Helping Your Student Succeed

Encourage your student to learn the academic honesty rules set both by the Arts, Sciences & Engineering (AS&E) Academic Honesty Policy and by each course instructor. The AS&E policy sets general rules that apply to all courses, while instructors set additional rules that are specific to courses and assignment. Instructor rules are often different from course to course, particularly in the areas of collaboration, citation, and group work, so it is important that students read their course materials carefully.

Help your student connect to University resources if they begin to struggle. You can learn more about the academic and emotional supports at the University on the student resources page.

Familiarize yourself with the academic honesty rules as well, so that when your student asks you for help with academic work, you can be sure that you are only giving help that is permitted.

Avoid turning in work on behalf of your student. Since all work submitted to an instructor is subject to the academic honesty policy, it is important that your student be the only one making decisions about when work is ready to be turned in.

Do not ask your student for their NetID and password to log into University password-protected accounts. This violates both the academic honesty and student conduct codes.

Please note: As of fall 2022, all students who sign an instructor resolution with penalty, a warning letter, or a chair's resolution, or whom the Board on Academic Honesty finds responsible after a Board hearing, will be assessed a $50 administrative fee.

Suspected Academic Honesty Violation

If your student is suspected of doing something that violates the academic honesty policy, it is important to:

  • Understand the academic honesty process
  • Identify the factors that led to the suspected policy violation
  • Help your student connect to appropriate University resources

You can read about the academic honesty process on suspected violations page. Keep in mind that the undergraduate and graduate processes are different. For an overview of how the Academic Honesty process works, you can review the following chart and/or this PDF document.

Flowchart of what happens when you are reported
Understanding the Academic Honesty Process (what happens if/when you are reported). Question one: have you ever been found responsible for a previous violation of AH policy or have you previously been issued a Warning Letter? If yes, your instructor’s concerns will be resolved via Board on Academic Honesty hearing. You will be contacted by the Board to set up a hearing. In the meantime: 1. Email college.honesty@ur.rochester.edu and as soon as possible, & request to review your case file, 2. Review this page to ensure you understand reporting and Board hearing preparation processes, 3. AFTER completing steps 1 and 2, sign up for a WC Online account and consult with the academic honesty liaison. If no then answer question two. Question two: has your instructor has asked you to meet and sign either a Warning Letter or an Instructor Resolution With Penalty report? If yes, when you meet with your instructor they should go over the Warning Letter or Instructor Resolution With Penalty Report with you, and give you 48 hours to decide whether to accept their version of events and proposed penalty by signing the Letter or Report. Before you decide if you accept the instructor’s proposed resolution, please: 1. Review this page to ensure you fully understand the instructor resolution process, 2. AFTER step 1, sign up for a WC Online account and consult with the academic honesty liaison. If no, see answer yes to question one. Question three: what happens if you choose to accept the instructor’s version of events and proposed penalty by signing the letter or instructor resolution form? If you do not sign, see answer for question one. If you do sign, [Were you exonerated -or- did you successfully appeal the outcome of your hearing?] If not, you will now have a finding of responsibility or a Warning Letter on file within Board of Academic Honesty records. Further violations can result in more severe sanctions. Please be sure to review Academic Honesty Policy / consult the academic honesty liaison to learn better ways to avoid policy violations.

 

If you have more questions about the process, you can contact the academic honesty liaison.

To help identify the factors that led to the suspected policy violation, ask your student about what happened. Academic honesty violations are often a symptom of something else that has gone wrong, such as time management issues, emotional distress, ineffective studying habits, or a lack of understanding of academic rules and policies.

Connecting students with the right resources can help address the cause of what went wrong and keep it from happening again. See a list of academic resources on our student resource page.

Finally, academic honesty cases can be very distressing to students and their families. Check in with your student to see how they are coping, and contact University support services as needed. See a list of emotional support resources on our student resource page.


Parents of International Students

If your student is studying at the University on a student visa and is suspected of doing something that violates the academic honesty policy, your student should contact the International Services Office (ISO) to discuss how academic honesty penalties might affect their US immigration permissions in either of the following scenarios.

Scenario One

If your undergraduate student has a second or third suspected policy violation or your graduate student has any suspected violation, the student may be separated (suspended or expelled) from the University. Students who are separated from the University are no longer eligible for University of Rochester immigration sponsorship as they will not maintain enrollment at the University.

It is important to discuss possible outcomes with ISO in advance, since options are more limited once a separation decision is final.

Scenario Two

An academic honesty penalty, such as a course failure or separation from the University, can cause a student not to graduate as scheduled. If your student has applied for F-1 work authorization (or Optional Practical Training, known as OPT) with an academic honesty penalty that causes your student not to graduate as scheduled, then OPT eligibility may be impacted and can result in delays or denial of the pending application.

ISO advisors will help your student to understand immigration options based on an academic honesty penalty, remaining degree requirements, and any other academic or employment plans.

Confidentiality

University employees can typically answer general questions about process, but they cannot answer specific questions about your student without the student’s consent as the AS&E academic honesty policy mandates confidentiality that can only be waived by the student.

Further, the unrelated federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) also prohibits University employees from disclosing the education records of students.

Contact

You can contact the academic honesty liaison for questions about academic honesty. As a reminder, the honesty liaison provides advice to students about:

  • how the academic honesty process works / what to expect
  • what the policy says about their responsibility as a student
  • what the policy says about their instructors’ responsibilities
  • how to draft case file, hearing, and / or appeals statements
  • how to educate & protect themselves from future accusations
  • should they sign / accept an instructor resolution with penalty form or a warning letter if their instructor has offered one?

The academic honesty liaison can also answer your questions about the AS&E academic honesty policy and process, as well as questions about the academic honesty training that students receive.

The liaison is separate from the Board on Academic Honesty, which adjudicates cases.