Hunter College Procedures for Reporting Academic Integrity Violations
Procedures for Reporting Academic Integrity Violations
To initiate the procedure for addressing an allegation of academic dishonesty, faculty members must complete the online Academic Integrity Form indicating the recommended academic sanction, which involves a grade penalty (i.e., a reduced grade). Disciplinary sanctions may only be pursued by the Dean of Students if the case merits them.
I. Procedure for Academic Sanctions
When the faculty member suspects academic dishonesty and wants an academic sanction, the professor should first confer with the student. If the student admits to the violation, the instructor should inform the student of the grade penalty and report the action taken on the online Academic Integrity Form and upload all supporting documentation [pdf]. The faculty should submit the online reporting form within 30 days of discovery of the academic dishonesty. The Office of Student Conduct will contact the student once we receive a completed online form. Faculty members must submit the online form within 30 days of discovery of the academic dishonesty.
If the student admits to academic dishonesty but believes the grade penalty is too severe, the instructor should select the appropriate option on the online Academic Integrity Form, upload supporting documentation and submit it online. The Dean of Students shall submit a placeholder grade of “PEN” or “pending” if occurrence is during the middle of the semester. The instructor shall submit a place holder grade of “INC” or “incomplete” if occurrence is towards the end of the semester AND the student contests or is unresponsive. The student may contest the grade sanction by appealing the course grade through the College’s grade appeal procedure. Once the student has admitted the violation, s/he may contest only the severity of the grade sanction, not the dishonesty allegation itself. If the student appeals the grade, the Departmental and Senate Grade Appeals Committees should send copies of their findings to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Official.
If the student denies the allegation of academic dishonesty, the faculty member will report that this is the student’s position on the online Academic Integrity Form. The Office of Student Conduct will submit a placeholder grade of PEN if the occurrence is during the middle of the semester. The instructor shall submit a place holder grade of INC if the occurrence is at the end of the semester and final course grades are due. The instructor must then report the alleged violation to the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) using the online academic integrity form. The OSC will then place a PEN grade as a place holder during the pending of the investigation. If the student admits or is proven responsible for violating the academic integrity policy the instructor will be notified. After which the instructor must submit a change of grade form changing the PEN grade to the final grade in the course. The matter will first be reviewed by the Academic Integrity Official who will conduct a fact finding investigation and attempt to resolve the matter. If the matter cannot be resolved then Mediation will be proposed between both parties with a third party member. If the case is not resolved through Mediation then it will be moved to an official hearing before the Faculty-Student Disciplinary Committee who will render judgment upon conclusion of the hearing. The student has the right to appeal the Committee’s judgment by appealing with the President’s Office.
Students who either admit to an act of academic dishonesty or are found to have committed one by the Academic Integrity Official will receive a letter from Hunter College’s Academic Integrity Official notifying them that this matter has been reported to the Dean of Students Office. When an academic integrity accusation is resolved by the Faculty-Student Disciplinary Committee, the student and faculty member will be notified of the findings.
II. Procedure for Disciplinary Sanctions
A. The Dean of Students has the right to pursue disciplinary sanctions against any student should the case deem appropriate, which includes substantial violations, if the student has prior violations or when academic sanctions were not executed because the student withdrew from the course.
III. Faculty-Student Disciplinary Committee
The purpose of the Faculty-Student Disciplinary Committee is to review evidence when an academic sanction is being sought and when the allegations of academic dishonesty are still in dispute after meetings with the Academic Integrity Official and Mediator have occurred. The Committee will proceed in the following manner:
If the charge of academic dishonesty is denied by the student, the faculty member will advise the student that the matter has been referred to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Official, who will initiate the fact-finding process.
If matter cannot be resolved the case may be referred to a mediator.
The Faculty-Student Disciplinary Committee members will be selected and convened by Hunter College Academic Integrity Official to review the evidence for each case.
The committee will deliberate in closed session (i.e., with neither student nor instructor present) and submit its findings, in writing, to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Official, who will then notify the faculty member and student. Although faculty members reserve the right to submit grades whenever they deem appropriate, they are encouraged not to submit grades for the disputed work or a final course grade until they have been notified of the committee’s findings. Students may appeal the final course grade through the college’s grade appeal process.
Committee Structure
Each faculty-student disciplinary committee shall consist of two (2) faculty members or one (1) faculty member and one (1) member of the Higher Education Officer series (HEO), and two (2) student members and a chairperson, who shall be a faculty member. A quorum shall consist of the chairperson and any two (2) members, one of whom must be a student. Hearings shall be scheduled promptly (including during the summers) at a convenient time and efforts shall be made to insure full student and faculty representation.
The president shall select in consultation with the head of the appropriate campus governance body or where the president is the head of the governance body, its executive committee, three (3) members of the faculty of that college to receive training training upon appointment and to serve in rotation as chairperson of the disciplinary committee. If none of the chairpersons appointed from the campus can serve, the president, at her/his discretion, may request that a chairperson be selected by lottery from the entire group of chairpersons appointed by other colleges. The chairperson shall preside at all meetings of the faculty-student disciplinary committee and decide and make all rulings for the committee. She/he shall not be a voting member of the committee but shall vote in the event of a tie.
The faculty members shall be selected by lot from a panel of six elected biennially by the appropriate faculty body from among the persons having faculty rank or faculty status. The HEO members shall be selected by lot from a panel of six (6) HEO appointed biennially by the president. The student members shall be selected by lot from a panel of six elected annually in an election in which all students registered at the college shall be eligible to vote. In the event that the student or faculty panel or both are not elected, or if more panel members are needed, the president shall have the duty to select the panel or panels which have not been elected. No individuals on the panel shall serve on the panel for more than four(4) consecutive years.
Notwithstanding the above, in cases of sexual assault, stalking and other forms of sexual violence, the president shall designate from the panels one (1) chairperson, two (2) faculty/HEO members, and two (2) students, who shall be specially trained on an annual basis, and who shall constitute the faculty-student disciplinary committee in all such cases.
In the event that the chairperson cannot continue, the president shall appoint another chairperson. In the event that a seat becomes vacant and it is necessary to fill the seat to continue the hearing, the seat shall be filled from the respective faculty, HEO or student panel by lottery.
Each academic year, the chief student affairs officer, and her or his designee, shall appoint/identify one or more college employees to serve as presenters for the hearings. This list shall be forwarded to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, and the Office of the General Counsel and Sr. Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs prior to the first day of the academic year.
Persons who are to be participants in the hearings as witnesses or have been involved in preferring the charges or who may participate in the appeals procedures or any other person having a direct interest in the outcome of the hearing shall be disqualified from serving on the committee.
IV. Clarification of the Process
All questions regarding these procedures or the College’s disciplinary process should be referred to the Office of Student Conduct in the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students office (Room 1103 East, phone 212.772.4534/212.396.6484 or email at student.conduct@hunter.cuny.edu).
ACADEMIC SANCTIONS
Reduced or “F” grade on academic exercise
Reduced or “F” grade in course
CUNY Examples of substantial violations
These include but are not limited to:
Forging any type of document
Stealing an examination from faculty or a College Office
Taking an examination for someone or having someone take it on your behalf
Writing a paper for someone or having someone write your paper
Purposely sabotaging another student’s work that prevent his/her completion of an assignment
The student has previously violated the policy
Any violations made by a graduate and or professional student or a student who is pursuing professional licensure