Code of Conduct
Student Code of Conduct
Yakima Valley College (YVC) is committed to providing students with a safe and supportive environment in support of the college mission.
All students are expected to comply with the college’s code of conduct, available in a publication titled Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities and on the Washington state legislature’s website, Washington State Code of Conduct Information.
Washington State Code of Conduct Information
The printed publication is available in the Dean of Student Services office in Yakima and at the Student Services Office in Grandview.
Taking and using as one's own, without proper attribution, the ideas, writings, work of another person, or artificial intelligence, in completing an academic assignment. Prohibited conduct may also include the unauthorized submission for credit of academic work that has been submitted for credit in another course.
Plagiarism is “the wrongful act of taking the product of another person’s mind and presenting it as one’s own” (MLS Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 4th Edition, p. 26). Plagiarism occurs when an author fails to give credit for someone else’s words, someone else’s examples, someone else’s ideas or opinions, statistics or other facts compiled by someone else, evidence or testimony taken from someone else’s argument, or an image from another artist.
YVC recognizes two types of plagiarism: intentional and unintentional. Intentional plagiarism is the dishonest act of appropriating another’s ideas, words, facts, opinions, or images intending to deceive others about the document’s origin. Any student found to have committed intentional plagiarism shall be subject to disciplinary actions provided for in the code for Students Rights and Responsibilities, WAC 132P-33
Students may also commit plagiarism without the intent to deceive. A student’s intent to deceive shall be considered when instructors evaluate an act of plagiarism. All forms of plagiarism which an instructor determines to be unintentional should be treated as instructional problems to be handled within the student-instructor relationship with the instructor following, but not limited by, the following penalty guidelines:
- Student must resubmit the assignment after instruction, but before an agreed-upon due date.
- Student can receive a lowered grade on the assignment, including F.
- Student can be advised to seek aid from the Writing Center or Tutoring Center as a condition for receiving a grade or resubmitting an assignment.
The instructor needs not take formal disciplinary action for unintentional plagiarism.
Student Participation in Governance
As members of the college community, students will be free, individually and collectively, to express their views on college policy and on matters of general interest to the student body. The ASYVC Constitution and the college’s administrative procedures provide clear channels for student participation in the formulation and application of institutional policies regarding academic and student affairs. Individuals affected by a policy shall have a representative voice in the formulation of that policy.