University Policies

Click on any of the following links for information:

• Academic Honor Code and Discipline Policies
• Academic Probation and Suspension Policies
• Registration
• Student Bill of Rights
• Student Code of Conduct

Every organization, large and small, runs more smoothly when policies and procedures are in place. This chapter touches briefly on policies that are most important to students and their academic pursuits. The University of Colorado Denver’s Policies and Guidelines website, www.ucdenver.edu/faculty_staff/employees/policies/, provides a complete list of policies for every facet of the organization, including those from other organizations that affect the Denver Campus, such as the Laws of the Regents and policies of the Auraria Higher Education Center.

Academic Honor Code and Discipline Policies

 Policies related to academic credit and grades are explained in the Registration and Records  chapter of this catalog.

University Policies

Phone: 303-315-2724           
Website: http://www.ucdenver.edu/faculty_staff/employees/policies/pages/default.aspx

The Office of Policy and Efficiency - with input from system and campus policy owners - develops, oversees and maintains the University’s system wide policy-making process; facilitates the development, review, approval, and maintenance of University-wide policies.

Policies include:

• Inclusiveness and Non-Discrimination
• Anti-Violence Policy
• Sexual Harassment
• Drugs and Alcohol Policy

For further information on University Policies please contact an individual via the information above.

Academic Integrity and Discipline Policies

A university’s reputation is built on a standing tradition of excellence and scholastic integrity. As members of the University of Colorado Denver academic community, faculty and students accept the responsibility to maintain the highest standards of intellectual honesty and ethical conduct in completing all forms of academic work at the university. Academic dishonesty is academic in nature, and students are encouraged to contact their academic advisor for details of how policies and procedures differ from one college to another.

Forms of Academic Dishonesty

Students are expected to know, understand and comply with the ethical standards of the university. Academic dishonesty is defined as a student’s use of unauthorized assistance with intent to deceive an instructor or other such person who may be assigned to evaluate the student’s work in meeting course and degree requirements. Examples of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to the following:

A. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of another person’s distinctive ideas or words without acknowledgment. The incorporation of another person’s work into one’s own requires appropriate identification and acknowledgment, regardless of the means of appropriation.

B. Cheating
Cheating involves the possession, communication or use of information, materials, notes, study aids or other devices not authorized by the instructor in any academic exercise or communication with another person during such an exercise.

C. Fabrication and Falsification
Fabrication involves inventing or counterfeiting information, i.e., creating results not obtained in a study or laboratory experiment. Falsification, on the other hand, involves the deliberate alteration or changing of results to suit one’s needs in an experiment or other academic exercise.

D. Multiple Submissions
This is the submission of academic work for which academic credit has already been earned, when such submission is made without instructor authorization.

E. Misuse of Academic Materials
The misuse of academic materials includes but is not limited to the following: stealing or destroying university property, illegitimate possession of examination materials, forgery, falsification of university documents.

F. Complicity in Academic Dishonesty
Complicity involves knowingly contributing to another’s acts of academic dishonesty.

School/College Specific Policy

Business School

Students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Cheating, plagiarism, illegitimate possession and disposition of examinations, alteration, forgery, falsification of official records and similar acts or any attempt to engage in such acts are grounds for suspension or expulsion from the university. In particular, students are advised that plagiarism consists of any act involving the offering of the work of someone else as the student’s own. It is recommended that students consult with the instructors as to the proper preparation of reports, papers, etc., to avoid this and similar offenses. Also, actions that disrupt the administrative process, such as misrepresentation of credentials or academic status, other forms of deception or verbal abuse of university staff are grounds for suspension or probation. All discovered acts of dishonesty must be referred to the Business School’s Internal Affairs Committee.

College of Engineering and Applied Science

Students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Cheating, plagiarism, illegitimate possession and disposition of examinations, alteration, forgery or falsification of official records and similar acts or attempts to engage in such acts are grounds for suspension or expulsion from the university.

In particular, students are advised that plagiarism consists of any act involving the offering of the work of someone else as the student’s own.

The college has a Student Honor Code that all students are required to sign when they meet with their academic advisor. The code outlines the college’s expectations of its students and faculty in establishing and maintaining the highest standards in academic work and is available on the college website  (http://engineering.ucdenver.edu) under Student Services > Policies and Forms.

