Academic Policies: Non-Compliance and Exceptions

The Academic Standards Committee

The Academic Standards Committee (ASC) considers and acts upon cases of academic dishonesty, rules on student petitions for exceptions to academic policy, and monitors the academic standing of students. Petition forms can be obtained from the university website or from the Assistant to the Chair of ASC or from the Office of Academic Affairs. Petitions must be submitted in good time for consideration by the ASC. On matters that do not involve dismissal, the ASC’s decision is final, and will be communicated to the student via email.

Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is fundamental to the integrity of the University community. Students who are academically dishonest will receive a failing grade on the work in question, or a failing grade for the course as a whole, or an amendment to their degree classification, depending on the importance of the work to the overall course grade and the judgment of the instructor and the Academic Standards Committee. When academic dishonesty is the cause of a failing grade for a course, the student may not withdraw from the course; however, the normal policy for repeating a course applies (see under "Repeating a Course"). A second confirmed case of academic dishonesty will normally result in dismissal from the University.

Academic dishonesty is defined as:

Any action by which a student seeks to claim credit for the intellectual or artistic work of another person or uses unauthorized materials or fabricated information in any academic situation.

This includes, but is not limited to, cases in which students:

receive or give assistance in tests and examinations, including the provision of any unauthorized material accessible to a student during any examination, whether this material is used by the student or not;
intentionally impede or damage the academic work of others;
submit another person’s work as their own, or provide work for this purpose;
submit work purchased from an essay mill or a ghost-scholar service or an e-tutor;
submit work of their own that has been substantially edited and revised by another person, or provide an editing service for others;
submit material from a source (books, articles, internet sites) without proper citation and bibliographic reference;
paraphrase material from a source without appropriate reference and citation;
submit substantially the same piece in more than one course; and/or
assist other students in any of the above acts.

Procedural Steps in Brief

(1) Discussion between instructor and student suspected of academic dishonesty, with Academic Honesty Incident Report. May result in one of the following: (1.1) agreement that no academic dishonesty has occurred; (1.2) admission of academic dishonesty by student; or (1.3) referral of Faculty Adjudicator (FA) – see step (2).

(2) Meeting of FA, instructor, and student. May result in one of the following: (2.1) decision that no academic dishonesty has occurred; (2.2) academic dishonesty confirmed, followed by report to Academic Standards Committee (ASC) (student may appeal to Dean of Academic Affairs); or (2.3) referral by FA to ASC for decision – see step (3).

(3) ASC reviews case. May result in one of the following: (3.1) decision that no academic dishonesty has occurred; or (3.2) academic dishonesty confirmed (student may appeal to Dean of Academic Affairs).

Procedural Steps in Detail

(1) An instructor who suspects a student of academic dishonesty will give the student an Academic Honesty Incident Report (appendix A). The instructor will have described the incident of academic dishonesty in the space provided on the report, and indicate on the report the disciplinary action to be taken if the academic dishonesty is confirmed. The report will have the academic honesty flowchart (appendix B) printed on the back. The instructor will discuss the incident with the student, allowing the student to respond to the charge. There are three possible outcomes:

(1.1) The instructor may accept that no academic dishonesty has occurred. In this case, no action is taken, and the report is destroyed.
(1.2) The student may admit to academic dishonesty. In this case, the instructor notes the disciplinary action to be taken, and both the instructor and the student sign the report, which is then sent to the Academic Standards Committee (ASC), with the instructor retaining a photocopy of the report. The ASC will record the incident in the student’s file, and take further action if this is a second incident of academic dishonesty involving the same student.
(1.3) The discussion may leave the incident unresolved. In this case, the instructor signs the report, which is then sent to the Faculty Adjudicator (FA). The instructor retains a photocopy of the report. (The student does not sign the report.)

