What Will Happen?

Upon determining that a student has engaged in academic negligence, faculty are required to submit a report. Reports of academic negligence are sent automatically to the student, the advising dean and the academic advisor(s). Students who are found responsible for academic negligence are required to complete successfully an educational module on academic honesty and ethics by the deadline for grade submission for the semester in which the negligence occurred or receive an administrative incomplete in the course.

1. The Dean of Conduct in the Dean of Students Office and the Academic Integrity Coordinator will be notified. The Academic Integrity Coordinator will contact both you and the student (in that order) to discuss the case. Here are flowcharts of the process for you (FacultyFlowChart), the student (StudentFlowChart), and the Academic Integrity Coordinator (AcademicDishonestyReportResponse).
2. An academic review board will be formed to handle the case.

An academic review board consists only of the following people (this means the student and reporting faculty member do not attend the meeting):

• The Academic Integrity Coordinator (currently Rebecca Conry, Assoc. Prof. of Chemistry). The Academic Integrity Coordinator chairs the board, unless he or she is the one bringing the charge of academic dishonesty.
• Another faculty member, from a pool of elected or appointed faculty members to the Academic Honesty Committee that has declared no conflict of interest with the student.
• Two students, from a pool of students appointed by the Dean of Students Office that have declared no conflict of interest with the student.
• The Dean of Student Conduct from the Dean of Students Office (a non-voting member of the board.) This Dean provides guidance to the student through process and is responsible for some record-keeping.

3. If the student accepts responsibility for the violation, the academic review board will determine and assign a sanction in keeping with established norms for similar cases. You (the reporting course instructor) are welcome to suggest an appropriate sanction, but you do not have the authority to assign a sanction on your own.
4. If the student does not accept responsibility for the alleged violation, the academic review board will investigate the case, for instance by talking with all concerned parties, interviewing witnesses, consulting impartial experts, and/or soliciting additional relevant evidence. The process may involve multiple conversations with any and all of the concerned parties. The committee will work deliberately and carefully, but as efficiently as possible, since it is in everyone’s interests for cases to be wrapped up in a timely manner. The academic review board does not hold hearings; students are asked to submit written responses to reports of academic dishonesty.

If the academic review board finds the student not responsible for the alleged violation no sanction will be applied. The standard of proof for determining whether a violation has occurred is a preponderance of the evidence; or, more likely than not.

If the academic review board finds that the student responsible for the violation, then the academic review board will assign a sanction. As a member of the academic review board, you (the reporting instructor) are encouraged to suggest an appropriate sanction and participate in the decision-making process, but you do not have the authority to assign a sanction on your own. Or, at your discretion, you may choose to opt out of the sanctioning process.