All members of the University community who become aware of violations of the Code of Conduct have a responsibility to report them to the appropriate authority.

For violations of an academic nature, the appropriate authority is the relevant Dean or Provost.

For violations that are administrative in nature, the appropriate authority is the relevant director of the functional area that oversees the administrative functions.

For violations that involve monies or are financial in nature, the appropriate authority is the Director of Financial Aid Oversight and Vice President of Student Operations.

For minor violations of an interpersonal nature, the appropriate authority is the relevant Director, Vice President, or member of the President’s Cabinet.

For violations, including any instance of intimidation or sexual harassment, the violation must be reported to the University President and/or the Vice President of Human Resources.

A member of the University community who is the victim of a sexual assault should immediately notify law enforcement by dialing 911. A team member of the University who, in the course of their job responsibilities, suspects the sexual or physical abuse of a child must immediately report the incident to the law enforcement by dialing 911. If an incident of sexual assault occurs at a University location, it must be immediately reported to Human Resources.

Faculty and team members involved in the purported Code of Conduct violation(s) have a responsibility to report such incidents to the appropriate Dean by submitting a completed Suspected Code of Conduct Violation form.

The Dean will review the charges presented thus the ownership of the investigation (including supporting documentation) should fall on the reporting party.

NOTE: this policy does not regulate any group or individual posting on their own social media unless their conduct/communication is directed toward or has a direct and negative effect on members of the NCU Community. 

Procedure: Responding to Alleged Violations of Code of Conduct

Academic Integrity

NCU is committed to supporting students and faculty in understanding and applying standards of academic integrity by:

• Using an industry-recognized text-matching service to screen student assignments
• Publishing policy standards in the Catalog
• Providing materials about Academic Integrity in NCUOne
• Providing additional tools through the ASC on APA standards

The University considers it a serious violation of academic integrity to – intentionally or unintentionally – present the thoughts or ideas of another as your own. The key to academic integrity originates in the writer’s choices on how to divide their voice from the voices of others. Plagiarism includes but is not limited to the following:

• Copying entire documents and presenting them as your own
• Cutting and pasting from the work of others without properly citing the source
• Stringing together quotes and /or ideas of others without connecting their work to your own original work
• Asserting ideas without acknowledging their sources or reproducing verbatim work written by others without properly citing your sources
• Accidental appropriation of the work of others due to a lack of understanding of documentation conventions
• Purchasing work from others and submitting it as your own

To monitor for potential plagiarism, the University submits student assignments through the institution’s third-party text matching service. For dissertation courses, the final dissertation proposal and dissertation manuscript must be submitted through the text matching service.

Faculty may submit additional coursework to the text matching service as needed or instructed by the School Dean or designee.

NOTE: NCU’s response to academic integrity violations may range from requiring a student to re-write a paper to administrative dismissal from the University.

Scope of Policy

The Academic Integrity policy applies to all course assignments submitted by a student to an instructor, including but not limited to the following:

• Discussion postings
• Exams
• Signature assignments
• Course papers
• Comprehensive portfolio/prospectus 
• Written assignments using outside source information
• Dissertation documents (dissertation chapters, concept papers, proposals, and final reports)

Re-using or Re-purposing Prior Work

All student work must be original and written specifically for the course in which it was assigned. Presenting one’s previously used work as an original work in subsequent assignments is plagiarism and is inconsistent with honesty and truthfulness in scholarship. Submitting the same coursework to multiple courses also violates Academic Integrity unless the resubmitted work is substantially changed and cited as previous work. NCU faculty and students should discuss the expectations of each activity at the beginning of the class. There should be a clear understanding between the faculty member and student regarding the use of prior work in the class. The faculty member must indicate if the student’s response must be an original work or if the student may use prior work in their response to a new activity.

Exceptions

1. Previously attempted course - A student may submit prior work for the same course when re-taking a course that was previously attempted. Students must notify their faculty that they previously attempted the course and are re-using prior work. This exception notwithstanding, refining prior work before submission to best reflect the student’s current scholarly abilities and achieve the best chance for a passing grade on the re-take is always prudent.
2. When instructed to do so by the faculty or assignment instructions - re-submission of prior work or revised work is permitted.

Acceptable Use of Information Technology

Through NCUOne, NCU provides students with access to course rooms, messaging system, Library, and other academic resources. The University also provides computer, network, Internet, Intranet, and email access for team members and faculty for the performance of their job functions. This access carries certain responsibilities and obligations as to what constitutes acceptable use of the institution’s network. This policy explains how information technology (IT) resources are to be used and specifies what actions are prohibited. No policy can cover every situation, and all users are expected to use common sense when using institutional resources. Questions on what constitutes acceptable use should be directed to the user’s team leader, instructor, or Academic and Finance Advisor.

When utilizing University IT resources, all institutional policies are in effect at all times. Any student, team member, or faculty member who abuses the privilege of NCU facilitated access to student or faculty NCUOne, e-mail, or the Internet may be denied access to and, if appropriate, be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination or dismissal from the University.

Scope

The scope of this policy includes any and all use of institutional IT resources, including but not limited to, the student and faculty NCUOne, computer systems, phones, email, the network, network resources, and University Internet and Intranet connections.

NCU recognizes that use of e-mail and the Internet make communication more efficient and effective. However, Internet service and e-mail are valuable, costly resources and their purpose is to facilitate NCU business. Irresponsible use reduces their availability for critical business operations, compromises security and network integrity, and leaves NCU open to potentially damaging litigation. All use of the NCU IT resources must be in support of business, education, and research consistent with the purposes of NCU. This policy discusses acceptable usage for computers, e-mail, and the Internet.

• Restrictions and Prohibitions on Use and Access
     
• Password Standards
     
• Copyright Infringement
     
• Violations and Penalties under Federal Law
    
• Institutional Sanctions for Copyright Infringement
    

Fair Use of Copyrighted Material

The NCU Library is committed to compliance with intellectual property law and the preservation of the rights of copyright owners and users of copyrighted materials. The Library strives to inform all its constituencies of the rights and responsibilities under the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. Section 107).

• Fair use applies to the digital environment without regard to the medium of the original work
• Fair use does not supersede licensed resources unless the terms of controlling agreements specifically defer to U.S. Copyright Act 17 U.S.C. Section 107
• Fair use depends on a case-by-case examination of facts surrounding each case, and the four factors identified in U.S. Copyright Act 17 U.S.C. Section 107:
  1. The purpose or character of the use; including whether such use is of a commercial nature or for nonprofit educational purposes
  2. The nature of the copyrighted work used
  3. The amount and substantiality of the work being used
  4. The effect of the use on the market for or value of the original work

The Library works to comply with the Fair Use Guidelines and the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) regarding photocopied materials. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified by the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research.” If a user makes a request for or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. NCU reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, the fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

Students should refer to the Acceptable Use of Information Technology Policy for additional policies and procedures related to copyright infringement – including Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing – institutional sanctions for student misconduct, and violations and penalties for copyright infringement under federal law.