Part One

Initial Finding of Misconduct

  1. Student and Faculty meet to discuss finding of misconduct. A faculty member who suspects a student has committed misconduct in connection with that faculty member’s course meets with the student face-to-face in a location closed to the public to discuss the matter with the student and hear the student’s response. If, despite the faculty member’s good faith effort to schedule such a discussion, the student fails to meet or respond to faculty outreach, the faculty member should complete the investigation.
  2. Faculty member decides whether misconduct occurred. After meeting with the student and conducting any additional investigation needed, the faculty member decides whether alleged misconduct occurred.
    • No misconduct occurred. If the faculty member concludes that no misconduct has occurred, the matter ends there. There is no academic sanction imposed, and there will be no record in the student’s file of a misconduct charge.
    • Misconduct occurred and sanctions imposed. If the faculty member concludes that misconduct occurred, they may impose an academic sanction for the course. If a faculty member imposes a sanction, they must report the instance to the Dean of Students. Sanctions that may be imposed by the faculty member include but are not limited to one or more of the following:
      1. A lower or failing grade for any assignment(s) in which misconduct occurred
      2. A lower or failing grade for the course; the penalty for a serious act of academic misconduct ordinarily should involve the recording of a failing grade for the course
      3. Repeating the assignment(s) in which misconduct occurred
      4. Completing additional assignment(s)
      5. Required withdrawal from the course, with a grade of either F or W at the faculty member’s discretion, regardless of when during the semester the student withdraws from the course
        An incomplete may be given in the course if the matter cannot be resolved before final grades are due in the Office of the Registrar.
        If the sanction includes a failing grade for the course, the Registrar will be notified that the grade was given because of academic misconduct. The Registrar will record the grade of “F” on the student’s permanent academic transcript. The Registrar will ensure that the grade of “F” will not be removed from the transcript for any reason. A grade of “F” given because of academic misconduct, like any other “F” grade, must be calculated in a determination of the student ’s grade point average, but the grade will not prevent the student from repeating the same course for credit.
  3. Faculty member reports misconduct to Dean of Students, Academic Dean of unit where misconduct occurred and Academic Dean of unit of student. Within five (5) business days after misconduct has been determined to have occurred and sanction imposed, the faculty member completes a misconduct report form provided by the Office of the Dean of Students. Misconduct cases involving multiple students may require additional business days to complete all required misconduct reporting forms. They send the report to the Office of the Dean of Students, which notifies the student, the dean of the unit in which misconduct occurred, and the dean of the unit in which the student is enrolled (if different). Notice to the student from the Office of the Dean of Students includes:
    • The faculty member’s report concerning the finding of misconduct;
    • The terms of the academic sanction being imposed;
    • A statement that the student may submit an appeal in writing to the dean or director of the school or unit within which the offense occurred within seven (7) business days after receiving the faculty member’s written report;
    • A statement that the matter is being reported to the Dean of Students, who has the authority to impose an additional sanction if the Dean of Students believes that such a sanction is justified because of the nature of the student’s misconduct or because of any prior acts of misconduct that the student may have committed;
    • A statement that the Dean of Students has four options:
      1. No additional sanction;
      2. Disciplinary probation for a specified period of time;
      3. Suspension or deferred suspension from the university for a specified period; or
      4. Expulsion from the university
  4. When a misconduct charge does not involve a particular course in which the student is enrolled (for example, the student is charged with taking a test for a friend or giving the friend a paper to submit in a course under the friend’s name, or a student uses unauthorized materials during a doctoral qualifying exam), the Office of the Dean of Students substitutes for the faculty member in steps (a) – (d) above. The Dean of Students uses the procedures for personal misconduct to address the matter, and may impose any of the sanctions that may be imposed for personal misconduct.
  5. When a student commits an act of academic misconduct related to a course in which the student is enrolled and commits a separate but simultaneous act of academic misconduct unrelated to that course and/or an act of personal misconduct, the faculty member involved and the Dean of Students may handle the matters jointly or separately.