Policy Changes For Graduate Students

The following is a very concise summary of key changes only. Please refer to the policy document for complete information.

Graduate students in Arts, Sciences, and Engineering are now included under the College Academic Honesty Policy. Before, if a graduate student were accused of academic dishonesty, the case would be resolved within their department before going to the Graduate Dean of AS&E. To improve consistency and increase fairness, if a graduate student is suspected of academic dishonesty in their coursework,¹ it will now be resolved through Board on Academic Honesty processes. This happens either through meeting with the instructor and signing a contract admitting responsibility and accepting a penalty (Instructor Resolution, available at the instructor's discretion only for minor violations), or through a hearing before the Board determining whether the graduate student is responsible and what penalty is appropriate (Board Resolution). In both cases, the decision and any penalty will be reviewed by the Graduate Dean of AS&E.

Here is the list of violations of academic honesty categorized by "minor," "moderate," and "major," and here is the list of penalties that will be applied at each level. Note that the penalties assigned for graduate students are more serious than those for undergraduates due to higher expectations of responsibility at the graduate level. Here are resources to help graduate students achieve academic honesty. This covers the process for Instructor Resolution, and this covers the process for Board Resolution of suspected dishonesty. The Board is made up of a Chair, eleven or more faculty members and two graduate students, and will always have three faculty members and at least one of two graduate student representatives at a hearing. These graduate students are appointed by the Dean of AS&E. Appeals are made to the University Provost, whose decision is final.

There are new guidelines for Board on Academic Honesty records to be shared within and outside the University of Rochester. The reporting person (usually an instructor) is required to keep the information confidential. A report of a student’s findings of responsibility will be provided only when the request is authorized by a release form signed by the student, or when the student submits the request directly.

New starting Fall 2015, all graduate students will copy and sign this Honor Pledge on all examinations: "I affirm that I will not give or receive any unauthorized help on this exam, and that all work will be my own."

^1 If a graduate student is suspected of academic dishonesty in sponsored research, the case must be handed by their department according to federal statutes governing the funding agency (Section XII.F.5).