Academic Integrity Committee Review Meeting Procedures

Students who are contesting an alleged academic integrity violation will be notified when the form has been received in the College of Engineering Academic Integrity Office. You will receive an email encouraging you to review the statements and materials submitted by your instructor and encouraging you to enter your own response statements into the academic integrity workflow. Your statement and the professor’s statement along with any paperwork is presented to the committee for review. If the committee feels that their understanding of the situation would benefit from a conversation with the student and/or the course instructor, a Zoom meeting will be set to facilitate that conversation. If the committee believes they have a clear indication of both sides of the situation from the documentation provided, they will proceed with the review and decision based only on the written statements and documentation provided.

If the committee determines that a conversation is needed, you and the course instructor will be invited to talk with the committee separately. The committee members will ask questions about the allegation and the paperwork, and the instructor and student may also ask committee members questions about the process. If the student and/or instructor chooses to bring a person(s) who has direct knowledge of the allegation and can provide information relevant to fact-finding, the names of these participants and a brief explanation for each person’s presence are to be provided to the committee chair in advance of the review meeting. The committee chair may limit the number of people who will repeat the same information, but if different types of information are offered that will support a finding, their statements will be allowed. The student may also bring a University-affiliated adviser. No character witnesses are permitted. No audio or video recording of the proceedings will be permitted, but participants may take notes.

The Order of the Meeting

Order of the meeting (allowing 20 minutes for each segment with 5 minutes in between):

  • committee receives instruction and information packets to review case
  • committee meets with instructor or student separately
  • committee meets with instructor or student separately
  • committee deliberates

Procedures

The following procedures will apply to the review meeting:

  • The committee chair will convene the meeting and give instructions or entertain any discussion among the members prior to inviting the instructor, student, and any other participants joining the meeting.
  • The committee chair will explain the function of the committee and purpose of the review meeting to all participants.
  • Separately, the student and instructor will each be given an opportunity to summarize their positions, provide clarifications, and offer statements of other participants. The committee chair will preside and have the authority to limit the time for comments by any participant and to hold the discussion to matters pertinent to the case. The student will be given an opportunity to question any evidence. The student and instructor will be given the opportunity to make summary remarks.
  • Each committee member will be given the opportunity to ask questions.
  • The committee will deliberate in closed session, considering all of the evidence and statements relevant to the academic integrity allegation, then first determining whether a violation occurred. If so, the committee will evaluate whether the sanction originally applied by the instructor is consistent with the precedent guidelines and, if not, determine what modification in the sanction is warranted. Each decision shall be reached by a majority vote, with the chair serving to resolve any ties. If the committee determines that the student is not responsible or that there is not sufficient evidence to support the violation, it shall inform the instructor and student. The instructor will assign the course grade without the sanction. If it concludes that the student is responsible, the committee will review the sanction and make modification only in cases where the originally imposed sanction is clearly outside the guidelines.
  • The decision by the committee regarding the violation and the academic sanction will be final and communicated to the instructor and student. The decision will be prepared by the chair in the form of a brief report that includes the accusation, a summary of the accepted evidence leading to the decision, and the committee's decision on the contested violation and assigned sanction with corresponding rationales. The results will be forwarded to the Office of Student Conduct for record keeping.

Updated: January 4, 2021