2.2: Policies that could impact your ability to register and attend classes

STANDARDS OF ACADEMIC PROGRESS

To promote academic progress, the following standards are applied to all students who have attempted at least one credit hour. GPA and credit hours referred to in the next section include grades earned in both college credit and developmental courses. Standards of Academic Progress will be referred to as the “SOAP GPA,” which may differ from the semester grade report and transcript GPA. Good Academic Standing is a 2.0 (“C” average) SOAP GPA. If your GPA falls below 2.0, you will be placed on caution, and your academic success will be monitored through the SOAP process. See below for visual explanation.

Key Points for Students

• The SOAP GPA includes college-level courses and any developmental or remedial courses such as RDG-088/089, COM-088, and IEL-021.
• Your SOAP GPA will be displayed in a letter/email sent to you from the dean of Student Engagement if it falls below a 2.0. You will not be able to register for classes, drop or add classes to your schedule, or withdraw from classes if you have a SOAP hold on your student record.
• To clear the hold, an intervention with a counselor is required.
• Academic Suspension does not allow you to enroll in classes for the following semester. However, if you have a GPA of 1.5 or higher, you can talk to a counselor about appealing your academic suspension.
• Academic Dismissal does not allow you to enroll in classes for a full academic year.
• The SOAP policy is completely separate from the financial aid Standards of Academic Progress (SAP) policy. For more information about SAP, seek guidance from our Financial Aid Office.
• It is possible to return to Good Academic Standing, even after Academic Suspension/Dismissal, but it may require some time and changes to how you approach college. Once you have earned a cumulative SOAP GPA of 2.0 or higher, you will be in Good Academic Standing.

Code of Academic Integrity

In short, each student is expected to be honest in his/her/their own work. The college regards cheating or plagiarism in the classroom, Testing Center, laboratories, on assignments, and during examinations as a serious offense. Instructors at the college will clearly state their cheating or plagiarism policies and penalties in their course syllabi.

Acts of cheating/plagiarism include but are not limited to:

• Looking at a classmate’s test or quiz
• Not citing or not properly acknowledging an author’s work
• Completing work with another student without prior permission from the instructor
• Using any unauthorized assistance, resources, materials, or electronic/cellular devices during quizzes or tests
• Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) without a form of acknowledgement or instructor consent
• Reusing a paper written for another class without prior permission from the instructor
• Gaining access to a test or other academic material belonging to Moraine Valley, any department, or any staff member without permission
• Turning in academic material procured by an agency selling academic papers and materials
• Giving away or selling papers, course notes, assignments, lectures, or other materials to other students or third parties without permission of the faculty member

Multiple Violations of the Code of Academic Integrity

Moraine Valley has instituted a structured process to track students who violate the Code of Academic Integrity due to the seriousness of cheating and/or plagiarism. Students who violate this code will be reported, and if the violations continue, students will experience consequences—both in the class where they cheated and by the college at large. Students who have multiple violations will be subject to the following consequences.

Nadia’s Story

Nadia was a first-generation student who started her first semester in the fall while working 15 hours per week. She was planning on pursuing a degree in the health science field since that is her family’s expectation and what her two older siblings pursued. She maintained a 2.5 GPA in high school because she did not really study; instead, she focused on the social aspects of her life. Since her two older siblings excelled when they attended Moraine Valley, she thought her classes would be “a piece of cake.” She quickly applied her laid-back method of studying as she began her college classes. By the sixth week of classes, she was earning either a “D” or “F” in each of her five classes. Nadia felt she was a decent writer, but she failed one of her essays because she did not properly cite the sources she used and now has an Academic Integrity Violation.

What are Nadia’s options now that she is struggling in all her classes? One option is to withdraw from one or two of her classes with the poorest grades so she can focus on the remaining classes. Another option would be to seriously apply herself to her academics and see if that improves her grades. Also, it appears she would benefit from having a structured study schedule every week. Furthermore, she can visit the Tutoring Center if she needs help understanding the content of her courses, while the staff at the Speaking and Writing Center can assist her in properly citing sources she uses in her essays.