Financial Aid Regulations

What is a Copyright Infringement?

Copyright infringement is the act of exercising, without permission or legal authority, one or more of the exclusive rights granted to the copyright owner under section 106 of the Copyright Act (Title 17 of the United States Code). These rights include the right to reproduce or distribute a copyrighted work. In the file-sharing context, downloading or uploading substantial parts of a copyrighted work without authority constitutes an infringement.

Criminal Penalties for Violation of Federal Copyright Laws

Penalties for copyright infringement include civil and criminal penalties. In general, anyone found liable for civil copyright infringement may be ordered to pay either actual damages or "statutory" damages affixed at not less than $750 and not more than $30,000 per work infringed. For "willful" infringement, a court may award up to $150,000 per work infringed. A court can, in its discretion, also assess costs and attorneys' fees. For details, see Title 17, United States Code, Sections 504, 505. Willful copyright infringement can also result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 per offense.

Exclusive Property

All equipment, services and technologies provided to students as part of Belhaven University’s computer system constitute the exclusive property of Belhaven University. Similarly, all information composed, transmitted, received or stored via the Belhaven University computer system is also considered the property of Belhaven University. As such, all stored information is subject to disclosure to management, law enforcement and other third parties, with or without notice to the student.

Student Responsibilities

Students are responsible for complying with copyright law and applicable licenses that apply to software, files, documents, messages and other material they wish to download, copy, or transmit. This includes peer-to-peer sharing of files and applications. Proprietary materials belonging to entities other than the student should not be stored or transmitted on the University’s e-mail system or via the University’s Internet connection. All students obtaining access to any material prepared or created by another company or individual must respect any attached copyrights and may not copy, retrieve, modify or forward such copyrighted materials, except with written permission of the lawful owner. Students receiving electronic files via the Belhaven University e-mail system or Internet connection should ensure that the sender is the lawful owner or has obtained the necessary license or permission.

Policy Violation

Belhaven University monitors and filters all internet activity and provides regular reports of internet use to the office of the Vice President for Student Development. Therefore, to avoid disciplinary or criminal consequences, students should be very careful to investigate any material obtained via the Internet to be sure it is legal before copying. Students found to be in violation of any part of the policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal from the University. Any known or suspected violations of copyright infringement should be reported immediately to the office of the Vice President for Student Development.

Plans to Effectively Combat Copyright Infringement

The University has network controls designed to block illegal file sharing. In the event a student is able to circumvent those controls and is discovered, the student's network access will be revoked until the Policy Remedies have been enforced.

Annual disclosure

As required by HEOA, Belhaven University will regularly – at least annually – notify each student of the university's obligation to combat illegal file sharing and the information available on this page. It will also provide this notice to its employees.

Sources for additional information

US Copyright Office - www.copyright.gov, www.copyright.gov/help/faq
EDUCAUSE - http://www.educause.edu/legalcontent (Inclusion on this list does not constitute endorsement by the
University. Some sites may be blocked for other reasons)
CampusDownloading.com - www.campusdownloading.com

Helpful Guidelines
1. There are no specific number of words, lines, or notes that my safely be taken without permission.
2. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted materials does not substitute for obtaining permission.

Students convicted of possession or sale of drugs while receiving Title IV funding are no longer eligible for financial aid.

If the student was convicted of both possessing and selling illegal drugs, and the periods of ineligibility are different, the student will be ineligible for the longer period.

The chart below illustrates the period of ineligibility for FSA funds, depending on whether the conviction was for sale or possession and whether the student had previous offenses. (A conviction for sale of drugs includes convictions for conspiring to sell drugs.)

The Financial Aid Office will provide each student who becomes ineligible for Title IV aid due to a drug conviction a clear and conspicuous written notice of the loss of eligibility and the methods whereby the student can become eligible again.

A student regains eligibility the day after the period of ineligibility ends or upon successful completion of a qualified drug rehabilitation program or, effective beginning with the 2013–2014 award year, passes two unannounced drug tests given by such a program. Further drug convictions will make the student ineligible again.

Students denied eligibility for an indefinite period can regain it after successfully completing rehabilitation program (as described below), passing two unannounced drug tests from such a program, or if a conviction is reversed, set aside, or removed from the student’s record so that fewer than two convictions for sale or three convictions for possession remain on the record. In such cases, the nature and dates of the remaining convictions will determine when the student regains eligibility. It is the student’s responsibility to certify to you that they have successfully completed the rehabilitation program; as with the conviction question on the FAFSA.

