CODE OF CONDUCT

The Code of Student Responsibility is made up of four parts:

  1. THE ALBA ACADEMIC INTEGRITY CODE
  2. ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
  3. THE STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT
  4. STUDENT DISCIPLINE PROCEDURES

Students participating in ALBA Study Abroad program are expected to take responsibility for their own actions or failure to act. The ALBA Code of Student Responsibility includes policies based on the premise that students are adults and guests abroad. Students are expected to abide by the ALBA code and the laws and customs that govern Spain, Catalonia and Barcelona, where they are studying.

You are legally subject to the same laws and regulations that govern Spanish citizens, and any other laws that are applicable as a foreign citizen in Spain and/or the European Union.

As an academic institution, the members of the ALBA community are expected to respect the rights and dignity of other students, staff, faculty, providers and local citizens.

We hold students responsible for knowing the policies as set forth in this handbook and those discussed during orientation or posted, as necessary, on the bulletin boards. These policies exist to facilitate the educational process and to ensure a safe, fair, and successful experience for students. Ignorance of the policies is not an acceptable excuse for policy violation.

THE ALBA ACADEMIC INTEGRITY CODE

By enrolling in an ALBA program, a student agrees to abide by this Academic Integrity Code.

You will approach your academic work with dedication and honesty, understanding that you are responsible for learning and for earning grades through your own effort. Further, you agree to be fully prepared for each class session, to abide by the attendance policy in place for each course, to complete the required number of credits per term, and to abide by all academic policies of ALBA.

By enrolling in a program with ALBA, you agree not to engage in plagiarism, cheating, use of unauthorized materials, accessing or distributing confidential academic materials, academic sabotage, and falsification of information. Specifications of these violations are described below:

Plagiarism: The act of presenting the ideas or writing of another person as one’s own. This includes copying or paraphrasing passages from books, periodicals, the Internet, or other sources without appropriate citations. It also includes copying or paraphrasing the direct or mechanically-reproduced statements of others and representing them as one’s own.

Self-Plagiarism: The submission of one’s own course assignments or research papers in whole or in part for one course when such materials are being or have been submitted to another course. All work submitted for each course must be original work specific to the course.

Cheating: The act of copying or paraphrasing from the examination or other written work of another current or former student, with or without the knowledge or compliance of the person from whom the materials are copied or paraphrased. Persons who assist with cheating by sharing their work are also guilty of cheating.

Use of Unauthorized Materials: The use of any books, papers, notes, or other materials for reference during closed book examinations or other academic exercises unless specifically allowed by the instructor.

Accessing or Distributing Confidential Academic Materials: The act of obtaining unauthorized access to examination questions or answers and/or distributing such knowledge or materials to others.

Sabotage: Any act that undermines the ability of a fellow student to complete his/her academic work to the best of his/her ability. Sabotage can include restricting access to reference materials, books or periodicals; stealing or tampering with a fellow student’s notes or papers; erasing, corrupting, or otherwise tampering with electronic materials and files related to another student’s academic work; and related actions.

Fabrication of Information/Deception: The act of falsifying data, information, citations, field study reports, lab results, or any other material used in relation to academic work, or of providing false information to an instructor concerning academic work, including giving a false excuse for missing a deadline or falsely claiming to have submitted work.

Attendance: Attendance at all classes and field trips that are part of a course is mandatory unless noted otherwise in the particular syllabus.

ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW

Reports of Academic Dishonesty

If a student is witness to academic dishonesty, the student is expected to report the dishonesty to the faculty member for the course in which the dishonesty has been witnessed. The student may present any evidence or academic dishonesty to the faculty member or Program Manager.

If a faculty member is witness to or informed of an act of academic dishonesty, the faculty member must report the dishonesty to the Program Manager. The faculty member will also present any evidence of academic dishonesty.

The Program Manager will inform the Director of the incident and may consult with him about the incident.

The faculty member and the Director will determine the severity of the incident. If the incident is not determined to be severe, the Director and the faculty member may determine that the faculty member will discuss the incident with the student. In such cases, any sanctions applied will be within the scope of the course, such as a grade of “F” on the assignment, or the requirement to complete a new assignment.

On-Site Review Process

If the incident is determined to be severe, the Director will conduct an Administrative Review. The Director will first convene a Review Board consisting of the Program Manager, the faculty member who raised the charge, and a second faculty member who is unconnected to the incident. The accused student will be notified in writing, usually within two working days, that there has been an academic dishonesty charge filed against him/her. S/he will also be notified that a review of the charge of dishonesty will be held at a particular time and place.

