Academic Integrity

We encourage you to talk with other students about your assignments and questions, but make sure you do your own work. You may not copy another student’s program or other work (either with or without their knowledge), nor write code or other work for another student, nor can you copy or solicit solutions from the Internet.

Colorado State University students should be familiar with the University Honor Pledge. Visit the Colorado State Univerity Academic Integrity Policy and the Computer Science Department Academic Integrity Policy for more information.

Code of Conduct

In addition to the responsibilities enumerated in the Colorado State University Student Conduct Code, the Computer Science Department advocates rights and responsibilities for conduct of all its Members: faculty, staff, and students, in accordance with the Code of Ethics of the Association for Computing Machinery. Visit the Department Code of Conduct for more information.

AI Usage

Use of AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and/or their ilk to write or “improve” your code or written work at any stage is prohibited. Turning in code or an essay written by generative AI tools will be treated as turning in work created by someone else, namely an act of plagiarism and/or cheating.

Ultimately, you will get out of the class what you put in. Simply copying and pasting code from generative AI tools is neither ethical nor does it contribute to your learning experience. There are multiple reasons why these generative AI tools are detrimental to your learning experience:

  • They rob you of the ability to think and learn the concepts for yourself. Solving problems is an essential step to gaining a solid understanding of the material.
  • You will struggle with the in-classroom quizzes and exams where you will not have access to these tools.
  • While we acknowledge that these tools are likely to become an important part of a software engineer’s workflow in the future, you are much more likely to use these tools in an effective manner if you already have expertise in the relevant technical topics. Developing such expertise requires putting in the effort to learn these topics without the assistance of these tools.
  • These tools are prone to generating imperfect or even incorrect solutions, so trusting them blindly can lead to bad consequences.

Attendance

Students are expected to attend lectures and recitations, where information will be given that is not available elsewhere. Our goal is to get students to class; not spread illness; and make sure students who are ill receive appropriate treatment. We do not want you to come to class ill. Make up work will need to be explicitly negotiated. Attendance at lectures and recitations may contribute to your grade.

Students are expected to:

  • to be on time to class and stay until the class is complete,
  • silence cell phones,
  • to be alert and attentive,
  • to participate in class meetings,
  • to use tablets and laptops only for class purposes.

Students may miss a lecture, recitation or exam for a variety of reasons, planned or unplanned. Please notify the instructor before each planned absence. Absences that are excusable include:

  • Illness with documentation
  • Death or illness in the family with documentation
  • University sanctioned events with documentation.
  • Weddings, as long as all work is completed ahead of time.

Absences that are not excusable include, but are not limited to:

  • Illness without documentation
  • Car problems
  • Early / Late travel plans
  • Oversleeping
  • Concerts, other entertainment events

Documentation will be required for the absence to be excused. It is your responsibility to obtain the appropriate documentation.

  • Illness(personal) – note from the medical institution (on letterhead) with the exact dates to be excused.
  • Illness in the family – note from the medical institution (on letterhead) with the exact dates to be excused.
  • Death in the family – an online reference or a paper copy of the obituary will suffice.
  • University sanctioned events – bring your documentation to the instructor early and work with the instructor to complete the work BEFORE the due date.

Equal Opportunity

Colorado State University is committed to promoting human and intellectual diversity by fostering an inclusive environment for all members of the University community. The Office of Equal Opportunity ensures these obligations for all students, staff, and faculty are met through policies and procedures, such as the Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Stalking and Retaliation Policy.

Any student who may be the victim of sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, relationship violence, stalking or retaliation is encouraged to report to CSU through one or more of the following resources:

  • Emergency Response: 911
  • Deputy Title IX Coordinator/Office of Support and Safety Assessment: (970) 491-1350
  • Colorado State University Police Department (non-emergency):(970) 491-6425

For counseling support and assistance, please see the CSU Health Network, which includes a variety of counseling services that you can access at: http://www.health.colostate.edu/. The Sexual Assault Victim Assistance Team is a confidential student resource that does not have a reporting requirement and that can be of great help to students who have experienced sexual assault. The web address is: http://www.wgac.colostate.edu/need-help-support.

Faculty within the Computer Science Department seek to increase the visibility of Equal Opportunity policies and resources available to you. We encourage you to talk with your advisor or instructor about any experiences that we might be able to help you find resources for.