When a student regains eligibility during the award year, Pell, ACG, National SMART, TEACH, and Campus‐based aid may be awarded for the current payment period and Direct and FFEL loans for the period of enrollment.

Class Participation Verification Policy

Prior to release of financial aid funds, the University must verify the student has participated in an academically related activity in each of the classes in which they are enrolled. Federal regulations define academic related activities as physically attending a class with direct interaction between the instructor and students, submitting an academic assignment, taking an exam, an interactive tutorial, participating in an online discussion about academic matters, etc. If participation cannot be verified by the last day to drop or add a course, all Title IV funds (Pell Grants, student loans, and other grants or scholarships) cannot be disbursed.

Student Loan Acceptance

Belhaven University participates in an active confirmation process in regards to all student loans. This means that Belhaven University will NOT accept student loans on the behalf of the student. It is the student’s responsibility to review their loan eligibility on Blazenet and determine the amount of the offered loan to accept or decline.

Students also need to complete a Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (and PLUS loan Master Promissory Note if applicable) along with Direct Loan Entrance Counseling (and PLUS Loan Counseling if applicable) before we can disburse the loan funds.

Students will also need to read their entire Award Notification and ensure that they are aware of all the policies regarding their Financial Aid.

Student Loan Disbursement

Federal regulations require student loans to be disbursed equally throughout the student’s attendance pattern and that disbursements are made each semester. Disbursement dates are determined by the program or semester in which the student is enrolled.

• Traditional Students are assigned a Fall/Spring attendance pattern. This means the loan is split over the course of both award periods and disbursed accordingly.
• Adult and Online Students are assigned a Fall/Spring/Summer attendance pattern. This means the loan is split equally between the three award periods and disbursed accordingly.

Disbursement are transmitted after the drop/add period each semester. The student will be notified via email when their Financial Aid disburses onto their account. In accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), information regarding arrival of loan proceeds are not discussed over the phone.

After Financial Aid Disburses onto the student’s tuition account; the Student Financial Services office will have 14 calendar days to process any refund remaining. Once the status on the “Account Activity” page through Blazenet shows as “In Progress” under the refund tab; the Business Office will begin their process which consists of transmitting the refund to the student’s bank account information on file. If there is no bank information on file, then they will process a check to be sent through the mail.

Students who officially withdraw from a course or from the University may be entitled to credits/refunds of course tuition and fee charges, according to the following policies. Refunds/credits for tuition to the student’s account will be calculated based the date on that the student submits their intent to withdraw.

Cancellation prior to Course Start Date:

If a student withdraws from the University, prior to beginning courses, they are entitled to cancellation of all institutional charges other than books and supplies charged to their student account.

Withdrawal after Course Start Date:

• Traditional Undergraduate (catalogue)
• Adult, Graduate and Online Policy (catalogue)

Belhaven University participates in federal student loan programs and is committed to the highest standards of ethical behavior. We are committed to offering students open access to utilizing the funding sources of their choice and in ensuring that our staff and practices adhere to all ethical expectations. Further, we enforce a code of conduct that includes bans on:

• revenue-sharing arrangements with any lender;
• steering borrowers to particular lenders or delaying loan certifications; and
• offers of funds for private loans to students in exchange for providing concessions or promises to the lender for a specific number of FSA loans, a specified loan volume, or a referred lender agreement.

Employee Compensation Prohibition

The code of conduct applies to the officers, employees, and agents of Belhaven University and must also prohibit employees of the financial aid office from receiving compensation from a lender, guaranty agency or loan servicer.

We prohibit our financial aid office staff (or other employees or agents with responsibilities with respect to education loans) from accepting compensation for:

any type of consulting arrangement or contract to provide services to or on behalf of a lender relating to education loans; and

service on an advisory board, commission, or group established by lenders or, except for reimbursement for reasonable expenses.

Employee Gift Prohibition

We also prohibit our employees of the Financial Aid Office from receiving gifts from a lender or loan servicer.

• The term ‘gift’ means any gratuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan, or other item valued at more than a nominal amount.
• The term ‘gift’ includes services, transportation, lodging, or meals, whether provided in kind, by purchase of a ticket, payment in advance, or by reimbursement.
• The term ‘gift’ does NOT include standard material, activities, or programs on issues related to a loan, or food, refreshments, or training that are part of a training session to improve service if training contributes to professional development of agent.