Academic Integrity Referral

Academic Integrity Self-Referral

As stated in the Code of Academic Integrity a student may refer themselves for an act of academic dishonesty; in such cases, students do not receive the standard sanction of an "XF". Rather students who refer themselves, and their referral meets certain criteria as listed below from parts 9-12 of the Code, will receive a lesser penalty.

9 - Students who commit acts of academic dishonesty may demonstrate their renewed commitment to academic integrity by reporting themselves in writing to the Office of Student Conduct. Students who elect to self-refer for academic integrity violations are encouraged to utilize the Office of Student Conduct electronic referral form on the Office of Student Conduct website to detail the incident. Students may not exercise the self-referral option more than once during their enrollment at the University.

10 - If a review of the matter by the Director of Student Conduct reveals that no member of the University had a suspicion of a self-referring student’s act of academic dishonesty, then the student will not be charged with academic dishonesty or left with a disciplinary record. Instead, the Director of Student Conduct will notify the instructor of the course in which the incident occurred to consult on the matter. The Director of Student Conduct will then convene a meeting with the student. The purpose of the meeting will be to ensure that the self-referral provisions of this Code are followed, not to levy a sanction or to create a disciplinary record. The Director of Student Conduct will notify the instructor of the course in which the incident occurred of the meeting’s outcome.

11 - In all cases where a student self-referral is accepted, the student will be required to successfully complete an educational sanction. In addition, at the discretion of the course instructor, the student may have the grade for the academic exercise in question reduced to a zero, by one letter grade, or to an “F.”

12 - If the Director of Student Conduct determines that academic dishonesty was suspected at the time of the student’s self-referral and admission, the matter will be resolved in accordance with the procedures specified in this Code for resolving academic dishonesty allegations. The student’s self-referral and admission may be considered a mitigating circumstance for purposes of sanctioning.

Academic Integrity Referral

Any member of the University community who has witnessed an apparent act of academic dishonesty, or has information that reasonably leads to the conclusion that such an act has occurred or has been attempted, has the responsibility to inform the Honor Council promptly in writing (Code of Academic Integrity, part 4). When submitting your Academic Integrity Referral form below please give us a complete written description of the incident, including all relevant details and information. The Academic Integrity Referral form can be completed by clicking the link below:

The Resolution Process

• Honor Council members or designees will review all written referrals to determine that a report of academic dishonesty is supported by reasonable cause.
• If reasonable cause exists, the accused student will be informed in writing of the charges, and shall be offered an opportunity for a preliminary meeting to review the case. The faculty member or referring party may be included in the meeting.
• During the preliminary meeting, the student will be provided with a copy of the Code of Academic Integrity and a statement of procedural rights approved by the Honor Council.
• If the referred student has no prior record of academic dishonesty or serious disciplinary misconduct, the student may choose to participate in an informal resolution with the referring party or designee in order to reach an agreement concerning how the case should be resolved.
• The standard "XF" grade penalty will normally be imposed if the student agrees that they committed an act of academic dishonesty. Any other sanction agreed upon by the student and referring party or designee will constitute a recommendation to the Honor Council and must be supported by a written statement signed by the student and the referring party or designee.
• If the case cannot be resolved in an informal resolution, the case will go to either a disciplinary conference or an Honor Review hearing. The disciplinary conference is conducted by a staff member from the Office of Student conduct, who determines responsibility, and sanction if necessary. The Honor Review hearing is conducted by the Honor Council. The Board will normally consist of a non-voting student Presiding Officer and three students and two faculty members, who will determine responsibility, and sanction(s) if necessary.

A visual flow chart of the entire Academic Integrity process, from referral to determination of responsibility and sanctioning, can be found here.