(2) The FA will then arrange meetings via email with the instructor and the student, separately or together, at which time both will present their views of the reported incident. The instructor and the student will have five working days to respond to the meeting invitation, and five working days after that to present themselves to the FA. If an initial meeting does not take place within ten working days of the FA’s original invitation, then the FA has the right to rule on the case based on the original evidence presented. The FA may call as many meetings as he or she feels is necessary to investigate the case thoroughly (the time limits given above apply only to the first meeting). There are three possible outcomes:

(2.1) The FA may decide that no academic dishonesty has occurred. In this case, no further action is taken, and the report is destroyed.
(2.2) The FA may decide that the student has been academically dishonest. In this case, the FA will send the report to the ASC, together with a written statement of his findings. The ASC will record the incident in the student’s file, and take further action if this is a second incident of academic dishonesty involving the same student.
(2.3) In case the FA is unable to make a decision, the report will be sent to the ASC for a decision.

(3) The ASC will then review the incident report and make a decision. There are two possible outcomes:

(3.1) The ASC may decide that no academic dishonesty has occurred. In this case, no further action is taken, and the report is destroyed.
(3.2) The ASC may decide that the student has been academically dishonest. The ASC will then record the incident in the student’s file, and take further action if this is a second incident of academic dishonesty involving the same student.

(4) In cases (2.2) and (3.2) the student has the right to appeal to the Provost, on two grounds only: evidence of material administrative error in the implementation of the above steps in this procedure, or documentary evidence that was not available at the time the decision in (2.2) or (3.2) was made. Appeals must be made in writing within ten working days of the decision. The results of the appeal will be reported in writing by the Provost to the student and the ASC. The Provost's decision is final.

Note: The Senior Vice President of AIFS and the Registrar of the home institution of a study abroad student will be notified in writing if the study abroad student has committed a proven act of academic dishonesty. In accordance with the home institution's policies and procedures, they will communicate this information to the necessary university officials (such as student advisers or disciplinary bodies).

Academic Honesty Flowchart

Academic Dishonesty Incident Report

Academic Probation and Dismissal

If at the end of any semester a full-time degree student attains a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of less than 2.0, the student will be informed of this by the Academic Standards Committee and placed on academic probation. Students are limited to at most four courses per semester while on academic probation. The University limits the number of courses for which a student may register in order to give more time for the student to concentrate on each course in the hope that academic performance and grades will improve. Furthermore, students on probation are strongly advised by ASC to retake courses they may have failed in the past in order to replace any grade of ‘F’ with a higher grade. A student should consult his/her adviser if they wish to do this.

If the GPA is still below 2.0 at the end of the first semester on probation, the student may continue on academic probation provided significant academic improvement has been made. Failure to raise the GPA to at least 2.0 by the end of a second semester on academic probation will normally result in dismissal from the University.

The Academic Standards Committee will inform any student on probation of the following:

that the student is in academic jeopardy and may be dismissed if her or his GPA is below 2.0 for two consecutive semesters;
that the student will be restricted to at most four courses per semester until she or he is no longer on academic probation;
that the student will remain on academic probation unless s/he achieves a GPA of 2.00 or higher, or s/he is dismissed;
that the student on academic probation must report regularly to her or his academic adviser or to the Coordinator of Academic Advising;

Students admitted to the University on academic probation are treated according to the above policy as if their first semester of attendance is their first semester on academic probation.

Students in the Foundations Program may be dismissed from the University by the Academic Standards Committee if they have not reached the level of English proficiency required for promotion to the Academic Research and Writing Program after two semesters in Stage Two of the Foundations Program.

Full-time students who fail to earn 18 credits over the two most recent consecutive semesters will be placed on first semester Academic Progress Probation (APP). If after two semesters on APP they still have not earned 18 credits over the two most recent consecutive semesters, they risk dismissal from the university.

In cases of dismissal from the University, students have the right to appeal within ten working days of receipt of the decision letter. Any appeal must be made in writing to the Provost. An appeal will be considered on two grounds only: (1) a claim of error in the hearing procedure, or (2) a claim of new information material to the case that was not available at the time of the hearing. The Provost’s decision is final.

The university is obliged to report to the UK Borders Agency any student who is in the UK on a student visa, but who is dismissed from the university. Any reporting is done after the time period for the appeals process has expired, or after an unsuccessful appeal, whichever is relevant to the student’s case.

Students dismissed from the university on academic grounds are not normally permitted to reapply for admission.

Link to this page: http://www.richmond.ac.uk/s/580.aspx