Policies and Accessibility
MISSION STATEMENT
Glenville State University prepares and inspires students to be thoughtful, productive, engaged, and responsible citizens who contribute to the well-being of their community, state, nation, and world.
OATH OF EXCELLENCE
Consistent with its mission, the University expects all members of the campus community to conduct themselves in a professional, ethical, and lawful manner. Consequently, new students are to commit themselves at the Convocation to abide by the principles contained in the University’s oath of excellence which follows.
“As a member of the Glenville State University community I dedicate myself to the pursuit of intellectual, cultural, personal, and social growth. To show this commitment I affirm the following:
Freedom of Speech - I will respect the right of others to express themselves as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
Civil and Human Rights - I pledge to protect the civil and human rights of my fellow students, the faculty, staff and administrators and all members of our University community.
Cultivation of Character - I pledge that I will continue to develop virtues such as courage, compassion, humility, honesty, and loyalty.
Academic Integrity - I will dedicate myself to the on-going pursuit of knowledge and truth.
Diversity - I will respect the integrity of each person and value individuals for their contributions, which enrich our community.
Social Responsibility - I will contribute to the Glenville State University community and leave our University a better place for my having been here.
Consideration of Others - I will demonstrate concern for the welfare of others and I will respect the dignity of all persons.”
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY POLICY
Glenville State University requires adherence to the University’s standards of academic integrity. While every case of academic dishonesty cannot be listed exhaustively, the following examples represent some basic types of behavior that are unacceptable and also represent those items for which students may be sanctioned.
- Cheating: using unauthorized notes, mechanical or electrical devices (calculators, cell phones, etc.), study aids, or information on an examination; making unauthorized changes to graded work and misrepresenting those changes as instructor grading error; allowing another person to do one’s work and submitting that work under one’s own name; submitting identical or similar papers for credit in more than one course without prior permission from the course instructors.
- Plagiarism: to plagiarize is, according to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, “To commit literary theft.” Writers or speakers plagiarize if they use words, ideas, or arguments of another and make it appear that these materials are their own. To avoid the charge of plagiarism when using materials derived from another, the writer should follow accepted conventions of punctuation, indentation, and documentation. A handbook of composition will provide a list of these conventions. Glenville State University defines plagiarism as follows:
- Quoting material from a particular source, such as a text, article, or Internet page, or email, without indicating the source and without placing the directly quoted material within quotation marks;
- Taking the ideas or arguments of another person without acknowledging the source of the ideas or arguments;
- Substituting synonyms for an author’s words but preserving the sentence structure or mixing the author’s words or phrases within the paraphrasing and failing to put the author’s words in quotation marks. Citing the source does not excuse you from the charge of plagiarism or;
- Using a theme (paper or essay) or portion of a theme written by someone else. For example, plagiarism occurs if an individual takes or purchases an essay from an Internet service or uses someone else’s essay from a previous semester or another class. Any assignment that is turned in either for credit or review that has been plagiarized will be subject to sanctions of academic dishonesty.
- Fabrication: falsifying or inventing any information, data or citation; presenting data that were not gathered in accordance with standard guidelines defining the appropriate methods for collecting or generating data and failing to include an accurate account of the method by which the data were gathered or collected.
- Obtaining an Unfair Advantage: (a) stealing, reproducing, circulating or otherwise gaining access to examination materials prior to the time authorized by the instructor; (b) stealing, destroying, defacing or concealing library materials with the purpose of depriving others of their use; (c) unauthorized collaborating on an academic assignment (d) retaining, possessing, using or circulating previously given examination materials, where those materials clearly indicate that they are to be returned to the instructor at the conclusion of the examination; (e) intentionally obstructing or interfering with another student’s academic work, or (f) otherwise undertaking activity with the purpose of creating or obtaining an unfair academic advantage over other students’ academic work.
- Aiding and Abetting Academic Dishonesty: (a) providing material, information, or other assistance to another person with knowledge that such aid could be used in any of the violations stated above, or (b) providing false information in connection with any inquiry regarding academic integrity.
- Falsification of Records and Official Documents: altering documents affecting academic records; forging signatures of authorization or falsifying information on an official academic document, grade report, letter of permission, petition, drop/add form, ID card, or any other official University document.