In addition, the college has a committee on discipline that hears cases of alleged violations of academic ethics and recommends disciplinary action. In a case of proven academic dishonesty/misconduct, the committee may invoke penalties that may include probation, suspension or expulsion. In a case of suspension or expulsion, a distinction may be placed on a student’s academic record indicating the action was due to academic dishonesty/misconduct. Students who suspect or observe violations of academic ethics should report them to their instructor, the department chair or the Office of the Dean.

Academic Probation and Suspension Policies

Academic probation and suspension policies vary by school/college.  If your program falls under the auspices of the Graduate School, please see the Graduate School Rules .  Otherwise, please contact your individual school/college for more information.   

Registration

Independent Study

School/College Specific Policy

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Independent studies are faculty-mentored, individually structured courses or research or creative projects designed and scheduled outside of the standard course grid. Independent study allows for investigations beyond the structured curriculum and classroom and exploration of content material that closely relates to faculty and student interest. However, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences does not guarantee that credit earned through an independent study will count toward graduation requirements or be accepted as transfer credits.

The CU Denver campus requires manual registration using a Special Processing Form for students participating in independent study. This form constitutes the course syllabus agreement between faculty and student. The Special Processing Form requires (1) project title, (2) short, detailed project description, including texts and practical application of skills, and (3) explicit performance or grading criteria. The faculty should separately negotiate a schedule of meetings and deadlines with the student. The form is reviewed and approved by a CLAS Associate Dean/Assistant Dean prior to student registration.

The College faculty developed the following requirements relating to student and faculty participation in independent study. Faculty seeking to waive or modify any of the policies below should work with the appropriate CLAS Associate Dean/Assistant Dean.

Student Requirements

• Enrollment as a CLAS student or, if enrolled in another major/minor, school/college, or institution, signed authorization on the Special Processing Form by the advisor/chair/dean of the originating
• school/college or institution prior to review by the CLAS associate or assistant dean.
• Graduate student status for 5840 (or higher), junior or senior status for 4840, sophomore status for 2840.
• Minimum GPA of 2.5 for undergraduates and 3.0 for graduate students.
• Submission of the Special Processing Form prior to the third week of a regular semester. After the third week a petition to add is required. Summer and intensive sessions will have different deadlines.

Faculty Requirements

• CLAS tenured, tenure-track, Clinical Teaching Track, Senior Instructor, or Instructor rank.
• CLAS graduate faculty status for faculty sponsoring graduate independent study.
• Direct, not indirect, supervision by the designated CLAS faculty member.
• For instructor-rank faculty, approval by the department chair, though all untenured faculty should limit the number of independent studies and are advised to consult with the chair before taking them on.

Project Requirements

• CLAS discipline or directly discipline related content, though may be interdisciplinary.
• Unique or individually executed project content for each student.
• Not available as, or part of, a structured course offered during the same term.
• 3 student participation hours per week for each credit hour requested. Note: 4:1 ratio in summer.

Student Bill of Rights

The University of Colorado Denver subscribes to the Student Bill of Rights as defined in HB 01-1263. Students enrolled in public institutions of higher education shall have the following rights:

(a) Students should be able to complete their associate of arts and associate of science degree programs in no more than sixty credit hours or their baccalaureate programs in no more than one hundred twenty credit hours unless there are additional degree requirements recognized by the commission;
(b) A student can sign a two-year or four-year graduation agreement that formalizes a plan for that student to obtain a degree in two or four years, unless there are additional degree requirements recognized by the commission;
(c) Students have a right to clear and concise information concerning which courses must be completed successfully to complete their degrees;
(d) Students have a right to know which courses are transferable among the state public two-year and four-year institutions of higher education;
(e) Students, upon completion of core general education courses, regardless of the delivery method, should have those courses satisfy the core course requirements of all Colorado public institutions of higher education;
(f) Students have a right to know if courses from one or more public higher education institutions satisfy the students’ degree requirements;
(g) A student’s credit for the completion of the core requirements and core courses shall not expire for ten years from the date of initial enrollment and shall be transferable. 