The Review Board will conduct a review of the charge with the student, usually within seven days of the student receiving the hearing notice. A third party, other than legal counsel, may accompany the student at the review if the student so chooses.

At the Academic Administrative Review, the student will be informed of the charges raised against him/her and will be given the opportunity to view any evidence connected to the charge. The student can present his/her case, including pertinent information or written statements from witnesses.

After the review, the Review Board will determine whether the charges are valid, and if the charges are valid, what sanction(s) should be assessed against the student.

The Director will inform the Program Manager of the results of the review and will send a copy of the decision letter given to the student. The Program Manager will send a copy of the decision letter with information concerning the incident to the student’s home school.

Post-Program Review Process

If an Academic Integrity Code violation is discovered after a student has departed from the program, the Director will notify the student and the student’s home school of the charge in writing by email and also in hard copy by mail within one week from the time the offense is discovered. The Director will also inform the Program Manager.

The student will respond to the charge in writing by email or in hard copy by mail within two weeks of the date of the Director’s notification.

The Director will convene a Review Board consisting of the Director and the faculty member for the course in which the violation occurred. If the faculty member for the course is not available, the Director may select another faculty member for the Review Board.

Once the Review Board is satisfied that sufficient information has been received, the Review Board will reach a decision, and the Director will notify the student and the student’s home school in writing of the decision and of any sanctions that may apply. This notification will be in writing by email or fax, and also in hard copy by mail.

Sanctions

Sanctions for academic dishonesty may include, but are not limited to:

  • Warning/reprimand: a written statement that the student was found guilty of breaking the Academic Integrity Code
  • Grade Penalty: Grade reduction for the course or for the assignment in which the academic honesty was discovered
  • Course removal: Removal from the course in which the code was broken
  • Probations: Notification that any further violation within a stated period of time will result in dismissal from the program
  • Dismissal from the program: Permanent termination of student status from the program
  • Any combination of the above

Appeal

A student may appeal a decision concerning an Academic Integrity Code violation. The appeal must be submitted by the student to the Director within five working days of the student’s receipt of the Review Board’s final decision. The Director will send the appeal to the Program Manager, who will conduct the review. All sanctions remain in effect until any appeals have been considered and responded to in writing. A copy of all documentation concerning any allegation of academic dishonesty will be saved at ALBA.

THE STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT

Students who participate in ALBA programs are representatives of ALBA at all times during their enrollment. As a result, any student who engages in conduct unbecoming of an ALBA student will be violating this code and will be subject to appropriate administrative review proceedings and sanctions, up to and including dismissal from the program. Information regarding ALBA policy violations will be provided to the students’ home schools and may be provided to their parents.

The following are prohibited:

  • Violence against others. This is defined as striking or doing any other physical harm to another.
  • Sexual misconduct. This is defined as any actual or attempted nonconsensual sexual activity. Nonconsensual sexual activity may occur in situations including, but not limited to, those in which the victim is unable to consent due to force, threat of force, or impairment due to illness, injury, disability, or consumption of alcohol or other drugs.
  • Verbal abuse of faculty, staff, students, or representatives of ALBA partner organizations.
  • Cyber bullying or purposely embarrassing, harassing, or tormenting another using digital media.
  • Willful or malicious maligning of members of the ALBA community.
  • Obstruction of classes at the ALBA Center, or obstruction of other ALBA activities.
  • Damage to ALBA property, apartments, residence halls, host families, facilities used by ALBA, or fellow students.
  • Vandalism at ALBA Center or apartments, residence halls, host families, facilities used by ALBA, or fellow students.
  • Possession and/or use of firearms or other dangerous weapons.
  • Possession or use of fireworks, incendiary devices, or dangerous explosives.
  • Theft.
  • Unauthorized entry to or use of ALBA Center facilities, equipment, or technology facilities, equipment, or technology.
  • Use of ALBA technology for any illegal or inappropriate purpose.
  • Disorderly, lewd, indecent or obscene conduct, gestures, or actions.
  • Behavior that is disturbing or distressing to students, staff, faculty, or ALBA partners.
  • Violations of ALBA Housing Policies, including, but not limited to hosting overnight guests without ALBA’s permission, as well as excessive noise, rowdy conduct, and drunkenness (please, refer to ALBA Housing Policies for complete details).
  • Violations of any ALBA policies, laws of Spain, Catalonia or Barcelona and/or other local regulations.
  • Forgery or alteration of ALBA documents, identification instruments, legal or government documents, or use of any documents with the purpose to defraud.
  • Criminal behavior according to the Spanish laws.
  • Failure to follow the ALBA established guidelines, directives, timetables, and instructions of the ALBA staff or faculty members.
  • Obtaining unauthorized access to, viewing of, copying, or distributing confidential ALBA academic, administrative, or personal records.
  • Falsification or alteration of academic or personal records, including, but not limited to, any unauthorized alteration of transcripts, grade reports, or any verbal or written misrepresentation of student records. Falsification or unauthorized alteration of any portion of the application for admission or financial aid or other official documents required for participation in an ALBA program.
  • Harassment of any person not limited to members of the ALBA community. Harassment is defined as any act or behavior that demeans, slurs, intimidates, or stereotypes an individual or group. This includes but is not limited to oral and written remarks, illustrations, innuendoes, and physical gestures or actions. Sexual harassment is included in this definition.
  • Stalking of any person not limited to members of the ALBA community. Stalking is defined as the willful and unsolicited following or harassing of another person. This includes but is not limited to excessive and unsolicited telephone calls, visits, mailings, emails, text messages, blogs, instant messages, newsroom comments, or any other electronic means of contact, following and/or threatening another person or his/her acquaintances, observing another person or a person’s acquaintances from a distance, trespassing, or vandalizing the property of the person or the person’s acquaintances.
  • Permanent or temporary diversion of academic materials needed by other students, including unauthorized removal of library materials, audio-visual materials, or technological materials.
  • Self-endangerment, including involvement in activities or behavior that could result in personal harm, including, but not limited to, frequenting dangerous places, association with criminals, self-destructive behavior, including failure to maintain and monitor personal health at a stable level, extreme intoxication, repeated intoxication, etc.
  • Alcohol abuse (see 3.1 for further details).
  • Drug consumption (see 3.1 for further details).

