The following content outlines in more explicit terms, the implications of the Washington College Honor Code regarding use of information technology. Violators of these general guidelines may be subject to penalty under the Honor Code, the seriousness of which may extend to denial of graduation or expulsion.
Violations of these guidelines should be reported by the offender to the appropriate faculty member or the Academic Dean within 48 hours to avoid being reported to the Honor Board.
The unauthorized use of another's intellectual property, including:
Because of how easy it is to simply copy and paste material from the Internet, some may feel inclined to plagiarize online sources. This is actually worse than the old fashioned form of plagiarism, where one would have to copy by rote passages in books or periodicals, particularly because online material is often inaccurate, poorly documented and/or of a biased and opinionated nature. Chances are, if the material being stolen from an online source is of quality, professors would recognize it anyway.
This involves any use of the technology including but not limited to the folowing for purposes of cheating on class projects or exams:
Vandalism of software or hardware belonging to:
Leaving files on public computers is also a matter of network etiquette. For example, creating pornographic or otherwise insensitive desktop backgrounds or screen savers is a form of vandalism.
Be aware of federal and state law regarding information technology. While in many cases, it is clear that an action is an offense (using mass e-mail to sell illegal drugs), other times it is not so cut and dried (selling a gun through the web, while may not be illegal, is definitely a violation of social policy that warrants punitive action).
Theft of any computing equipment related to academic well-being, including files and programs. Including: