The adult learner and university policy

¶ … responsibility of all students to make sure that their written material is their own and does not draw from the work of others without proper attribution. Nevertheless, many college students are unaware of what constitutes academic dishonesty, and must have it spelled out for them in concrete terms. if, in the case described, I have walked students through plagiarism policies both at the beginning of the term and after their initial transgression and provided them with resources to correct their mistakes, further action needs to be taken for students who continue to plagiarize. The student who has chosen to forego citation in the second instance has deliberately violated the school's academic dishonesty policy. In such cases, it is necessary to "notify the dean or dean's designee of possible violation of the Excelsior College Plagiarism and Academic Honesty policies" ("Plagiarism," n.d.). Further, I would opt to either fail the student for the assignment or only give partial credit.

2.

To avoid attendance problems, it is important to be proactive in taking attendance every week to ensure that students are participating. Per the absenteeism policy, after one week of a student's nonparticipation, I will send "an email/message to the student's SIS email address and message center in MyExcelsior notifying the student of his or her nonparticipation and encouraging the student to contact [me] and/or begin participating in the course immediately" ("Excessive Absenteeism," n.d.). After two weeks, I will send the student another e-mail, warning that the student may be withdrawn due to non-attendance after three weeks without participation. After the three-week period mentioned in the scenario, it is then appropriate to assign the student an AW grade for the course, terminating their access to it.

3.

Extension policies are slightly different in the two scenarios given. In the case of the enlisted military member, there are a few factors that play into whether an extension can be granted, namely whether "deployment…is at least thirty consecutive days or more in duration," whether the student has "request[ed] the course(s) extension," and whether the student has "submit[ted] either a copy of the deployment orders, or a signed verification letter from his/her Education Service Officer or Commanding Officer certifying the length of deployment, prior to his/her deployment (or as soon as possible upon his/her return)" ("Military Deployment," n.d.). If those conditions have been met, the student can be given an extension for the length of deployment. If deployment is over 120 days, the student should request a withdrawal from the course.