Academic integrity: cases of interest
| CASE# | DETAILS |
CONSEQUENCES |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Two instances of plagiarism in the same class, different terms. Turnitin used to establish significant sections of the paper were copied. UBSD determined that although the student’s personal circumstances were unfortunate the failing grade given on the first assignment was not sufficient to dissuade the student from resorting to the same practices on the second occasion. |
One term suspension. |
| 2 | Student chose to cheat or plagiarize in all five of the courses in which they were enrolled. The student admitted wrongdoing but did not seek to provide a justification or excuse. Neither did the student provide an expression of remorse. It appeared to UBSD that the trust placed on distance education students to complete their work honestly and with a minimum of supervision was grossly violated. | Six term suspension, F grades in all courses. |
| 3 | During mid-term examination the instructor recovered a “post-it” note from the floor near where the student was seated. The note, which had been written by the student, contained a formula relevant to the material being examined. Student appealed penalty (warning) to UBSD. To uphold the penalty in this case, UBSD must find it more likely than not that the student concealed information pertaining to the examination, or used course notes during the examination. In this case, UBSD was of the view that neither option had been established on the balance of probabilities. While it is open to an instructor to issue an informal warning to a student, formal warnings pursuant to Appendix 3 are actual penalties, imposed for acts of academic dishonesty. These penalties cannot be imposed in the absence of a finding of academic dishonesty. In this case it is insufficient that the circumstances “could lead to cheating”. | Removed written warning from student’s file |
What does suspension mean?
During the period of suspension no course taken at another institution will be eligible for transfer credit towards your degree requirements at this University. A notice of the suspension will be placed on your academic record with the University and will remain there until the suspension has ended.