Academic Policies

Aims Community College Students are expected to demonstrate qualities of morality, honesty, civility, honor, and respect. Behavior which violates these standards for which discipline may be imposed includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Cheating: copying or attempting to copy the academic work of another student (including, but not limited to, quizzes, examinations, assessment tests, and assignments); using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, notes, study aids or other devices for an academic examination or exercise; engaging or attempting to engage the assistance of another individual in misrepresenting the academic performance of a student; or communicating information in an unauthorized manner to another person for an academic examination or exercise.

Fabrication or Falsification: falsifying or fabricating any information, College document, record, or instrument of identification. Falsification is the alteration of information, while fabrication is the invention or counterfeiting of information.

Plagiarism: use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgement; unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person; or use of an agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials.

Complicity in Academic Dishonesty: helping or attempting to help another student to commit an act of academic dishonesty.

Falsifying Grade Reports: changing or destroying, or attempting to change or destroy, grades, scores, or markings on an examination or in an instructor’s or the College’s records.

Lying. Furnishing false information to any College official, faculty member or office.

Other: additional standards of conduct relating to academic honesty specified in writing by an academic division or department and/or instructor for a particular course.

See Student Code of Conduct, Aims Procedure 5-601A.

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Any student who feels s/he may need accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact Disability Access Services (DAS) privately to discuss his/her specific needs. Please be aware that before accommodations can be allowed in class, they must be approved through the DAS Office. Students should contact DAS at (970) 339-6388 or disabilities@aims.edu to set up an appointment to discuss the process of requesting reasonable accommodations.

Aims Community College is a community of learners. Students are expected to assume responsibility for their learning by attending all class sessions, participating in class discussions and completing all assignments. Each student is encouraged to develop a professional work ethic in class that reflects responsibility, initiative and teamwork.

When an absence is unavoidable due to illness or an emergency, students are responsible for notifying their instructors and to arrange for make-up work. Because Aims Community College is committed to helping  students succeed, students who demonstrate signs of unsatisfactory academic progress (e.g. unexcused absences, missed assignments, poor participation in class, etc.) will be referred to a retention specialist for assistance.

Attendance in Online Courses

Students enrolled in online classes must complete one or more attendance activities as listed by the Instructor during the first week of class in order to be counted as "attending" the online course. Failure to complete an assigned attendance activity may result in the student being dropped from the class.

Attendance activities are outlined by the course Instructor in the Syllabus. In addition, if a student has not logged into the course for a period longer than two weeks, the Instructor will notify the administration that the student is a “Stop-Out.”

Attendance and Course Modality

Schedules and delivery methods are subject to change if deemed necessary by the college.

For each hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction a minimum of two hours of out of class student work is expected per week. The exact number of hours per week that you can expect to spend on each course will vary based upon your study style and preferences and other academic activities, including laboratory work, clinical, internship, practica, studio work, additional class time and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours as established by Aims.

Children on campus under the age of eighteen (18) must be under the direct supervision of a parent or legal guardian unless they are involved in a specific College approved and supervised activity.

In an effort to keep our college community safe, students are expected to comply with health guidelines as directed by the College, public health officials, and/or ordinance of a municipality, county, Governor of the State of Colorado or any Executive Order of the President of the United States. View the complete copy of the Student Code of Conduct.

The Computer Learning Lab staff provides assistance in various disciplines, including CIS, Business Technology, Graphics Technology and various programming languages. There are a large number of computers loaded with current software available for student use. Please visit the computer lab webpage for additional information.

Schedules and delivery methods are subject to change as necessary due to inclement weather, health and safety issues, and other circumstances.

Course evaluations provide valuable feedback to Instructors. Students are encouraged to complete the online course evaluation survey during the last two weeks of the course. Other short course evaluations will be  available at various times, depending on the course start and end times. Students will receive an email message directing them to a website where they can login using their Aims credentials and complete  evaluations. Course evaluations are confidential. The student course evaluation can be found here on myAims.

Students can view payment policies, deadlines, financial aid eligibility requirements and other financial information on the Aims website.  Students are responsible to comply with the policies in order to prevent classes from being dropped for nonpayment, financial aid repayments and/or other penalties.

Students may repeat certain courses that they have taken at Aims Community College for the purpose of improving their grade with only the highest grade earned in a repeated course used in computing grade point average. 

A student who has, for good reason, been delayed in completing the remainder of the required coursework may request an 'Incomplete' grade. Students must arrange the terms of an Incomplete with their instructors, who will define the terms of and deadline for the incomplete grade on an Incomplete Grade Contract form. Instructors are not obligated to allow a student to enter into an Incomplete Grade Contract. If an Incomplete is approved, the student does not re-enroll in the class for the next term, nor is the student considered to be enrolled in the course the next term. It is an agreement to complete the missing assignment(s), and failure to do so will result in the final grade of "F." 

