Statement of Policy

Excelsior College supports and encourages the use of the Internet as a means of enriching and enhancing learning. (See the PDF Baseline Technology Skills and Resources.) Electronic activities assist students in achieving specific learning outcomes and to provide an opportunity for collaboration and interaction among students and content specialists. Students in Excelsior College electronic activities must agree to act within the framework of this Electronic Use Policy as described below.

Before participating in any Excelsior College electronic activity including online courses, workshops, chat sessions, and/or discussions, students agree to abide by the following guidelines:

1. Interact electronically with others in a positive, cooperative, supportive manner and display respect for the privacy and rights of others.
2. Participate in an Excelsior College electronic environment in a manner consistent with the stated purpose of these activities.
3. Treat fellow students, staff, and faculty with mutual respect and understanding.
4. Abide by the Excelsior College Academic Honesty Policy.
5. Accept the use of plagiarism detection software* by Excelsior College.

*Plagiarism detection is the practice of finding instances of plagiarism within a document. Plagiarism detection software allows vast collections of documents to be compared to each other, making successful detection much more likely.

Students agree to NOT do the following:

1. Copy words, phrases, sentences, assignments, exams, graphics, or images from a message posted in an Excelsior College electronic course, chat, or discussion area and make this information available outside the electronic environment in which it appeared without the author's written permission.
2. Post without academic justification any messages containing profanity, racism, pornography (text or graphics), or other files whose contents are inconsistent with the mission of Excelsior College.
3. Make available to persons, organizations, or businesses outside of Excelsior College personal information such as names, Social Security numbers, email addresses, residential addresses, or other information that might be used to identify or contact Excelsior College students, faculty, or staff.
4. Divulge proprietary, sensitive, or confidential information about Excelsior College-sponsored activities.
5. Use an Excelsior College electronic environment to advertise or promote services or products of commercial or educational vendors for personal gain. This includes commercial messages in signature files. (Note: signature files automatically inserted by email vendors are acceptable). However, discussion and critical evaluation of commercial products or services are acceptable.
6. Without authorization, link an Excelsior College Web site to their personal Web site or any other Web site.
7. Allow anyone else to use their user name or password to log into an electronic environment.
     a. Use someone else's user name or password to log into an electronic environment.
     b. Post messages or chat under an alias or maintain multiple user names for electronic sessions without authorization.
8. Misrepresent messages created by others including Excelsior College staff and faculty.
     a. Present someone else's messages or academic work as their own.
     b. Allow someone else to present the student's messages or academic work as their own.
9. Attempt to access restricted areas of an electronic environment such as student accounts, gradebooks or to alter information in these areas.
10. Attempt to hack or break into, alter, damage, or destroy the integrity of electronic information, software, or hardware associated with Excelsior College electronic systems.
11. Without authorization, introduce into an Excelsior College electronic course, chat, or discussion area bandwidth-intensive audio, video, graphics, or other files exceeding 5MB that may interfere with the efficient operation of Excelsior College servers.
12. Violate intellectual property laws by posting material containing quotes or references to someone else's ideas without accurately and appropriately citing the source of the material.

Participation in Excelsior College electronic activities is a privilege and access to these activities may be denied if it is determined that a student's online behavior violates the letter or spirit of this Electronic Use Policy. In such a case, the student will be subject to disciplinary or legal action taken by Excelsior College and that such action may include restricting or denying access to an electronic environment and suspension or expulsion from Excelsior College.

Excelsior College reserves the right to delete any message or part of a message that violates the guidelines set forth in this document.

Procedure

Staff, faculty, or students who believe that a student has not adhered to the Electronic Use Policy will bring the matter to the attention of the appropriate dean or dean’s designee. The dean or designee will investigate the alleged violation, and determine the action, if any, to be taken. If action is warranted, the student will be notified of the proposed disciplinary action as well as the date disciplinary action will be imposed.

Specific to cases regarding alleged plagiarism, please refer to the Plagiarism Policy.

In response to alleged violations of the Electronic Use Policy, Excelsior College reserves the right to take any or all of the following actions:

• Bar the student from enrolling in the College or registering for courses and examinations.
• Assign a failing grade for an exam or course.
• Suspend or dismiss the student. If the student is dismissed, the College reserves the right to revoke all credits. If the student has withdrawn or graduated, any credits and/or degree and certificate/diploma previously awarded may be revoked and the student will be asked to return the certificate or diploma.
• Suspend or terminate College services previously available to the student.
• Retain all tuition and fees paid by the student.
• Withhold course grade(s) and/or examination score(s) and official Excelsior College transcripts.
• Take other action, as appropriate.

If a student is found to have indeed violated the Electronic Use Policy, Excelsior College reserves the right to take any or all of the following actions:

• Permanently annotate a student’s record to reflect action(s) taken by the College in response to the student’s violation of the Academic Honesty Policy.
• Notify educational institutions, licensing or certification boards, employers or others, who have previously received a transcript or similar certification. e.g., Letter of Completion (LOC), Letter of Qualification (LOQ), of any action taken by the College.
• Prohibit reenrollment in Excelsior College except by appeal.
• Dismissal from Excelsior College.

When there is a suspected violation of electronic use, the student will be notified in writing of the nature of the alleged violation and the action, if any, that the College proposes to take. College services to the student may be suspended following student notification.

Right to Appeal
A student has the right to appeal any disciplinary action. A student residing in the United States has 30 days to appeal the alleged violation, whereas a student living outside the United States has 45 days to appeal. The appeal must be in writing and respond in detail to the alleged violation, and shall be addressed to:

Provost and Chief Academic Officer
Excelsior College
7 Columbia Circle
Albany, NY 12203-5159

If the student chooses to appeal, the appeal will be reviewed by the Student Appeals Committee. The Student Appeals Committee will review the petition and supporting documents within 30 days of its receipt, and make a recommendation of action to the Provost. The Provost will notify the student in writing of the decision.

If the student chooses not to appeal the recommended disciplinary action from the College within the required time frame, this action will be final.

Petition for Reinstatement to Excelsior College
A student who has been denied services or has been dismissed because of a violation of the Academic Honesty Policy may petition for reinstatement no sooner than two years from the date of the final decision. The petition must be in writing, must present a rationale for reinstatement, and shall be addressed to:

Provost and Chief Academic Officer
Excelsior College
7 Columbia Circle
Albany, NY 12203-5159

The Student Appeals Committee will review the petition and supporting documents within 30 days of its receipt, and make a recommendation of action to the Provost. The Provost will notify the student in writing of the decision.

Students who are subsequently reinstated will be governed by the academic policies in effect at the time of reinstatement.

Any certificates and/or degrees previously revoked will not be reinstated.