We like faculty to have agency in how cases of alleged academic misconduct are handled, but we do appreciate having a record of the case submitted via ourAcademic Misconduct Reporting Form.
One of the questions on the reporting form asks you if you would like the students to go through the formal conduct process, if you would like the case documented informationally in our database in case it happens in another course in the future, or if you would like a combination of informational documentation while we do educational outreach to the student(s).
Our conduct process is educational in nature, and if the conduct process option is selected, we would meet with each of the students involved, talk to them about what happened and other things they have going on in their lives, and determine if they violated policy. If they have violated policy, we assign them a sanction and connect them with any campus/community resource they need. A typical sanction for a student with their first instance of academic misconduct would be an educational or reflective essay. Should students go through our conduct process, we would likely meet with all involved students for potentially violating the Code of StudentResponsibility.
The academic outcome of the situation is up to the instructor’s discretion. Our processes work parallel, and we have no say in the academic outcome, trusting the faculty member to make their best judgement on that side.
We often recommend that the instructor contact the students and let them know that they are forwarding the information along to StudentConduct or ask them about the situation directly, depending on the instructor’s level of comfortability. If you are meeting with the student(s) in person or on Zoom and would like to have a member of the Office of StudentConduct with you, we would be happy to accommodate that.
