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Academic Integrity Policy

Community Wellness Foundations Certificate — Older Adult Focus

Effective Date: Upon Institutional Certification

This policy is provided to every student before the program start date and is available in the Institutional Policy and on the institutional Learning Management System (Tutor LMS).

1. Purpose

Seaside Coast College is committed to academic integrity — honesty, fairness, and responsibility in all academic work. This policy sets out the institution’s expectations, defines breaches of academic integrity, and describes how the institution responds to a suspected breach.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all students and to all academic work submitted for assessment in the institution’s programs, including assignments, knowledge checks, reflective work, and the capstone project, whether completed during synchronous sessions or through the institutional learning management system.

3. Expectations

All work a student submits for assessment must be the student’s own and must accurately represent the student’s knowledge and effort. Students must acknowledge the sources they rely on, follow the instructions and rules for each assessment, and complete individually any work that is required to be completed individually.

4. Breaches of Academic Integrity

A breach of academic integrity includes, but is not limited to:

  • Plagiarism — presenting another person’s words, ideas, or work as one’s own without proper acknowledgment.
  • Unauthorized collaboration — working with others on an assessment that is required to be completed individually.
  • Cheating — using unauthorized materials, information, or assistance during an assessment, or otherwise breaching the rules of an assessment.
  • Contract cheating — obtaining work from another person or service, whether paid or unpaid, and submitting it as one’s own.
  • Fabrication or falsification — inventing or altering data, results, citations, or records.
  • Impersonation — having another person complete an assessment on one’s behalf, or completing an assessment on behalf of another student.
  • Unauthorized use of artificial intelligence tools — using generative AI or similar tools to produce work that is submitted as one’s own, except where the instructor has expressly permitted it and only as the instructor has directed (see Section 5).
  • Misuse of assessment materials — sharing, distributing, or accessing assessment questions or materials without authorization.
  • Self-plagiarism — submitting one’s own previously assessed work for new credit without the instructor’s permission.

5. Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

Generative artificial intelligence and similar tools may be used in an assessment only where the instructor has expressly permitted their use, and only in the manner the instructor directs. For each assessment, the instructor states in advance whether AI tools may be used, for what purposes they may be used, and how their use must be acknowledged, so that students know what is permitted before they begin. Using these tools in a way the instructor has not authorized, or to produce work a student presents as their own, is a breach of academic integrity under Section 4.

6. Individual Work and Identity

Knowledge checks and learning activities completed outside scheduled synchronous sessions must be completed individually using the student’s secure Tutor LMS account. Higher-stakes assessments, including reflective assignments and the capstone project, are submitted through the student’s individual Tutor LMS account and are linked to synchronous instruction and to the institution’s identity-verification steps.

7. Addressing a Suspected Breach

Where a breach of academic integrity is suspected, the institution normally follows this process:

  • the instructor reviews the work and the relevant information;
  • the institution notifies the student in writing of the concern and gives the student a reasonable opportunity to respond;
  • the institution considers the student’s response and any relevant circumstances;
  • the institution determines whether a breach occurred and, if so, the appropriate outcome; and
  • the institution documents its findings and the actions taken.

8. Outcomes

Outcomes are proportionate to the seriousness of the breach and to whether it is a first or a repeated breach, and may include:

  • an educational warning and a requirement to revise or resubmit the work;
  • a reduced grade or a grade of zero on the affected assessment;
  • failure of the course; or
  • referral under the Student Dismissal Policy for a serious or repeated breach.

9. Review of a Finding

A grade that results from a finding under this policy is addressed under this policy rather than under the Student Grade Appeal Policy. A student who disagrees with a finding or outcome under this policy may raise the matter through the institution’s Dispute Resolution Policy. Where the person who made the finding is also the person who would normally review the matter, the review is conducted by the Independent Reviewer, a qualified representative who was not involved in making the finding, to ensure impartiality.

10. Records

Records related to a suspected or confirmed breach of academic integrity are maintained as part of the institution’s student records and are retained in accordance with the institution’s Privacy and Records Policy, which provides for retention of Class A student records for at least eight years.

11. Related Policies

This policy operates alongside the institution’s Student Grade Appeal Policy, Reassessment Policy, Student Conduct Policy, Student Dismissal Policy, Privacy and Records Policy, and Dispute Resolution Policy.

12. Contact and Approval

Seaside Coast College · 3514 Fairmont Road, North Vancouver, BC V7R 2W9

Email: lynth@seasidecoastcollege.com · Website: seasidecoastcollege.com

Approved by: Senior Educational Administrator · Review cycle: Annual