Academic Integrity Sanctioning Guidelines
Policy
Procedure
P1 - Academic Integrity Procedure
Guidelines
Academic outcomes affect a student’s progress in a specific course or program. This document is designed to aid supervising educators who need to recommend an academic outcome when they suspect an academic integrity violation from a graduate student or an undergraduate student completing graduate coursework. Supervising educators should only consider the alleged violation in their course or assessment. After the academic integrity process concludes, programs may consider removing the student from the program or discontinue funding in accordance with program and Graduate Council policies GCAC-803 - Procedures for Discontinuation or Termination of the Degree Program of a Graduate Student for Unsatisfactory Scholarship and GCAC-804 - Termination of Assistantships Due to Inadequate Performance. Violations in other courses or on other assessments would be considered at that time as part of this programmatic process and outside of the academic integrity process (see below for more information).
Students completing graduate work are more experienced students and should be held to a high level of integrity and responsibility. Within this recognition, however, is the understanding that not all academic misconduct is the same. The supervising educator should make a judgment about the level of the misconduct, using the levels “minor,” “moderate,” or “major,” and then consult the chart below to determine an appropriate outcome recommendation.
To determine the severity of the alleged violation, the supervising educator should consider the following:
- the student's intent (if possible), familiarity with expectations, and level of instruction on the alleged misbehavior
- the percentage of the assignment/assessment affected
- the importance of the affected assignment/assessment for the course grade or programmatic progress
- the impact of the violation on others [Note: if the student intentionally aids another’s academic misconduct without compromising their own work, contact the academic integrity administrator.]
- mitigating factors, such as:
- the length of time the student has been in the graduate program
- the impact of an illness, medical situation, or unusual and significant circumstance
- the misunderstanding of instructions
- developing skill sets, language proficiencies, or lack of familiarity with an attribution/citation style
Violation Severity Table
| Violation Severity | Violation on a Course Assessment | Violation on a Non-Course Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Minor | Required redo and/or reduced assessment grade with/without an integrity warning* | Required redo of the affected portion and/or reduced grade on the work with/without an integrity warning* |
| Moderate | 0% on the assessment with/without an additional reduction of course grade | Failure of the assessment with another opportunity to pass |
| Major | The course grade of "F" | Failure of the assessment without another opportunity to pass |
| If previous violation in the class/on the work | The course grade of "XF"** | Failure of the assessment without another opportunity to pass |
* An integrity warning notifies the student that future academic misconduct is likely to result in substantial consequences.
**An “XF” is a course grade of ‘F’ and a transcript notation indicating that the ‘F’ resulted from academic misconduct. The duration of the ‘X’ is determined by the academic integrity committee. Once it is removed, the ‘F’ remains.
Flowchart showing how outcomes are determined:
