Academic Integrity

RULES and PROCEDURES for QCC

All students will be informed of the Academic Integrity Policy and Code and the procedures concerning its violation through the College catalogue, the student handbook, the College website, by academic departments and the faculty and in course syllabi, the new student orientation courses, and materials made available at academic advisement, registration, and the Instructional Support Services Center (ISSC).

Academic departments

Each academic department has or will establish a policy that would either set a department-wide standard or permit individual faculty to establish a policy for violations of academic integrity and penalties or sanctions to be imposed including and limited to failure in the course. After detecting a violation, faculty members will take appropriate actions (those within the guidelines for violations and sanctions) and send the appropriate notifications to the student (Notification of the Right to Appeal) and to the academic department chairperson (Notification of Violation of Academic Integrity). That Notification of the Right to Appeal will communicate to students their right to appeal and the consequences of multiple violations of the Academic Integrity Code.

Students requesting a review of the faculty member’s action with regard to their grades would request such from the department chair within thirty days of the receipt of notice of a violation. The department chairperson will review the grade or other action taken by the instructor in response to the suspected violation of academic integrity. If the procedures for violations of academic integrity have been followed the instructor's action shall stand. The chair will consider the student’s appeal, evaluate any documents involved, confer with the instructor, and come to a decision regarding the violation of academic integrity. Based on those deliberations, the departmental chairperson shall either confirm the decision of the instructor or recommend that the instructor change the grade as deemed appropriate. If the student appeals the decision of the instructor after the review of the chairperson then a departmental committee (Departmental Appeals Committee) will review the entire matter and have evidence presented by both the instructor and the student. Such committee shall have the authority to accept or deny the action of an instructor or to take another action in response to the violation that the committee then believes has taken place including changing a grade. The decision of the Departmental Appeals Committee is final.

Students requesting a review or an appeal of the department’s action would be directed to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, whose review would be confined to assuring that the college’s process and the department’s policy was followed and due process observed. Such review will not be authorized to involve the rejection of the current penalty or imposition of another penalty. If the procedures of the college are determined to have been violated then the Vice President shall direct that the entire process be repeated in full observance of the college's procedures.

Faculty

All members of the faculty will include in their course outlines a clear reference to a statement of the College policy on academic integrity, department policy or of their own policy (if there is no department-wide policy) and the penalties and sanctions for violations of academic integrity.

Violations of academic integrity

The instructor of the class in which the violation occurred or in reference to which case the violation is relevant shall handle violations of the Academic Integrity Code. The instructor has the authority to adjust the offender’s grades as deemed appropriate, including assigning an F to the assignment or exercise or, in more serious cases, an F to the student for the entire course. In certain cases, the  instructor may also file a formal complaint with the chief student affairs officer, who after review may refer the case to the Student-Faculty Disciplinary Committee.

All cases for which an instructor has taken an enforcement action, such as an F for a paper or for a course, shall be reported: a Notification of the Right to Appeal sent to the student and Notification of Violation of Academic Integrity sent to the chairperson of the academic department in which the class is offered.

Upon receipt of the report of Notification of Violation of Academic Integrity the chairperson of the academic department shall send a Notification of the Right to Appeal to the student by registered or certified mail and by regular mail and a copy to the Office of Student Affairs. This Notification of the Right to Appeal informs the student of the right to appeal the action of the instructor to the Chairperson of the Academic Department within thirty (30) days. That notification will also inform students of the consequences of multiple violations of the Academic Integrity Code. A copy of each such Notification of the Right to Appeal and Notification of Violation of Academic Integrity will be sent to the Office of Student Affairs for the purposes of establishing and maintaining records and to review if repeated patterns of violations of academic integrity emerge (see below).

The Office of Student Affairs shall monitor reports of violations of academic integrity. The Office of Student Affairs will counsel and advise violators that, should there be an additional violation, they will be subject to disciplinary action, which may include suspension or expulsion.

Students who wish to appeal the decision of an instructor concerning the action taken due to a violation of the Academic Integrity Code shall do so with the chair of the department. The chair will consider the student’s appeal, evaluate any documents involved, confer with the instructor, and come to a decision regarding the violation of academic integrity. Based on those deliberations, the departmental chairperson shall either confirm the decision of the instructor or recommend that the instructor change the grade as deemed appropriate. If the student appeals the decision of the instructor after the review of the chairperson then a departmental committee (Departmental Appeals Committee) will review the entire matter and have evidence presented by both the instructor and the student. Such committee shall have the authority to accept or deny the action of an instructor or to take another action in response to the violation that the committee then believes has taken place including changing a grade. The decision of the Departmental Appeals Committee is final.

Students requesting a review or an appeal of the department’s action would be directed to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, whose review would be confined to assuring that the college’s process and the department’s policy was followed and due process observed. Such review will not be authorized to involve the rejection of the current penalty or imposition of another penalty. If the procedures of the college are determined to have been violated then the Vice President shall direct that the entire process be repeated in full observance of the college's procedures If the chief student affairs officer or faculty member or department chairperson determines that the violation by the student has been egregious enough that it transcends the confines of the classroom and affects the student population at large, then the faculty member or chairperson shall refer any and all documents to the Office of Student Affairs for disciplinary action. Such egregious violations may include, but are not limited to, selling papers to students, stealing examinations, or coercing students to supply answers to examinations or papers or unauthorized assistance. Violations referred to the Office of Student Affairs shall then be considered as disciplinary and shall be pursued in compliance with due process procedures and Article XV of the University Bylaws.

All cases, whether disciplinary or academic, will be reported to the Office of Student Affairs for the purposes of maintaining accurate records of the frequency of violations on campus. It will be this office alone that will determine whether or not a student has committed multiple violations of either a disciplinary or an academic nature.

Though the procedures for due process under disciplinary violations are already clearly stated, the procedures for multiple or egregious violations of the Academic Integrity Code shall be as follows:

When the Office of Student Affairs has knowledge that a student has committed two non-coincident violations of the Academic Integrity Code, the chief student affairs officer or designee will take disciplinary action following the procedures of Article XV of the University Bylaws that may lead to suspension or expulsion of the student after it has been ascertained that:

  • Official notices were sent to the student informing that student of an infraction of the Academic Integrity Code.

  • The student has either waived appeal to the academic department or has had the action of the instructor upheld upon appeal to the academic department.

  • The student has either waived appeal to the vice president of Academic Affairs or the vice president for Academic Affairs has determined that all departmental actions have been deemed appropriate and in compliance with the policies and procedures of the College.

The Office of Student Affairs shall refer the case to Student-Faculty Disciplinary Committee. Copies of the notices and reports in such a case shall constitute sufficient evidence for an action by the Student-Faculty Disciplinary Committee, as the students will have exhausted the right of appeal at the departmental level prior to the filing of the charge of multiple violations by the chief student affairs officer. If the student has a record of previous violations of academic integrity on file in the Office of Student Affairs and the student has been duly notified of those violations including having the opportunity to appeal, those records will be used at the sanctioning phase of the disciplinary hearing.

Sanctions

Any additional violations of the Academic Integrity Code committed by a student after that student has already received a notice of a violation of the Academic Integrity Code may qualify as an offense that constitutes sufficient grounds for suspension. One additional violation during or after suspension may constitute sufficient grounds for expulsion. These determinations will be made by the Student-Faculty Disciplinary Committee, following the procedures as outlined in the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees.

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