VIII. Undergraduate Degree Regulations and Procedures

Academic Misconduct

Education and Remediation

Education and remediation are key to promoting an environment in which academic integrity will flourish. It should not be possible for a student to claim that he/she was not warned about the University's academic misconduct regulations, what constitutes academic misconduct and the potential consequences of transgressing. The need to educate students about academic integrity places a particular responsibility on faculty, especially with respect to discipline-specific issues.

The University's Strategic Directions place high value on collaboration and co-operation in the learning process, across disciplines and between institutions. Further, the strategic plan recognizes the importance of students learning to work with others in group projects and situations as key to developing skills as self-reliant learners. This is reflected in the large number of courses at this University which involve group work and encourage co-operation in completing assignments. However, there may be need to limit the amount of collaboration or co-operation. Students need to be aware of, and instructors need to be clear about assignments for which discussing or completing the work with others is not appropriate and where the expectation is that students will work separately. Instructors should be very explicit about expectations with respect to academic integrity, and information with respect to academic misconduct should be presented to students as part of the course outline, academic program orientation materials and other materials posted and distributed to students. Students need to remain aware that instructors have access to and the right to use electronic and other means of detection.

In addition, in the case of examinations, students should be sure that they read and understand the regulations with respect to conduct in examinations printed on the cover of each examination booklet, and should pay particular attention to any additional instructions from the examination invigilators.

In support of remediation, students convicted of an academic offence may be required to successfully complete an academic integrity remediation process.

Note: In this policy, the word "dean" means "dean or designated associate dean." The word "chair" means "chair of a department or director of a school." The word "department" means "department or school."