Academic Integrity
College Board Procedure for Dealing with Accusations of Violation of Academic Integrity
Contents:
Section
I: Academic dishonesty
Section
II: General principles
Section
III: Initiating a review of possible violations
Section
IV: Procedures for College Board hearing
Section
V: Sanctions
Section
VI: Appeal of Board decisions
Section I:
Academic Dishonesty
Academic integrity is highly valued at
Clark. Research, scholarship and teaching are possible only in an environment
characterized by honesty and mutual trust. Academic integrity requires that your
work be your own. Because of the damage that violations of academic integrity do
to the intellectual climate of the University, they must be treated with the
utmost seriousness and appropriate sanctions must be imposed. The maintenance of
high standards of academic integrity is the concern of every member of the
University community.
Several ways in which academic integrity may be violated are outlined below.
Cheating has three principal forms:
- Unauthorized use of notes, text, or other aids during an examination or in
performance of course assignments.
- Copying the work of another.
- Handing in the same paper for more than one course unless the faculty
members involved give their explicit permission to do so.
Plagiarism refers to the presentation of
someone else’s work as one’s own, without proper citation of references and
sources, whether or not the work has been previously published. Submitting work
obtained from a professional term paper writer or company is plagiarism. Claims
of ignorance about the rules of attribution, or of unintentional error are not a
defense against a finding of plagiarism.
Unauthorized collaboration refers to work
that students submit as their own but which was arrived at through a process of
collaboration without the approval of the professor. Since standards on
appropriate or inappropriate collaboration may vary widely among individual
faculty, students should make certain they understand a professor's expectations
before collaborating on any class work.
Alteration or fabrication of data includes
the submission or changing of data obtained by someone else or not actually
obtained in the performance of an experiment or study, except where allowed by
the professor. It also includes the changing of data obtained in the performance
of one's research.
Participating in or facilitating dishonest activities
includes, but is not limited to:
- Stealing examinations
- Forging grade reports or grade change forms, or altering academic records
- Sabotaging the work of another student
- Selling, lending, or otherwise distributing materials for the purpose of
cheating
- Forging or altering Graduation Clearance forms
- Forging letters of recommendation
- Forging signatures on any official university documents
Section II: General Principles
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Members of the Board and other University officials who
have a judicial or investigatory role in a case are required to observe
standards of confidentiality. The University expects that all other persons
involved in a case will act in such a way as not to defame the reputation of
other members of the University community.
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The College Board makes decisions about possible violations
of academic integrity on the basis of the preponderance of the evidence.
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The mission of the College Board is educational as well as
regulatory. Therefore, sanctions for violation of standards will reflect
punishment for wrongdoing but will also represent attempts to teach students
to uphold strict standards in the future.
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The University regards the violation of standards of
academic integrity as a serious offence. Anyone who has information that a
violation has occurred is expected to take appropriate action as outlined
below. No person who, in good conscience, brings allegations of a violation of
academic integrity will be adversely affected, and retaliation will not be
tolerated. However, anyone who knowingly makes false or frivolous charges will
be subject to discipline.
Section III:
Initiating a Review of Possible Violations
A professor who suspects a violation by one of his/her
students should investigate the incident. Any other person who observes an
incident or possesses information about activities which s/he believes to be in
violation of academic integrity should initiate a review normally by approaching
the professor of the course in which the suspected violation occurred. In
unusual circumstances, the individual may approach the chair of the College
Board.
Any person who is uncertain whether to approach a professor
or make a charge to the Board may approach the chair of the College Board in
confidence to discuss the situation and seek consultation.
1. Consultation with the chair of College
Board: Any person, including a student, who observes an incident or
possesses information about a possible violation may approach the chair of the
College Board to discuss the situation in confidence. Any person who feels that
concerns about suspected violations of academic integrity have been improperly
handled may also consult with the chair of the Board. The chair is available to
offer consultation to help determine whether sufficient evidence exists to bring
formal charges.
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Where the chair and the person agree that the evidence is
insufficient, no formal charge is brought to the Board.
