NSCC Academic Policies
Academic Honesty
Academic honesty and integrity are highly valued at the College as being essential to students as both learners and as potential members of their chosen occupations.
Academic dishonesty includes, but not limited to, the following:
- cheating on tests, assignments, or reports;
- plagiarism, is defined as the act of presenting creative and intellectual materials of another as one’s own work. This is to be distinguished from collaboration and cooperation on a group assignment;
- theft of materials;
- purchase, sale, or possession of stolen materials;
- purchase or sale of materials used for the purpose of misleading or to obtain an unfair advantage;
- use of unlicensed software;
- dishonesty in any way when representing the College as a student of the College.
The College considers any such academic dishonesty to be a serious offence. Instances of academic dishonesty will result in automatic failure for the piece of work involved and require the filing and completion of an Incident Report. Further disciplinary action may be taken and may range from a formal written warning or temporary suspension for first-time offences to dismissal from the program for repeat offences
Student COMMUNITY STANDARDS
The Student Community Standards Policy sets out rules and requirements for Student behavior both on and, in some circumstances, off campus. It also creates a framework for the enforcement of these rules and requirements.
LEARNER Return to Studies
A full-time learner is expected to proceed in the program without interruption until graduation. In cases where a learner does not proceed in the program without interruption or where the learner is required to withdraw from the program or is expelled from the College, the student must apply for readmission using the prescribed form. In lieu of voluntary withdrawal, a learner may be granted a leave of absence for a defined period. Returning learners are not guaranteed a seat when they return to the program.
The Registrar’s Office will consider each application for readmission in consultation with the Campus Management of the department concerned and, where appropriate, with the Centre for Student Success.
Learners who do leave the program will have five years (from date of admission) in order to complete the program.
Returning Learners
Any learner who is returning to a program must demonstrate continued competence in both laboratory skills and in the clinical site. Continued competency is defined as the ability to apply knowledge, skills and judgment in a safe, competent and ethical manner. The learner will be required to register and pay for a skills lab evaluation in order to demonstrate safety and competency of all nursing skills. The cost for the skills lab refresher course and evaluation is the learner’s responsibility.
Attendance
Prompt and regular attendance is expected of all learners.
Prompt and regular attendance is expected of all learners. Specific programs and/or courses may have mandatory attendance requirements; and in those instances, attendance records will be kept. This is in keeping with the NSCC Academic Performance Policy.
Practical nursing requires mandatory attendance for all nursing skills labs and all clinical rotations. There may be some circumstances where a learner may be asked for a medical note indicating they are clear or safe to return to lab and clinical practice. An example is if a learner has sustained a physical injury and had missed lab/clinical time due to that injury a clearance to return to practice safely may be requested. Any time missed may impact the learner’s progress through the program. Time missed may have to be made up and the learner may incur additional cost for the make-up time.
Learner Responsibilities
The learner is expected to take responsibility for their own learning. Faculty will provide the necessary and relevant information required for each course in the course syllabus and is also available to assist you with finding supportive resources. In addition, NSCC provides a variety of services for students. These services are available to all students of NSCC regardless of the location of your campus. Please review the links below.
- Learners are expected to complete assigned work and study independently.
- Learners are expected to observe college, campus, and clinical facility policy.
- Active learner participation will also be an asset to the successful completion of the program.
- Scented perfumes and aftershaves are not to be worn as the college and most clinical settings are scent free environments.
- Transportation to and from clinical facilities is the responsibility of the learner. Certain items such as uniforms, shoes, a watch with a second hand, crests, name bar, bandage scissors etc. will be purchased by the learner.
- Campus specific directions regarding pertinent dress code requirements will be discussed during orientation.
- Extra fees may apply to any voluntary programming or certification.
- Laboratory practice of skills is mandatory to ensure safety and knowledge for placement and requirements for the entry level competencies.
- If a learner is consistently absent and not performing skills at a level that demonstrates safe, competent and ethical to meet the prerequisite(s), he/she will not be able to proceed to the next scheduled nursing clinical, which is a requirement to graduate.
- Medical absences that exceed one day from a clinical course will require consultation with the practical nursing faculty and/or Academic Chair.
- Absences may require medical documentation.
- As reflected in the Professional Conduct Outcome, there is an expectation that the learner is present at all clinical experiences.
- Responsibility for clinical time missed due to absence rests with the learner.
- Clinical make-up time is possible and may incur additional costs to the learner.
- Intersession and Internship attendance is mandatory as are all clinical placements.