Suspected Violations
This page covers what to do if you suspect a student of violating the academic honesty policy.
- Jurisdiction
- Policy requirements for all suspected dishonesty
- Consultation
- Selecting and completing the process
For an introduction to academic honesty in AS&E, review the information in the overview of academic honesty in AS&E PDF. If you need help or have questions, contact the academic honesty liaison.
Determining Jurisdiction
The first step is to determine what system has jurisdiction over the suspected academic honesty violation. If you are sure that the student whom you suspect of violating the academic honesty policy is a student in Arts, Sciences, and Engineering (AS&E), then you can skip the rest of this section.
If you aren’t sure, you can look up the student’s primary campus designation on the course roster in UR Student. You can find your roster through the following steps:
- Log in to UR Student.
- Click on the Teaching icon on the right side of the screen, about halfway down the page.
- Click “Course Roster,” also about halfway down the page.
- Select the appropriate Year/Term (quickest way to do this is by typing in the text box, e.g., “Fall 2023 AS&E”).
- Click "OK.”
- Select the appropriate course and click the three small dots underneath course title.
- Click “Course Section Definition,” then click "View Roster."
This will bring up the course roster, and the column under “Academic Unit” will list the primary campus designation. School of Arts and Sciences or Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will be AS&E cases. Any other designation means that the student’s primary campus is a different University division, and the suspected violation will be processed using the procedures of that division.
You can ask the academic honesty liaison to connect you with the other division’s system. If you can’t find the student’s primary campus information, contact the board secretary and ask the secretary to look up the student’s primary campus designation.
While most cases involving AS&E graduate students fall under the AS&E academic honesty policy, graduate students who engage in academic dishonesty in the pursuit of sponsored research, normally termed “misconduct in research,” are adjudicated through departmental procedures established by the AS&E dean of graduate studies in order to comply with federal statutes that bind funding agencies. Contact the dean to initiate that process.
Policy Requirements for All Suspected Academic Honesty Policy Violations
These are the rules you must follow whenever you suspect a student (or students) of violating the academic honesty policy:
- You are required to report suspected academic honesty infractions. If you don’t, the University can’t identify students whose actions repeatedly violate the academic honesty policy.
- You are required to use the Board on Academic Honesty processes to report academic honesty violations. If you don’t, the University can’t ensure consistent treatment of similar cases. Faculty are not allowed to:
- Come to a private agreement or penalty with a student suspected of academic honesty violation.
- Propose or implement any consequence for a student declining to sign an academic honesty form other than submitting a board resolution form.
- Do not ask or allow a student suspected of violating the academic honesty policy to drop or withdraw from a course.*
- Students with a violation in a course cannot elect the S/F option, even if selected prior to the violation.*
- Do not take intent or ignorance of stated policies into account when determining whether a student has violated the policy.
- Do not identify any student who has been reported to the Board on Academic Honesty without a signed waiver from the student.**
- Do not grade or return work suspected of violating the academic honesty policy until notified by the board that the case has been resolved. This includes assigning a final course grade when a case is still pending at the end of a semester (enter “N” instead). Do continue grading and returning all other appropriately completed work from a student suspected of violating academic honesty policy.
- Do not ask students to forward academic honesty forms to the board after they sign them. Instead, instructors are required to submit signed forms; this is the only way to ensure that signed forms are actually submitted.
*Exception: Students who have signed warning letters that have also been approved by the Board on Academic Honesty.
**Exception: Instructors who are jointly overseeing a work that contains a suspected academic honesty policy violation (e.g., dissertation committee members, course co-instructors) may confer about the work in question. Please keep in mind the unrelated but additional constraints of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Consultation
The academic honesty liaison can walk you through the academic honesty process, help you redesign your assignments or courses to promote honest work, and/or consult with the Board on Academic Honesty or the dean of AS&E graduate education and postdoctoral affairs on your behalf. The liaison is a confidential resource that is separate from the Board on Academic Honesty, which adjudicates cases.
Instructor Resolution Process: Undergraduates
If you are filing an undergraduate case using an instructor resolution process, unless you have previously handled similar cases, you should consult either the liaison or the chair of the Board on Academic Honesty to ensure that you are using an appropriate penalty and, in the case of warning letters, an appropriate process.
The chair reviews all academic honesty cases to ensure that they are consistent with the policy and with precedent, and can renegotiate cases that are not in compliance. Consulting up front with either the liaison or the chair avoids renegotiated cases, which can be confusing for students.
Instructor Resolution Process: Graduate Students
If you are filing a graduate case using the instructor resolution with penalty process, you are required to consult in advance with the AS&E dean of graduate studies.
Selecting and Completing the Process
If you suspect an academic honesty violation, it must be addressed using one of three options:
This policy does not apply to graduate student misconduct in sponsored research. Contact the dean for such cases.
Instructor Resolution Warning Letter (Undergraduates Only)
An instructor resolution warning letter is the best option when the improper academic conduct is minor and results from inexperience. A warning letter offers a lower penalty and the learning opportunity of redoing the academically suspected work correctly (or an equivalent assignment) for no credit. If it remains the only infraction, the student typically does not need to report it as a violation on future applications.
Instructors are free to use an instructor resolution with penalty or to submit cases of suspected academic dishonesty to the board without contacting the student or students involved using the Board Resolution process.
After a recommended consultation with either the academic honesty liaison or the board chair, prepare the Instructor Resolution Warning Letter Form according to these guidelines.
Instructor Resolution with Penalty
For Undergraduate Students
An instructor resolution with penalty is the best option for more serious cases that the instructor can resolve through a meeting with the student.*
After a recommended consultation with either the academic honesty liaison or the board chair, fill out the Instructor Resolution with Penalty Form according to these guidelines.
*Instructors are free to submit cases of suspected academic honesty policy violation to the board without contacting the student or students involved using the Board Resolution process.
For Graduate Students
If the violation is minor, instructors can choose an instructor resolution with penalty. After a required consultation with the AS&E dean of graduate studies, fill out the Instructor Resolution with Penalty Form according to these guidelines.
Board Resolution
For Undergraduate Students
The board resolution process is available for all cases, and it is always used for cases when the student declines to sign an Instructor Resolution Form of either type and for cases involving students with previous violations. It can also be a good option for particularly serious cases, since only the board has the ability to impose sanctions beyond course failure.
Prepare the Board Resolution Form according to these guidelines.
For Graduate Students
If the violation is moderate or major, or if the student declines to sign an Instructor Resolution with Penalty Form, instructors must use the Board Resolution process. Prepare the Board Resolution Form according to these guidelines.