-
Where evidence is insufficient to bring charges, but doubt
remains, the chair can work with the person to consider informal solutions.
(For example, approaching the professor and, without making specific charges
against a student, explaining the reporting person’s concerns and discussing
the possibility of more rigorous monitoring to prevent violations.)
-
In exploring informal approaches, care should be exercised
to avoid making statements which imply that a student has violated academic
integrity since no hearing has been held and no finding of guilt has been
made.
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Where charges seem appropriate, the chair will advise the
person on the proper procedure for initiating a Board hearing.
2. Initiating a charge:
Charge initiated by the course professor:
The faculty member may investigate the situation, confront the alleged violator
and, where the person acknowledges guilt, recommend a sanction to the Board. The
faculty member then informs the chair of College Board of the case, making the
accusation, providing evidence supporting the charge, and recommending a
sanction.
The College Board will review the information provided by the
faculty member as well as any prior records of the student involving breach of
academic integrity in determining sanctions (see section V: Sanctions).
In cases of first offenses, the College Board most often will
ratify the sanction recommended by the faculty member. A letter explaining the
charges and sanctions will be sent to the student, as well as kept on file.
Faculty members may recommend to the College Board a range of
sanctions, including the following responses:
- Warning without further penalty
- Rewriting of assignment
- Lowering of assignment grade
- Failure of particular assignment
- Failure of the course
Once a student has been notified that s/he has been charged
with a breach of academic integrity, s/he may not withdraw from the class.
If the accused student challenges the charge and/or sanction,
and/or the offense is so serious as to warrant it, the student, the faculty
member, or the College Board may call for a hearing on the case. The College
Board will then convene a formal hearing.
Review initiated by other members of the university community:
A student or any member of the university community who
observes an incident or possesses information about activities that s/he
believes to be in violation of academic integrity is encouraged first to
approach the faculty member teaching the course in which the alleged violation
occurred.
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The meeting with the faculty member is in confidence.
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The complainant’s suspicions and the meeting with the
faculty member should not be discussed with others. As appropriate, the
faculty member may inquire to determine if others witnessed the incident or
have pertinent information about it.
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Students or others who are approached to determine if they
have witnessed specific events or have information about possible violations
are also expected to maintain confidentiality.
-
When a faculty member investigates an incident, the
procedures outlined above in section 2.a apply
Taking a complaint directly to the College Board: Any member
of the university community may bring a charge directly to the College Board.
Procedures for a College Board hearing are outlined in section IV below.
Section IV: College
Board Hearing
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The charge must be submitted in writing to
the College Board. The charge should be factual, must include a description of
the action(s) which is (are) believed to constitute violations of academic
integrity, and must outline the substantiating evidence. Names of witnesses, if
appropriate, must be included in the written charge at the time it is initiated.
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The chair of the College Board will inform the student
accused of the breach of academic integrity of the charge. Whenever a charge
is brought by a person other than the professor of the course in which the
alleged violation occurred, the chair will also notify the professor who will
ordinarily serve as a witness. If the student acknowledges the accuracy of the
charge, and if this is a first offense for the student, the College Board
Chair will accept the recommendation of the instructor of the course for the
sanction to be imposed.
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If the accused student denies the charge, s/he will be
informed of the date and location of the College Board hearing at which the
case will be heard. The accused will be provided with a copy of the charge,
copies of any document(s) to be used in evidence, and an outline of the
hearing procedure. The case normally will be placed on the agenda at the next
regular Board meeting. The charge will be read to the Board and any member who
has a conflict of interest will be excused from hearing the charge. The Board
will then determine the charges to which the accused must respond.
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The student will be advised of the right to bring witnesses
and the deadline for informing the Board of the names of witnesses. The
student will also be advised of the right to have an advisor present during
the hearing (c.f. #7 below).
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The chair of the Board will also inform the faculty member
or student making the charge of the date and location of the hearing and of
the charges to which the student accused must respond. The Board will provide
the person making the charge with a copy of the procedures for the hearing.
