Charging Academic Integrity Violations
Academic integrity violations may be initiated by either faculty/instructors, students, librarians or administrators. When charging a student for an academic integrity violation, complainants must sign and submit the Charge of Academic Dishonesty form to the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities.
Any charges should be made as quickly as is reasonably possible (normally within twelve working days) from the discovery of the infraction.
An instructor/faculty member may initiate a charge by completing the following steps:
- Gather information associated with the alleged violation(s). You may consult with our office about the alleged violations.
- Verify if the student has a previous violation by contacting our office.
- Complete a charge of academic dishonesty form for each student involved.
- Identify the applicable alleged violations(s):
- Cheating
- Fabrication
- Plagiarism
- Falsification and forgery of university academic documents
- Facilitating academic dishonesty
- Propose a sanction consistent with the nature of the violation, your syllabus, and/or university recommendations.
- For first time violations, the recommended minimum sanction is failure of the assignment.
- For repeat violations, the recommended minimum sanction is failure of the course.
- For more serious offenses, sanctions may be suspension or expulsion and will require an academic integrity council hearing.
- Other sanctions may include, but are not limited to, the reduction of academic credit for the assignment or course and/or educational sanctions.
- Identify the applicable alleged violations(s):
- Present the completed charge form and any documentation to the student at an in-person meeting, if possible.
- Discuss the alleged violation and the proposed sanction in a constructive conversation about academic integrity in the learning environment.
- Refer the student to our office so they can understand their rights and options in this process.
- Allow the student time to consider a course of action in relation to the alleged violation(s), which should be at least three business days.
- Submit the signed and completed charge form to our office, along with any documentation.
A student may initiate a charge of academic dishonesty against another student by referring the case to the instructor/faculty member involved and/or to the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities. If the case is brought directly to our office, the instructor of the involved course will be notified.
An administrator or librarian may initiate a charge of academic dishonesty by contacting the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities.
Mitchell Hall
First Floor Lobby
514 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052