Student Code of Conduct

The following section is based in part on Regent Law 7.B.3. The behaviors listed below are prohibited, as are attempts to commit, aid, abet, or incite others to engage in behavior prohibited by the code of student conduct. All behaviors contained in this code of conduct are subject to the conduct process. Engaging in retaliatory acts against a person who reports an alleged violation of the code or testifies, assists, or participates in a conduct proceeding or investigation is a violation of this code.

1. Assaulting or physically abusing another person or being involved in brawling.
   • In the case of a student who is found responsible via the conduct process to have caused severe injury or bodily harm, the minimum sanction shall be suspension. Severe injury and bodily harm includes but is not limited to the following: broken bones, concussions, lacerations, etc.
2. Threatening or endangering the mental and/or physical health or safety of a person.
3. Public Exposure: Public exposure includes deliberately and publicly exposing one’s intimate body parts, public urination, defecation, and public sex acts.
4. Non-Gender/Sex Based Stalking: Means directly or indirectly through another person, repeatedly following, approaching, contacting, placing under surveillance or making any form of communication with another person, a member of that person’s immediate family or someone with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship, whether or not a conversation ensues in a manner that would cause a reasonable person to, (a) fear for his or her safety or the safety of others or; (b) suffer substantial emotional distress, including causing a person to respond by altering their activities.
5. Hazing: Any action or situation that recklessly or intentionally endangers the health, safety, or welfare of an individual for the purpose of initiation, participation, admission into or affiliation with any organization at the university. Hazing includes, but is not limited to, any abuse of a mental or physical nature, forced consumption of any food, liquor, drugs, or substances, or any forced physical activity that could adversely affect the health or safety of an individual. Hazing also includes any activity that would subject the individual to embarrassment or humiliation, the willingness of the participant in such activity notwithstanding. (See Appendix 5)
6. Abusive Behavior, including verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, coercion, or other behavior which has caused a person substantial emotional distress and where the circumstances would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress
   • This policy should not be construed, and will not be enacted, to deny any student the right of free speech and expression.
7. Bullying: Severe aggressive behavior likely to intimidate or intentionally harm, control, or diminish another person, physically or mentally (that is not speech or behavior otherwise protected by the First Amendment)
   • Cyber-Bullying occurs when an individual is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed, or otherwise targeted by another person using the internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones.
8. Violating any federal, state, or local law or university regulation or policy. University policies may include but are not limited to:
   • Nondiscrimination Procedures
   • Ethical Use of Computing Policy
9. Interference, Obstruction, or Disruption of University Activity: Materially and substantially interfering with, obstructing, or disrupting a university activity.
   • University activities include, but are not limited to, all normal university activities, such as teaching, research, recreation, meetings, public events, and disciplinary proceedings.
   • This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, the following: behavior disruptive of university functions; Behavior resulting in injury to persons or damage to property on the campus; and interference, obstruction, or disruption of the freedom of movement of students, or other members of the university community and their guests. Interference in any manner with the public or private rights of citizens, Behavior that threatens or endangers the health or safety of any person, and damage to property are prohibited.
10. Interfering with, obstructing, or disrupting police or fire responses. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to:
    • Resisting arrest.
    • Failing to abide by the directions of a peace officer.
    • Tampering with, impairing, disabling, or misusing fire protection systems such as smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, sprinklers, or alarms.
    • Failing to evacuate during a fire alarm.
    • Arson/setting fires.
11. Failing to comply with the direction of university and Campus Village employees who are performing their duties. Students are required to comply with instructions or directions given by university and Campus Village employees.
12. Knowingly providing false information to university employees, student conduct educators, or peace officers in performance of their duties. This section prohibits use of false identification or the identification of another person to gain entrance to a facility or business. This also includes forging, altering, falsifying or misusing documents or records, or knowingly using/possessing forged, altered or false documents or records.
13. Retaliating against or discouraging an individual from participating in a University process, or acting in any way that would improperly influence a university conduct process.
14. Violating any policy or procedure listed in the Campus Village Apartments Resident Handbook while in Campus Village. See a complete list of Campus Village policies and procedures by clicking here.
15. Unauthorized entry into, exit from, or presence in a University facility or on university property, including Campus Village Apartments, or property belonging to another.
16. Damaging University property or property belonging to another.
17. Engaging in, inciting, or arming someone for a riot or public disturbance (see Appendix 4)
18. Use of an electronic or other device to make an audio and/or visual recording of another person (including, but not limited to photographing, videotaping, filming, or audio recording) without the person’s expressed permission when such recording causes the person to suffer substantial emotional distress and would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress. The storing, sharing, and/or distribution of such records by any means is also prohibited.
19. Possessing firearms, explosives, fireworks, incendiary devices, ammunition, or other weapons on campus except as permitted by law. “Weapon” as used in this provision may be an instrument of offensive or defensive combat; anything used, or designed to be used, in destroying, defeating, or injuring a person; an instrumentality designed or likely to produce bodily harm. A weapon may include, but not be limited to, the following: any firearm, slingshot, cross-knuckles, knuckles of lead, brass or other metal, any bowie knife, dirk, dagger or similar knife, or any knife having the appearance of a pocket knife, the blade of which can be opened by a flick of a button, pressure on the handle or other mechanical contrivance. A harmless instrument designed to look like a firearm, explosive, or dangerous weapon which is used by or is in the possession of a person with the intent to cause fear in or assault to another person is expressly included within the meaning of weapon. See Regents Policy 14.
    
