English Department Policies and Procedures

English Classroom

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty is against the standards set forth by Truckee Meadows Community College and Nevada System of Higher Education. Academic dishonesty is defined as: cheating, plagiarizing, or otherwise obtaining grades under false pretenses. Plagiarism is defined as submitting the language, ideas, thoughts or work of another as one's own; or assisting in the act of plagiarism by allowing one's work to be used in this fashion.

See the TMCC College Catalog: Rules and Disciplinary Procedures for Students for a definition of cheating. Cheating is also defined by the English Department as the unauthorized use of artificial intelligence (AI) to produce language that the student represents as their own work is a form of cheating. In some instances, with instructor guidance, the use of AI to stimulate the composition process may be appropriate.

Disciplinary procedures for incidents of academic dishonesty may involve both academic action and administrative action for behavior against the campus regulations for student conduct. The academic faculty member of record may determine whether administrative action is warranted and may determine any academic consequences resulting from student misconduct.

Any one or all of the following can happen if a student plagiarizes or otherwise commits an act of academic dishonesty: 

  • Reduction in grade or no credit for assignment
  • Notification sent to TMCC’s student conduct officer
  • Reduction of final course grade, including an F for serious violations

See the TMCC College Catalog: Rules and Disciplinary Procedures for Students, for further information on disciplinary sanctions. The English Department will support the stated syllabus policies of instructors.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The English Dept. Does not support the use of AI in our classes. Because the English department views writing as a process and situated to an occasion, AI-generated text, by its very nature, goes against this foundational philosophy.  We teach writing as a vehicle to enhance critical thinking, engage with disciplinary content, and consider multiple audiences. In this regard, AI-generated text circumvents the learning process. AI-generated text is constructed by big data plagiarism platforms by scans that take text from other authors without their consent.

Students may only use AI if their instructors specifically direct them to engage with it for a specific purpose for pedagogical purposes. 

Attendance

The TMCC English Department adheres to the TMCC College Catalog which articulates the following attendance policy: Because instructors consider class attendance an integral part of the learning experience, students are required to attend the first class of each course in which they register and adhere to the attendance policy established by the course instructor and articulated in the course syllabus. It is the student's responsibility to withdraw from the classes they are unable to attend. During the 100% refund period an instructor may drop a student for nonattendance and/or not meeting the prerequisites of the class. For policy governing religious observations, please refer to the TMCC College Catalog.

Tardiness

Matters of tardiness are to be resolved between the instructor and the student. The instructor will have articulated the class policies for tardiness on the syllabus.

Late Work

Policies and penalties for late work are left to the discretion of the instructor, and the student is required to adhere to the policies concerning late work in the course syllabus. The English Department will support the stated syllabus policies of the instructors.

Teaching

The TMCC English Department is committed to meeting equivalent standards for all of our courses, both online and on-site. To that end, the department requires that all courses meet and maintain similar quality of instruction and academic rigor. Courses must fulfill the established course objectives and learning outcomes and include similar substantive content. They will also use similar grading standards. It is the responsibility of the chair and the department to develop apparatus for reviewing all courses. Online and on-site instruction will be reviewed in an equivalent manner.

The department realizes that student and instructor interaction is important in the class experience. For both on-site and online instruction, instructors should respond to student emails within 48 hours, and papers should be returned to students with comments within a two-week window. Further, students have the right to ask and receive an in-progress grade anytime during the semester.

The department recognizes that online courses present different circumstances than on-site courses and is committed to ensuring that faculty complete appropriate training in online pedagogy, content delivery methods, and teaching resources.