Student life and faculty life can at times seem very siloed, despite the obvious intersection of individual students and faculty at the School. If you have any questions about the policies that govern student experience, and your responsibility for enforcing them, please refer to the Student Handbook for detailed information.

Student Code of Conduct Policy

One of the most important student policies of which you should be aware is the Student Code of Conduct and related disciplinary procedures and sanctions for violations in cases of academic misconduct.

It is important to ensure that there are no inconsistencies in the way violations of the student code of conduct policy are handled within courses and departments, despite expected variation across cases. There are three main paths for addressing a potential incident of academic misconduct:

1. Confidential consultation with a mediator
2. Internal review (or within-course review for academic misconduct), no hearing
3. Hearing by the Student Code of Conduct Council

Guidelines for Reporting

1. Assess the situation. It is important to understand the situation before submitting a report. For example, the instructor of a course will want to first speak with the student who may be in violation of the School’s code of conduct. Individuals involved may want to reach out to the Associate Dean for Student Services for confidential mediation.
2. Complete the form. A single online form is used to report any incidents of perceived student misconduct. This form will ask you to outline the evidence you have for the misconduct, including for example, for academic integrity violations what is in the syllabus. It is important for reasons of equity and consistency that all incidents, whether an internal review or with a hearing, need to be reported. A report should be submitted within 10 days of learning of the perceived violation. If more time is needed, email the Associate Dean of Student Services to request an extension.
3. Choose internal review or CCC review. Calibrate the misconduct with possible sanctions. For example, for an academic integrity violation that is handled within the course, the instructor meets with the student, and they agree on the sanction or lack thereof. If an internal review sanction is agreed upon by both instructor and student, they need to follow up by emailing the Associate Dean for Student Services with the sanction within the course, so the record is completed. CCC review takes place (a) the violation is Level 4, (b) when both parties don’t agree on the sanction or (c) when either party prefers CCC review. A determination by CCC will be communicated back to all parties involved in the incident.

Reference Table for Recommended Sanctions of Academic Integrity Violations

These represent examples only; specifics and mitigating or exacerbating circumstances should be considered. If a code of conduct violation is general – not an academic integrity violation but one of professional standards or of research misconduct by a student – the parties involved should be in touch with the mediator, the Associate Dean of Student Services.  More details about disciplinary procedures and sanctions can be found in the Student Handbook. 

Academic Misconduct examples	Suggested responses by instructors	Other suggested sanctions	Record of Student misconduct
Level 1 Plagiarism ·  Short direct or close use of another’s words without quotations but with citation ·  Failure to include all sources (may have included some). Other Misconduct ·  Minor use of unauthorized material or unapproved collaboration on homework	·   Redo the assignment ·   Reduced grade on assignment ·   Zero on assignment	Discussion with Office for Student Affairs regarding standards, time management, support for stress	Kept until graduation   Level 1 violations may be due to editorial errors or not fully understanding research/editorial norms. If so, an instructor may wish to have the student re-do the assignment or reduce the letter grade, but not have a record of misconduct in the student’s file.
Level 2 Plagiarism ·  Significant direct or close use of another’s words, ideas, structure without attribution ·  Submitting same work or significant portions of same work for multiple courses without permission Other Misconduct ·  Moderate use of unauthorized aid on homework assignment ·  Using electronic devices during an exam in a way not allowed by class rules but with no evidence of direct cheating ·  Unapproved collaboration on a portion of an assignment, exam, or paper	·   Occasionally appropriate to redo the assignment ·   Zero on assignment ·   1 letter grade reduction in course grade	Discussion with Associate Dean for Student Services regarding academic integrity	Kept until graduation
Level 3: Usually involves a hearing Plagiarism ·  Same as Level 2 except the assignment/test is worth more than 25% of the grade and/or the proportion of material plagiarized or copied affects much of the work Other Misconduct ·  Use of unauthorized materials (paper or electronic) during an exam, lab report, paper in a way that violates the rules or policies of the course ·  Inventing or falsely attributing sources used in a paper or other work ·  Substantial use of unauthorized aid on a homework assignment ·  Unapproved collaboration on a take home exam, or paper	·   More than a single letter grade reduction in course (there should be some flexibility to, for example, go 1.5 letter grades rather than 2 letter grades down depending upon baseline grade and whether the student could fail the course with the reduction)	Discussion with Associate Dean for Student Services regarding academic integrity   And/or   Loss of credit for the course	Kept 3 years after graduation and then expunged
Level 4: Requires a Hearing   Any incident that involves a student who has previously already been sanctioned   All Level 4 allegations should be reviewed by the Code of Conduct Council   Plagiarism ·  Intentional direct or nearly direct use of another’s words for an entire paper or assignment (this is different than students citing someone else for the majority of a paper, and not fully understanding that regurgitating information is not the same as original work) ·  Submission of an entire assignment that is the work of another Other Misconduct ·  Enlisting someone else to take an exam ·  Taking an exam for someone else		Loss of credit for the course   Suspension   Dismissal from the University	Kept for 3 years after graduation   Or kept on permanent record