    Note: Students, faculty, and staff possessing valid Concealed Handgun Permits are allowed to carry concealed handguns on campus in accordance with the law.
20. Theft, including but not limited to, possessing property known to be stolen, or taking property of another without permission, even with an intent to return the property.
21. Possessing, using, providing, manufacturing, distributing, or selling drugs or drug paraphernalia in violation of law or University policies. Use or possession of marijuana, including medical marijuana used or possessed under Colorado Constitution Article 18, section 14, is strictly prohibited on campus. Any such use or possession is a violation of the student conduct code.
    
    In addition, the state constitutional amendment authorizing individuals over the age of 21 to recreationally use marijuana (“Amendment 64”) does not change this prohibition or authorize a student to use marijuana. Federal law, including the Drug Free Schools Act, prohibits the presence or use of drugs, including marijuana. Thus marijuana use or possession, even if in compliance with Amendment 64, is prohibited on campus.
    • Students may violate the student code of conduct if in the presence of prohibited behavior involving drugs. This includes students who knew, or reasonably should have known they were in the presence of drugs, or possessed, displayed, or was in the presence of drug paraphernalia.
    • Misuse of legal substances; use of general products as intoxicants or “means to get high”; and inhaling or ingesting a substance (including but not limited to nitrous oxide, glue, paint, gasoline, solvent, etc.) other than in connection with its intended purpose is also prohibited.
    • Driving while under the influence of drugs
    • Use of a prescription drug other than by the person to whom the drug is prescribed and in accordance with the prescription is prohibited. This includes sharing drugs such as Ritalin or Adderall.
    • Attending classes or university functions under the influence of drugs shall also be considered a violation of this code. This includes disruptive Behavior while under the influence of alcohol at official university functions.
22. Possessing, using, providing, manufacturing, distributing, or selling alcoholic beverages in violation of law or university policies.
    • If an under aged student is in Campus Village Apartments, this prohibition includes a student who knew, or reasonably should have known s/he was in the presence of alcoholic beverages, or possessed, displayed, or was in the presence of alcohol containers.
    • Attending classes or university functions under the influence of alcohol shall also be considered a violation of this code. This includes disruptive behavior while under the influence of alcohol at official university functions where alcohol is served.
    • Driving while under the influence of alcohol.

The health and safety of members of the University of Colorado Denver is the primary concerns of the university. The university is committed to ensuring that students obtain timely medical assistance for themselves and for their peers. To this end, we have instituted a “Good Samaritan” provision for drug, alcohol, and Intimate Partner violence related incidents. For more information about this provision please see Appendix 2.

The complete Code of Conduct, including a detailed explanation of the conduct process and sanctions can be found online at:  http://www.ucdenver.edu/life/services/standards/Documents/CUDenver-CodeofConduct.pdf

You can also visit the Office of Community Standards and Wellness in the Tivoli Student Union Room 227.