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Witnesses: Names of witnesses must be included in the
initial charge. The Board may allow the addition of witnesses not available at
the time the charge was made. Such information must be provided to the Board
no later than two business days before the hearing.
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Advisors: Both the complainant and the respondent may
request the assistance of an advisor from within the Clark community. The
advisor may remain throughout the hearing and be available for consultation.
However, advisors are not allowed to provide information to the Board or to
question the complainant, the respondent or witnesses. The name of an advisor
must be submitted to the chair at least 48 hours before the hearing.
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Recording: Anyone attending a hearing may take notes. Only
the Board may, at its discretion, tape-record the hearing.
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Hearing procedure:
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Both the complainant and the respondent will have the
opportunity to make statements separately to the Board.
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The Board will question the complainant, the respondent and
witnesses.
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The respondent will have the opportunity to respond to all
information provided to the Board which is pertinent to Board’s decision.
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If the Board determines that a resolution of the case would
be best served by bringing both parties together, it will have the option to
delay a vote until after a second meeting is scheduled. This meeting will be
scheduled within 10 business days of the original hearing. The decision to
call such a meeting is solely at the discretion of College Board.
10. Deliberations:
- Board deliberations are ordinarily held immediately following a hearing
and are completed as soon as possible after the hearing
- Only Board members will be present during deliberations.
- Board deliberations will not be tape-recorded.
- Board will first determine, by majority vote, accused student's guilt or
innocence of each charge.
- Board will determine sanction(s) for the charge(s) of which the respondent
is found guilty.
- Where applicable, Board will determine actions to be taken should the
respondent fail to comply with a sanction. Board may delegate that decision to
the chair.
- Sanctions will be specified in detail, with deadlines and methods of
documenting compliance clearly outlined, where appropriate.
11. Notification
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Within two business days of completion of the Board’s
deliberations, the Chair of the Board will notify the accused in writing of
the outcome of the Board’s deliberations and of any sanctions levied by the
Board.
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Chair of the Board will notify the accuser of the Board’s
decision regarding guilt or innocence of the charge(s) within two (2) business
days of completion of the Board’s deliberations. The Board, at its discretion,
may also inform the complainant of any or all sanctions applied.
12. Records:
-
At the conclusion of the hearing, the chair will collect
all materials provided to the Board members and all documents used as
evidence. Copies of the material will be kept in the confidential files of the
College Board.
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Any tape recording of the hearing will be erased after the
period allowed for appeal of the Board decision has expired.
Section V: Sanctions
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As stated in the general principles
governing actions of the Board, its mission is educational as well as
regulatory, and sanctions will therefore reflect not only punishment for
wrongdoing but also efforts to teach students to uphold rigorous standards of
integrity in the future.
-
In determining the appropriate sanction, the College Board
will take into consideration
the student’s prior history of academic integrity, and the seriousness of the
violation. Sanctions may include but are not limited to one or a combination
of the following responses:
-
Letter of warning to the
student
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Grade of zero for the particular assignment
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Grade of
F for the course
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Academic probation, the length of which will be determined by
the Board
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Notation of sanction on student's academic record
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Suspension: student may be suspended for one semester or one
year; the Board may suspend the student without opportunity for transferable
credit
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Expulsion from the University
Section
VI: Appeals of Board Decisions
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An appeal of a College Board decision may
be made only by the respondent in an academic integrity case.
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Any appeal of the Board’s decision must
be filed in writing within 10 business days of notification by the Board.
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Appeals of Board decisions are filed with Dean of the College.
Appeals are heard by the Dean of the College or by the Dean’s designee(s).
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Appeals must be based either on the presence of new
information not available at the time of the original hearing or on faults in
the procedure of the original hearing.
Appeals may not be based solely on dissatisfaction with the decision of the
Board.
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All documents and recordings of the hearing will be made
available to the Dean of the College or the Dean’s designee(s).
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The decision of the Dean of the College
will be final.
revised 4/06
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