WORK FOR GRADE POLICIES

"Work for grade" is defined as any work, whether written or oral, that is presented to an instructor for a grade. All work submitted for grade is considered the cadet’s own work, whether or not he or she has indicated that it is "certified." "Cadet’s own work" means that he or she has composed the work from his or her general accumulation of knowledge and skill and that it has been composed especially for the current assignment. No work previously submitted in any course will be resubmitted for grade in a current course without the specific approval of the instructor. The cadet is referred to the VMI-authorized handbook for rules concerning quotations, paraphrases, and documentation, and to his or her instructor for requirements on identifying sources used on certified assignments.

If a cadet has received help on work submitted for grade from sources other than those specifically authorized, he or she must write "HELP RECEIVED" conspicuously on his or her written work (or, at the beginning of an oral presentation, state that he or she has received help), and he or she must explain the nature of the help received. Admission of help received may result in a lower grade but will not result in prosecution for an honor violation. Cadets are certified in regard to the contents of a quiz/exam until it is returned to them. Certification, in this case, means that they cannot talk to anyone, except the instructor, about the contents of the quiz/exam. This enjoiner does not imply that any inadvertent expression or behavior that might indicate one’s feeling about the test should be considered a breach of the certification. The real issue is whether individuals received information, not available to everyone else in the class, which would give them an unfair advantage. If an individual inadvertently gives or receives information, the incident must be reported. Each cadet is responsible for familiarizing himself or herself thoroughly with the policies stated in this section, with any supplementary statement posted by the academic department offering a course he or she is taking, and with any policies stated by his or her instructor. If he or she has any doubt about the correct interpretation of a policy, he or she should consult the instructor offering the course. The violation by a cadet of any of these policies will, if he or she is found guilty, result in his or her being dismissed from VMI. His or her ignorance of the correct interpretation of these policies is no excuse.

ADDITIONAL POLICIES:

Receiving help from other sources (e.g. discussions with tutors, people at the Writing Center, your room-mates, etc.) is not only allowed but encouraged. The nature of any such help received should be explained on the cover-page of your paper. Any specific ideas that are not originally your own should be attributed to their source. Words that are not your own should be put in quotation marks.

Only a lazy idiot would not take advantage of a computer spell-checking facility. Doing so does not violate the Honor Code. Style and grammar checkers, on the other hand, do not work, and only an idiot would use one.