Student Conduct
Based on the assumption that students at C- GCC are mature and responsible members of both the community and respectful of others’ rights as well as their own, the College has specific regulations regarding conduct printed in the Student Handbook.
Additionally, the Student Handbook contains the College's policy about the rules for maintaining public order as passed by the Board of Trustees and approved by the State Education Department. Copies may be obtained from the Office of the Dean of Student Development or the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development.
Student Rights
The college supports the following position of the American Association of University Professors (1968 Joint Statement of Rights and Freedoms of Students):
In the classroom and in conference, professors should encourage free discussion, inquiry, and expression. Student performance should be evaluated solely on an academic basis, not on opinions or conduct in matters unrelated to academic standards.
- Protection of freedom of expression. Students should be free to take reasonable exceptions to the data or views offered in any course of study and to reserve judgment about matters of opinion, but they are responsible for learning the content of any course of study for which they are enrolled.
- Protection against improper academic evaluation. Students should have protection through orderly procedures against prejudiced or capricious academic evaluation. At the same time, they are responsible for maintaining the standards of academic performance established for each course in which they are enrolled.
- Protection against improper disclosure. Information about student views, beliefs, and political associations that professors acquire in the course of their work as instructors, advisors, and counselors should be considered confidential. Protection against improper disclosures is a serious professional obligation. Judgments of ability and character may be provided under appropriate circumstances, normally with the knowledge or consent of the student.
Course Requirements
An outline of all course requirements will be provided by each instructor to students. This outline will include a grading policy used to determine a student’s final grade.
Students are responsible for meeting course prerequisites and for promptly obtaining any texts or materials required for the course.
Students who have met course prerequisites at other institutions will be required to provide transcripts evidencing satisfactory completion of the prerequisite courses prior to registration.
Attendance Policy
Specific attendance policies should be confirmed with each instructor. Students must be prompt and in attendance for all classes; when absent, they are responsible for any assignments and/or material they may have missed. A class meeting is an uninterrupted instructional session involving one or more classes, a practicum, or a laboratory period during which a single attendance record is made. Excusable absences are those verified as required by the individual faculty member.
If faculty records indicate that a student has never attended a class, the Office of Records and Registration will drop the student from a class. This may affect health insurance, athletic and financial aid eligibility.
Students receiving financial aid must attend all courses that they are registered for to receive funds. Financial aid may be affected if a student stops attending or never attends classes. Numerous absences may result in failure.
Although Columbia-Greene Community College does not have an institutional attendance policy, students’ eligibility for Title IV financial aid is determined, in part, by their attendance in classes.
Per federal regulations, student attendance includes, but is not limited to:
- Physically attending an on-campus or synchronous remote class where there is an opportunity for direct interaction with the instructor;
- Submitting an academic assignment;
- Taking an exam, an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction;
- Attending a group session that is assigned by the instructor;
- Participating in an online discussion about academic matters; or
- Initiating contact with the instructor to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course
Academic Integrity
All students must do their own work; cheating, plagiarism, abuse of college computers, and other forms of academic dishonesty can result in a failing grade or other penalties under the college’s judiciary procedures. (See “Code of Conduct” section of the Student Handbook.)