Any of the previous misconducts that is motivated by prejudice on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or other grounds will be considered as an aggravating circumstance and might be brought to the attention of the Spanish police authorities.

Alcohol and other drugs policy

Alcohol may be consumed, but not abused, by students who are of legal age in Spain. Students who choose to consume alcohol do so with the knowledge that they remain responsible for their actions at all times. We prohibit the illegal distribution of alcohol to students who are not of legal drinking age. We prohibit the unlawful use of alcohol in any of our facilities and at any of our activities. The use of distilled alcohol in the ALBA facilities or activities is strictly forbidden. We will impose disciplinary sanctions on any student who abuses alcohol or behaves in a manner that is dangerous to him/herself or others, up to and including dismissal from the program. Specific sanctions from the Spanish authorities for alcohol-related legal violations may also occur. We do not encourage the use of drinking patterns or behaviors that are detrimental to the health and welfare of the individual, the ALBA community, or the local community.

Possession, use, or distribution of any substances that are considered by the US or the Spanish laws to be illegal drugs or controlled substances is prohibited. You are cautioned that the possession of drugs is dealt with harshly by Spanish law enforcement. The misuse and abuse of prescription medications is also considered a violation of this policy. NOTE: Any alcohol or other drug infraction will be considered a grave violation of policy and will result in serious sanctions, up to and including dismissal from the program.

The use of illegal drugs and the abuse of alcohol are seriously detrimental to one’s health and well-being. We urge students involved in either of these situations to obtain the necessary assistance from medical professionals and counselors.

STUDENT DISCIPLINE PROCEDURES

Should an alleged or apparent violation of the Code of Student Responsibility occur, an informal investigation of the circumstances will generally follow, and the student(s) involved will participate in an Administrative Review proceeding in accordance with the Code of Student Responsibility and these student disciplinary procedures. The procedures for conducting Administrative Reviews are as follows:

