Academic Integrity Board

Purpose and Jurisdiction

The Academic Integrity Board (AIB) investigates and adjudicates cases of alleged academic dishonesty involving college courses or library use.

Membership

The Board will be composed of three faculty members and two students, and is to be constituted early in the fall term each year. The Vice President and Dean of the College will call an organizational meeting.

The faculty members will be those who have completed a term on the Academic Life Council (ALC) in the previous two years. If there are four such persons, three will be selected by lot and the fourth will serve as an alternate who will replace a faculty member who is unable to serve on a particular case. If an additional alternate is needed, priority will be given to the current ALC member representing the same constituency as the person to be replaced. If that person cannot serve, or is otherwise disqualified, another faculty member of ALC will be selected by lot.

The student members will be the two students with the longest service on ALC. The third student will serve as alternate.

The Board’s tenure shall be from the beginning of the academic year up to the beginning of the next academic year. Cases held over from the previous academic year become the responsibility of the newly constituted Board.

For hearings, a quorum will consist of three faculty and two student members.

Officers

Chair: When the Board is convened in the fall, one of the faculty members will be chosen as chair.

Investigator/presenter: The Board will appoint one of its members as an investigator/presenter (non-voting) for each case. An appropriate alternate member of the AIB, either student or faculty, will substitute for the presenter in hearing the case.

Secretary: The Board will appoint a secretary who will prepare a written record of the proceedings in each case, and prepare written notices of charges, hearings, verdicts, sanctions, appeals, etc. The secretary may not simultaneously serve as investigator/presenter in any case.

Preliminary Procedures

If alleged academic dishonesty is referred by a teacher to the Academic Integrity Board, the teacher shall notify the Registrar, who will notify the accused student, request from both parties for safekeeping any physical evidence connected with the case, and notify the AIB chair.

If academic dishonesty is detected by someone other than the teacher, the following procedures will be followed:

The person will notify the Registrar and pass on all physical evidence for safekeeping.
The Registrar will notify the chair and the teacher involved.
The chair will meet with the person reporting the alleged academic dishonesty to obtain information about the charge.

On receiving notification of the case from the Registrar and following conference with the teacher or person reporting the case, the chair will take the following actions:

Appoint one member of the AIB to serve as investigator/presenter (non-voting) for the case
Schedule a hearing and inform the accused and the accuser of the charge and the time and place of the hearing
Schedule the hearing as soon as possible after the offense is detected, unless mitigating circumstances (e.g., education abroad) require a delay. In no case should an initial hearing take place more than one year after the offense is detected
Notify appropriate parties at least 24 hours prior to the hearing.

Conduct of the Board

Every member of the Board has the right and responsibility to speak and vote freely. It is the responsibility of each voting member to vote “aye” or "nay” on a motion of verdict or sanction. It is the responsibility of all parties involved in the proceedings to maintain confidentiality of the proceedings. A member of the Board shall disqualify himself or herself in a particular case if he or she is unable to maintain impartiality. Any member who so disqualifies himself or herself shall not be present in any capacity other than that of witness, accuser, accused, or advisor to the accused.

No member will disclose to anyone other than members of the Board the degree of harmony or unanimity of the Board or the opinions or votes of any members of the Board.

The record of Board meetings will be available only to:

The accused and his or her advisor
Members of the Academic Integrity Board
Vice President and Dean of the College
President of the College
Vice President and Dean of Students

The secretary will report in writing the results of a hearing to the campus newspaper editor, including only:

Charge (excluding the name of the accused)
Nature of the evidence
Sentence
Rationale for the sentence

Rights of the Accused Student

Notice of charges will be received by the accused as soon as possible after the offense is detected
The student may be assisted by any advisor of his or her choice from the College community. At the hearing said advisor acts only as a consultant and may not address the hearing
The student may decline to testify and may have witnesses in his or her behalf at the hearing
The student may challenge for bias any member of the AIB. The AIB (excluding the challenged member) will rule on any challenge
The student may request an open hearing from the AIB chair no less than 24 hours in advance
During the appeal period, the student may read the record of the hearing.

Hearing Procedures

Only AIB members, the accuser, the accused, and the advisor to the accused will be present at the hearings, unless an open hearing has been scheduled.

Any student referred to the Board must appear at the time set for the hearing. If a student fails to appear without justifiable reason, the case will be heard in absentia.

The AIB chair may recess the hearing at any time for any reasonable purpose.

The Order of Hearing will be as follows:

The chair will introduce the accused student and the AIB members
AIB members may be challenged by the student for bias. Any challenge is deliberated by the AIB in private, and either sustained or denied. If the challenge is sustained, the hearing will be reconvened when an alternate AIB member is available
The presenter states the charge
The accused enters a plea
Evidence in support of the charge is presented in the presence of the accused
Witnesses in support of the charge testify in the presence of the accused and answer questions by the accused
The accused presents a statement in the presence of the accuser
Evidence in support of the accused is presented in the presence of the accuser;
Witnesses in support of the accused testify in the presence of the accuser and answer questions by the accuser
The accused, the accuser, or Board members may seek clarification of evidence or reexamine any witness
Board members will deliberate. The Board shall utilize the concept of precedent; however, the specific circumstances of the case shall also bear on the outcome. The Board determines a verdict (guilty, not guilty, or insufficient evidence) and any sanction(s) to be imposed
The chair informs the accused of the verdict and sanctions. If the student is deemed guilty, the chair advises the accused of the right to appeal. Written notice of verdicts and sanctions are prepared by the Secretary
Sanctions are reported to the Vice President and Dean of the College.

Sanctions

A student found guilty of academic dishonesty shall receive a sanction or sanctions deemed appropriate to the offense. Sanctions may include, but are not limited to, a formal letter of censure, a requirement to perform community service on or off the campus, a grade of “F” on the assignment in question, dismissal from the course with a grade of “F,” suspension, or expulsion from the College. The AIB will be guided by precedent in determining sanctions.

When a verdict of guilty is reached, a record of the offense, the sanctions, and the proceedings shall be kept permanently in the Registrar’s office in a file that must remain separate from the Permanent Academic Record.

Appeals

The Vice President and Dean of the College shall have the responsibility to hear appeals of decisions of the Academic Integrity Board.

Appeals must be made in writing to the Office of the Vice President and Dean of the College not more than 10 days after the conclusion of the hearing.

Bases for appeal include the following:

Faulty procedure
Lack of sufficient evidence
Excessive sanctions
New evidence