Article I: Definitions

1. The term "student" includes all persons taking courses at the College, both full-time and part-time, and those who attend post-secondary educational institutions other than the Community College of Philadelphia. Persons who are not officially enrolled for a particular term but who have a continuing relationship with the College are also considered "students."


2. The term "College" means Community College of Philadelphia.


3. The term "faculty member" means any person hired by the College to conduct instructional activities. The term "faculty member" at Community College of Philadelphia shall include counselors and librarians.


4. The term "College official" includes any person employed by or associated with the College in performing assigned administrative or professional responsibilities.


5. The term "member of the College community" includes any person who is a student, faculty member, College official or any other person employed by or associated with the College. A person's status in a particular situation shall be determined by the President of the College.


6. The term "College premises" includes all land, buildings, facilities, and other property in the possession of or owned, used, or controlled by the College (including adjacent streets and sidewalks).


7. The term "organization" means any number of persons who have complied with the formal requirements for College recognition/registration.


8. The term "Judicial Body" means any person or persons authorized by the Vice President for Student Affairs to determine whether a student has violated the Student Code of Conduct and to recommend imposition of sanctions. A judicial body may consist of the Judicial Affairs Officer or a Judicial Hearing Committee.


9. The term "Judicial Affairs Officer" means a College official authorized on a case-by-case basis by the Vice President for Student Affairs to impose sanctions upon students found to have violated the Student Code of Conduct. The Vice President for Student Affairs may authorize the Judicial Affairs Officer to serve simultaneously as a Judicial Affairs Officer and one of the members of a Judicial Hearing Committee. Nothing shall prevent the Vice President for Student Affairs from authorizing the same Judicial Affairs Officer to impose sanctions in all cases.


10. The term "Judicial Hearing Committee" means a College committee which is authorized to hear judicial cases and recommend specific sanctions upon students found to have violated the Student Code of Conduct.


11. The term "mediation" refers to a form of voluntary intervention in which conflicting parties select to use a neutral third party or mediator to help find a solution to their dispute.


12. The phrase "Informal Disciplinary Procedures" refers to allowing students who allegedly commit minor infractions of the Student Code of Conduct to be subject to less formal procedures in the hearing and adjudicating of their cases.


13. The term "Formal hearing" means a student will be afforded a formal forum to present his/her case. The formal hearing may include testimonies of witnesses and the right to cross examination of witnesses present during the hearing.


14. The term "Student Appeals Committee" means any person or persons authorized by the President to consider an appeal from a judicial body's determination that a student has violated the Student Code of Conduct or from the sanctions imposed by the Judicial Affairs Officer or the Judicial Hearing Committee.


15. The term "shall" is used in the imperative sense (required).


16. The term "may" is used in the permissive sense (option).


17. The Judicial Affairs Officer is that person designated by the College President to be responsible for the administration of the Student Code of Conduct.


18. The term "policy" is defined as the written regulations of the College as found in, but not limited to, the Student Code of Conduct, Student Handbook, and College Catalog.


19. The term "cheating" includes, but is not limited to: (1) use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations; (2) dependence upon the aid or sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems, or carrying out other assignments; or (3) the acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a member of the College faculty or staff.


20. The term "plagiarism" includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgement. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials.


21. The term "school day" shall refer to any day that classes are in session with the exception of weekends and holidays. Weekends and holidays are not considered in calculating response time for notification of sanctions and appeals.