  • Students will be notified verbally and/or in writing by the Program Manager.
    • In the administrative review proceeding, the involved student(s) will be informed of the allegation(s) and pertinent information reported to ALBA regarding the incident and alleged violation in question. The involved student(s) will also be provided with an opportunity to be heard concerning the incident and alleged violation(s) in the administrative review proceeding.
    • In the administrative review proceeding, the involved student(s) may present relevant information, including written and/or verbal statements from witnesses, as well as relevant documents and materials. The Hearing Officer (Program Manager, Director or other) determines which statements, documents and other materials are relevant in an administrative review proceeding.
    • In the administrative review proceeding, students may be accompanied by a third-party support person of their choice, but the support person may not be the student’s legal counsel, as administrative review proceedings are not legal proceedings, but rather informal student disciplinary hearings where formal rules of evidence and civil procedure do not apply.
    • The Hearing Officer will offer the student against whom a violation of the Code of Student Responsibility is alleged an opportunity to explain and discuss his/her involvement in the incident(s) and alleged violation(s) in question. If the student admits the alleged violation, then the circumstances, causes, and any mitigating factors may be discussed, and appropriate sanctions will be determined by the Hearing Officer.
    • 6.     If the student against whom a violation of the Code of Student Responsibility is alleged denies the alleged violation, the discussion will focus on the available reports, witness statements (verbal and written), as well as other relevant information, including documents and/or materials gathered prior to the hearing or offered during the hearing and deemed relevant by the Hearing Officer. Following the hearing, the Hearing Officer will make a determination as to whether or not the alleged violation(s) of the Code of Student Responsibility occurred based upon the relevant information gathered and presented, applying a preponderance of the evidence standard (i.e., “is it more likely than not that the alleged violation occurred?”).
    • The Hearing Officer has up to two working days following the administrative review proceeding to render his or her decision, unless the Hearing Officer determines there is a need for further investigation. In such circumstances, the student will be notified within two working days that a delay will occur for further investigation, with the investigation to be conducted in a timely fashion.
    • Student(s) found responsible for violating the Code of Student Responsibility will be promptly notified in writing once a decision has been made. Sanctions for violations become effective as soon as the student has been notified of them, either verbally or in writing, whichever comes first.
    • The home school of a student found responsible for a violation of the ALBA Code of Student Responsibility will be promptly notified of any student disciplinary sanctions or proceedings involving their student(s) occurring during an ALBA program.

If a violation which occurred during an ALBA program is discovered at the end of the program, or after a student has left the program, ALBA reserves the right to notify the student(s) home school of the incident violation so that the home school can decide whether or not it wants to follow up on the allegation following the student’s return to campus. In this situation, documentation and information pertinent to the case may be conveyed to the accused student’s home institution by ALBA for appropriate action and/or follow up.

Interim Suspension

In the case of egregious behavior, or for the sake of the health or safety of the student or others, the ALBA Director has the authority to immediately and summarily suspend a student from his/her student housing and/ or the ALBA program until an administrative review proceeding can occur.

Appeals

Students who have been found responsible for violating ALBA policies have the right to request an appeal, in writing. Student appeals should be directed to the ALBA Director.

In order for an appeal to take place, the student pursuing an appeal must demonstrate that at least one of the three reasons for appeal exist:

  • There were procedural errors that substantially and adversely impacted the student and resulted from a failure by ALBA to follow its policies and procedures.
  • New information has been discovered since the administrative review proceeding occurred that was not known, could not have been presented at the original hearing, and is of a character directly affecting the decision.
  • The sanction(s) imposed was/were excessive or inappropriate.

If one of the above requirements for an appeal is satisfied, then the student pursuing an appeal may submit a written appeal to the ALBA Director within five days of being notified of a decision. All sanctions shall remain in effect until any appeals have been considered, responded to in writing and decided.

Initial review of the merits of an appeal is based on the content of the written request and the written record and may or may not (in the Director’s discretion) include consultations with ALBA Staff, the involved student(s) and/or other individuals involved. An appeal may or may not include a hearing, which shall be in the discretion of the Director handling an appeal.

Sanctions

All sanctions under these procedures are designed to be educational in nature, with student development primarily in mind. Sanctions can take a variety of forms, and can be issued alone or in in combination, depending on the violation in question and the circumstances surrounding it. Sanctions may include the following:

  • Written Warning: This is a written reprimand for a specific violation.
  • Parent/Guardian Notification: This involves informing the parent or guardian of any violation.
  • Restitution/Fine: This involves charges to be paid for damages, theft, or penalty, as well as resulting holds on ALBA grades and/or student transcripts until the same are paid in full.
  • Loss of Privileges: This means that a student’s privileges to use facilities or to participate in activities or events will be withdrawn for a specified period of time.
  • Housing Change or Termination: This means that a student may be required to leave his or her housing and move to alternate housing or obtain housing accommodations independently. No refunds will be provided.
  • Disciplinary Probation: This is a notification that any further violation within a stated period of time will result in dismissal from the program.
  • Dismissal: This means permanent termination of student status from the program.

Student Privacy Rights

ALBA students authorize employees, agents and representatives of ALBA, the home campus, the overseas campus, health care providers, and others who, in the sole discretion of ALBA, have a need to know to share information and materials from the students’ academic and education records with one another, and also to communicate with one another and with the students’ parents or legal guardian concerning any emergency, medical, academic, disciplinary, legal, or health-related issues involving or related to the student, or to any conduct, misconduct, alleged misconduct, student disciplinary proceeding(s), academic proceeding(s), or legal proceeding(s) involving or relating to the student in any manner.