- Unauthorized Access: computerized academic or administrative records or systems: viewing or altering computer records, modifying computer programs or systems, releasing or dispensing information gained via unauthorized access, or interfering with the use or availability of computer systems or information.
CLASS ATTENDENCE POLICY
Students are expected to be present at all class sessions. It may be necessary for the student to be absent from scheduled classes or laboratories for personal reasons. On such occasions, all matters related to a student’s absence, including the making up of work missed, are to be arranged between the student and the professor. The student should also understand that they are responsible for the academic consequences of any absences. The standard of practice is to allow one absence per credit hour; however, each professor may choose an alternate attendance policy. All faculty are required to state their attendance policies in the course syllabus.
Students occasionally may be absent from scheduled classes in order to participate in officially sanctioned university activities, institutional absences. Faculty are obligated to respect institutional absences and may not penalize a student for such an absence if said students make up any graded work missed due to the absence in a timely manner as determined by the instructor. A list of students who are excused during a specific time period will be maintained by the Office of Academic Affairs and circulated to faculty. An institutional absence does not change deadlines for submitting assignments, but faculty will allow students to make up exams, quizzes, presentations, or any other course requirements that have an impact on the course grade conducted during the missed class(es). Students are responsible for all coursework missed due to absences and must initiate any request to make up coursework in a timely manner, as stipulated by faculty on their syllabi. Faculty must allow students missing class for institutional absences to make up any work conducted in class, but at the discretion of the instructor, may assign alternate, equivalent work. Faculty accommodations for requested make-up work must be reasonable and timely; such accommodations may be made prior or subsequent to the institutional absence at the discretion of the instructor. A list of students who are excused during a specific time period will be maintained by the Office of Academic Affairs and circulated to faculty.
In addition, faculty members may excuse absences due to extenuating circumstances beyond student control, as though they are institutional absences. However, if a faculty member chooses to excuse such circumstances, they must excuse them consistently to all students. Furthermore, at the discretion of the faculty member, instructors may require the student to provide documentation of such circumstances and approve or deny a request for an excused absence based on said documentation.
At the beginning of each semester, all professors will provide in the course syllabi a clearly written statement to all their classes regarding their policies in handling absences. Students and faculty are obligated to adhere to the stated requirements of each course. Faculty attendance policy may not contradict institutional policy. All instructors shall maintain a record of student attendance for all classes.
ELECTRONIC DEVICE POLICY
Glenville State University values the time and effort involved in the learning process. Interruptions caused by rings and musical selections from electronic digital communication devices interrupt and disrespect the opportunities for student learning in the classroom environment.
When in the college classroom, all electronic digital communication devices must be turned off and out of sight. Laptop computers may be used only for course-related activities with instructor permission. There may be no conversations via an electronic digital communication device, whether audible or text-messaging, during class. In an emergency situation, the instructor may give a student permission to use an electronic digital communication device.
The instructor has the right to ask the student to leave the classroom for the remainder of the class period if the student needs to use an electronic digital communication device. If the student leaves the room to speak on an electronic digital communication device, it is at the instructor’s discretion as to whether or not the student may return to the classroom when the conversation is completed.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION POLICY
Glenville State University provides equal educational and employment opportunities for prospective and current members of its student body, faculty, and staff on the basis of individual qualifications and merit. In order to ensure genuine equal opportunities for all, Glenville State University:
- Prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, veteran status, disabilities, physical appearance and sexual orientation.
- Will take affirmative actions to employ, advance in employment and otherwise treat without discrimination qualified individuals without regard to race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, veteran status, disabilities or sexual orientation.
- Will not affiliate with nor grant recognition to any individual, group or organization having policies or practices that discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, veteran status, disabilities or sexual orientation.
- Will maintain a work site free of discrimination or harassment of any kind, and will act promptly to correct any violations of this policy.
- Will establish adherence to this policy as a criterion for successful performance in management evaluations. All employees and contractors of the University are required to comply with this policy in the exercise of their functions. Anyone who believes that she/he has been denied the benefits of this policy should contact the Director of Human Resources for advice.
ADA Compliance and Accommodation