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:

  1. Gather information associated with the alleged violation(s). You may consult with our office about the alleged violations.
  2. Verify if the student has a previous violation by contacting our office.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.