The University of Central Florida is located in Orlando and attracts students from all over the state and country. UCF offers several degree programs from bachelors through doctorate and has a competitive applicant pool. An environment full of students striving to be the top in their class can push students to make mistakes. Academic integrity violations like cheating and plagiarism can lead to strict disciplinary action. What happens if a UCF student is facing an accusation of cheating or plagiarism? Read on for defense tips from a UCF student defense attorney.
What does UCF consider an academic integrity violation?
Some violations include the following categories:
- Unauthorized Assistance – Using past course materials, professor’s old tests, textbook test databases or other materials not allowed by the professor.
- Communication with another person – essentially looking at someone else’s test to copy answers or using your cell phone to receive text messages.
- Commercial use of academic material – this is selling your old notes or tests. Whether it be to a friend, acquaintance or uploading to course hero, you are prohibited from giving your old course materials to anyone else. The policy includes all types of documents from labs, homework, study guides, and even your own class notes.
- Falsifying or misrepresenting your own academic work – this includes turning in someone else’s assignment or using fake citations.
- Plagiarism – Paying a service to do your work, turning in someone else’s old paper, submitting the same paper into two classes, or failing to acknowledge or cite the work of someone else you may have used in your assignment or paper.
What happens if a professor accuses a UCF student of cheating or plagiarism?
UCF takes every incident seriously. Students will be informed of the violation and have the choice to accept responsibility and the associated consequences or fight the allegations to avoid punishment. Consequences for a violation range from loss of credit on the assignment or test up to expulsion from the university or revocation of your degree.
Can an UCF student hire a lawyer to assist in defending against an academic integrity violation?
Yes. I fight for students using my decades of legal experience to defend against accusations of cheating and plagiarism. My specialized expertise can increase a student’s chance of a successful defense.
Call today to start building your UCF academic integrity defense.
Richard Asselta is an award-winning student defense lawyer. He helps all UCF students accused of academic integrity violations like cheating and plagiarism. Call today to avoid a suspension, expulsion or degree revocation from the University of Central Florida. 855-338-5299 Click here to read what clients are saying about Richard on AVVO, an attorney review website.