Campus Cheating Policy

Those who have attended Hudson Valley Community College may be familiar with the phrase “Academic Integrity,” which is defined by HVCC as not being involved in “cheating, plagiarism, forgery, sabotage of another’s work, unauthorized collaboration [and] falsification of one’s work or eligibility documentation is prohibited.” The punishment for such acts can result in not passing a class, to being dismissed from school.

Students at HVCC seem to know that cheating is not encouraged, yet it is so prevalent, according to many students. This misconduct is emphasized by many teachers as being something not tolerable. Cheating is “the act of one or a group of people stealing the work of another” said Kevin Maloney, a senior in Criminal Justice. “[It is] acquiring answers in a dishonest way,” added an anonymous student.

The advent of the Internet only seems to make cheating easier, thus a more appealing task. Not only that, but there are fellow students who are willing to assist other students with cheating. So, why do people do it? While the definition of “cheating” may be simple, the question of “why?” seems more complex. There are petty reasons, such as “[students being] too lazy,” said David Lascala, Liberal Arts, to the more complex, such as “[there is the] fear of not being able to come to school because of losing financial aid [due to having bad grades]” explains Angelia Relyea, Liberal Arts. However, students might not know that they are cheating. “Taking a person’s idea is cheating,” said one Hudson Valley student. There is the mishap of writing information but forgetting or losing the source of the information. One student, who wishes to remain anonymous, seemed to agree with Relyea’s statement. “I’ve cheated on tests. I don’t regret it because I couldn’t get the answers and it got me through the course.”

It would seem, in some instances, that some students are so fixated on the tests and homework that it takes away the value of the class, which is not centered on exams but on the actual material being covered. While cheating may feel like the quick and easy fix to a problem, it is in the end, says Logan Heckman, Business Administration, “not very helpful”. Relyea concludes that when you cheat, “you don’t learn anything”. And catching cheaters? Maloney thinks “It would be easy to tell when people cheat.” “There’s always going to be some fundamental differences between how a person acts and on that person’s cheated work.” Lascala said.

Heckman, however, explains that it could be difficult to catch a cheater. “Someone might copy off of another person’s work but it will look different.” The simple solution to such a problem would be to not cheat in the first place. However, that is often easier said than done. Some teachers have taken a precarious way to delude them. One teacher makes his students hand in certain assignments hand written. And, as Lascala stated, some teachers compare the writings of their students to look for inconsistencies. For whatever reason one might feel compelled to cheat, one should know that there is always help available for those who simply ask.