Policies & Procedures
09/14/21
Appeal Process
A student may appeal an instructor’s finding of Level One Academic Integrity violations by notifying the Director of Student Affairs/Director Judicial Affairs (“ DSA” and “DJA” respectively) in writing and requesting a review of the instructor’s finding (i.e., information the instructor is responsible to submit to the DSA/DJA).
Once notified, DSA/DJA will inform the Chair of the Academic Standing Committee (“ASC”) who will appoint a special ASC academic integrity subcommittee (“Subcommittee”) to hear the specific charge(s) of academic integrity violation against the student in a special meeting (“Meeting”).
The Subcommittee Meeting will be chaired by the ASC Ex-Officio who guides the process as a neutral party, making procedural decisions, and serving as an advisor to the parties involved explaining their rights and responsibilities.
During the Meeting, the Subcommittee will hear all charges of academic integrity violation(s) properly before it and render decision(s) for each charge. The Subcommittee will uphold or dismiss each of the instructor’s charge(s) of academic integrity violation. The Subcommittee may also make specific recommendations to the instructor which may include, but not be limited to, the following: suggesting the student be allowed to resubmit the assignment, submit another assignment to replace the one in question, or offer any other recommendation the Subcommittee deems appropriate.
The Ex-Officio will notify the student of the Subcommittee’s decision via mail (at the student’s official home address) or the student’s official school email account.
A student may appeal the Subcommittee’s findings (see Appeal of Subcommittee’s Findings below).
Subcommittee Membership
The ASC Chair will work with the Ex-Officio to create a Subcommittee. The Subcommittee will be composed of five (5) members from the ASC with the following composition: three (3) voting members and two (2) non-voting members (excluding the ASC’s assigned Vice President and the Ex-Officio). When possible, a student representative will be utilized as one of the non-voting members (the opportunity to have a student representative participate on the Subcommittee will be approved by the accused student, who may need to give the student representative a FERPA release; however, only the ASC Chair and Ex-Officio may appoint a specific student representative to serve on the Subcommittee). Once the Subcommittee is formed, a quorum will consist of at least three (3) of its members. If a quorum is not present, a Meeting cannot be held. If the Subcommittee reaches a tie vote, the ASC Dean will be appointed to review the case and cast another vote breaking the tie. If the ASC cannot identify enough members to create a Subcommittee, the Ex-Officio may recruit qualified substitutes from the faculty and staff at large.
Instructor Responsibilities
The instructor is responsible to notify the student of academic integrity violation(s), sharing with the student the instructor’s decision and the reasoning that supports it. The instructor will also file an official academic integrity violation form with the DSA/DJA including all relevant supporting documentation (for plagiarism this includes the student’s assignment and the source document(s) the instructor believes the student plagiarized, along with other relevant material).
Special Procedural Considerations
If multiple students are involved in the same academic integrity violation, the students will be charged separately by the instructor and have separate Meetings before the Subcommittee.
If multiple incidents of academic integrity violations are brought against the student by an instructor, each incident and its penalty will be reviewed by the Subcommittee. If any charge of academic integrity violation is dismissed, it will not carry the effect of automatically invalidating the other charges.
Both the instructor and the student have the right to bring witnesses with relevant information directly related to the incident to the Meeting. Witnesses may not be present for the entire Meeting. They will be called to participate when appropriate. A Meeting will not be postponed if a witness is unable to attend. Written statements from witnesses may be considered, but will need to be either notarized or personally verified by the Ex-Officio. A student requesting to have a witness present must inform the Ex-Officio at least 24 hours in advance of the Meeting by providing the name of the witness or witnesses and a summary of the information the witness is expected to provide.
Students accused of academic integrity violations have the right to have a personal advisor present at the Meeting as a support person. The advisor may be an attorney. While the advisor can be present, the advisor can have no role in the hearing. Advisors are not permitted to speak on behalf of the student, appear in the place of the student, or ask questions during the Meeting. A student requesting to have an advisor present must inform the Ex-Officio at least 24 hours in advance of the Meeting. If the advisor is an attorney, the College will determine if legal counsel for the College should also be present at the hearing; if so, the Meeting may be postponed until such legal counsel for the College is available. If the student’s selected advisor is unable to attend, the hearing will not be cancelled.
The Ex-Officio has the authority to render decisions regarding procedural questions raised during the process and/or Meeting.
Appeal of Subcommittee’s Findings
A student may appeal the Subcommittee’s finding(s) to the Chief Academic Officer (“CAO”) in writing (copying the Ex-Officio) if one or more of the conditions below exist:
The decision was not supported by a preponderance of the evidence presented (i.e., more likely than not the evidence used during the hearing was not sufficient enough to reach the decision made);
New relevant evidence is available that could not be, and was not, produced at the time of the hearing, and such new evidence is both: (1) sufficient to alter the Subcommittee’s decision, and (2) was not known to the student appealing at the time of the hearing;
The administrative procedures governing academic integrity appeals were not followed; however, such deviations from procedures will not be a basis for sustaining an appeal unless the deviations(s) resulted in significant prejudice to the student; and/or
The sanction is grossly disproportionate to the offense.
Timelines
Once a student initiates an appeal with the DSA/DJA, the Meeting will be held within twenty (20) working days (excluding weekends, holidays, emergency closures, etc.) absent unforeseen or extraordinary circumstances which can cause a reasonable delay of the process.
Once the Meeting concludes, the Subcommittee’s decision(s) will be communicated to the student by the Ex-Officio via mail (at the student’s official home address) or the student’s official school email account within ten (10) business days (excluding weekends, holidays, emergency closures, etc.).
The student has five (5) business days (excluding weekends, holidays, emergency closures, etc.) to contest the Subcommittee’s decision to the CAO.
The CAO reviews the appeal information and notifies the student of the results of the appeal within fifteen (15) business days (excluding weekends, holidays, emergency closures, etc.) of receipt of the appeal, absent unforeseen or extraordinary circumstances which can cause a reasonable delay of the process.