Student Appeal - Academic Misconduct

Students may appeal any finding of the consultative process outlined above or any sanction recommended by the instructor. A student request to appeal a determination of academic misconduct or a sanction associated with such a determination must be made in writing to the Academic Standards Office within 10 academic days of the instructor notifying the student of the determination or sanction via email. In the letter of appeal, the student must specify whether they are appealing the determination of academic misconduct, the recommended sanction, or both.

When a student chooses to appeal a determination or sanction

When a student chooses to appeal a determination or sanction, both the student and the instructor must submit a written statement to the Academic Standards Office supporting their stance on the alleged incident of misconduct.

These statements should be accompanied by any evidence that supports what is said in them. The Academic Standards Office will conduct an initial administrative review of these statements and supporting evidence once it receives the materials. There are two outcomes to this administrative review:

  1. The Academic Standards Office finds no cause for appeal in the written materials. 
  2. The instructor's determination and/or sanctions are upheld, and the appeal process is complete.

Within 10 academic days of receiving the case materials, the Academic Standards Office will inform the student of its decision by email and inform the instructor that any recommended sanctions may be imposed. 

 

The Academic Standards Office finds reason for the appeal to be heard by the Academic Misconduct Committee.

Within 10 days of the administrative review, the Academic Standards Office will convene a meeting of the Academic Misconduct Committee to discuss the appeal.

  1. The Academic Standards Office will distribute all case materials to the Committee before this meeting.
  2. The instructor and the student will be given at least 72 hours' notice of the meeting.
  3. Either the instructor or the student may attend this meeting remotely.

At the meeting, both the instructor and the student will be given the opportunity to present their stance on the case and may be questioned about it by the other individual and committee members.

Once the instructor and the student have presented evidence, and the committee has asked any questions it wishes, the committee will engage in private deliberation. 

When determining a particular alleged act of misconduct, the Committee will hear only evidence relevant to this act.

Suppose a student is found to have engaged in academic misconduct. In that case, the Committee may discuss evidence of previous academic misconduct before determining the sanction, if any, to be imposed on the student.

Within 10 academic days of concluding its deliberations, the Committee will send via email to the student, the instructor, the chair, the School's Dean's Office, and the Academic Standards Office a document containing its findings and any sanctions to be imposed.