Learning objective statements outlined in the Instructor’s Syllabus specify the student achievement expected upon completion of the particular course. Learning objectives create a measure to assess a student’s achievement or attainment of necessary knowledge or skills.

The Kiefer Library offers services on all campuses that include book check-out, reserve textbook check-out, reference services, and off-campus online research databases. For assistance with library services, please visit the Kiefer Library page.

Aims Community College does not discriminate against any student on the basis of pregnancy or related conditions. Absences due to medical conditions relating to pregnancy will be excused for as long as deemed medically necessary by a student’s doctor and students will be given the opportunity to make up missed work. Students needing accommodations are encouraged to seek accommodations as early as possible by filling out the Pregnancy & Childbirth Accommodations Request form. They may also contact the Title IX Office.

Reuse or distribution of instructional materials (i.e. PowerPoints, videos, class recordings, assessments, etc) or student-created content (i.e. online discussion posts, presentations, etc) without approval is prohibited.

In an effort to keep our college community safe, students are expected to comply with health guidelines as directed by the College, public health officials, or ordinance of a municipality or county or any Executive Order of the President of the United States or Governor of the State of Colorado. Students are expected to comply with the directions of any security official, firefighter or College official in the performance of his or her duties on the Aims Community College campuses.

In order to maintain the integrity of learning at Aims Community College, students must refrain from any form of cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the College. Students should refrain from expressing derogatory opinions concerning race, gender, ethnicity, and should avoid using obscene language. Each student is responsible for contributing to a positive learning environment in classroom situations. Because respect for the learning process is critical, no behavior that disrupts another student’s ability to learn will be tolerated. Students who conduct themselves contrary to the best interest of the class as a whole may be referred to the Dean of Student Services for disciplinary action. Violations of the Student Code of Conduct may result in disciplinary measures up to and including expulsion from the College.

See a complete copy of the Student Code of Conduct.

Students with difficulty accessing myAims, in an online course, or computer configuration for the Aims website may contact Technical Support by calling (970) 339-6380 or emailing the helpdesk@aims.edu.

Title IX (Title 9) of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects individuals from discrimination based on sex in any educational program or activity operated by recipients of federal financial assistance. Sexual harassment, which includes acts of sexual violence, is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title IX (Title 9). Aims Community College is committed to creating an educational and learning environment free from discrimination based on sex and supports members of the campus community by providing resources to assist students, faculty and staff in addressing issues involving sex discrimination, including sexual violence. The Title IX (Title 9) Coordinator has been charged with monitoring and ensuring compliance with these regulations. Questions regarding Title IX (Title 9) or concerns about and complaints of non-compliance that include complaints of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual violence, or other sexual misconduct should be directed to the Title IX (Title 9) Coordinator, Karin Ranta-Curran.

Any and all written work submitted in a course may be submitted to TurnItIn.com or a similar detection program for evaluation of the originality of a student’s work as well as proper use and citation of sources. Such software programs have the educational purpose of ensuring the integrity of submitted student work. Work submitted to TurnItIn.com will be included as source documents in a restricted access database owned by TurnItIn.com solely for the purpose of detecting possible plagiarism of such documents. By registering for a course at Aims, the student agrees that all assignments may be subject to the form of originality review mandated by the instructor. A paper not submitted according to the procedures and format set by the instructor may be penalized or may not be accepted for credit towards the student’s grade. No work created for another class or project shall be submitted to another course for a grade without the prior consent of the instructor.

Drop-in, individual, and guided study group tutoring is available to currently enrolled Aims students. For available subjects for tutoring, hours, and additional questions, please call (970) 339-6541 for Greeley,  (970) 667-4611 ext. 3304 for Loveland, and (303) 718-5905 for Fort Lupton services. Also, please visit the Tutoring & Supplemental Instruction webpage for current information about drop-in, individual, group, and online tutoring.

The Computer Learning Lab staff provides assistance in various disciplines, including CIS, Business Technology, Graphics Technology and various programming languages. There are a large number of computers loaded with current software available for student use. Please visit the Computer Lab webpage for additional information.

A “W” grade indicates a student’s withdrawal after the point marking 15% of the course (the drop/refund deadline) and before the point marking 75% of the course. After the 75% point, students may no longer choose to withdraw from a course, and faculty will either assign the grade earned or complete an “Incomplete” contract with the student. An Incomplete will be assigned only under extraordinary circumstances and is left to the discretion of the Instructor.