Regulations Dealing with Academic Misconduct
August 1980
The College of Engineering endorses the policies and rights of students as printed in the "Policies and Regulations Affecting Students" of The University of Iowa. Under Section 1 in the Code of Student Life, which appears in the above publication and has been adopted by the College of Engineering Faculty, the College has the authority to handle acts of academic misconduct, which are defined in Section 1 as:
“Academic dishonesty, including the acquisition of honors, awards, certification or professional endorsements, degrees, academic credits, or grades by means of cheating, plagiarism, or falsification with respect to any examination, paper, project, application, recommendation, transcript, or test, or by any other dishonest means whatsoever, or aiding or abetting another student to do so.”
The following regulations provide a procedure for dealing with students who are alleged to have committed an act of academic misconduct:
- Guidelines for Disciplinary Action by an Instructor
- Exams: In cases of cheating on hourly
or final exams, it is recommended that the instructor reduce
the student’s grade, including the assignment of the grade
of “F” in the course. When a course grade has been
reduced to an “F”, the student may not drop the course,
nor use the Second Grade Option procedure to eliminate the failing
grade from semester and cumulative GPA values that appear on
the permanent record card (i.e., the grade transcript.) It is
recommended that cheating on quizzes be considered as serious
a violation as on exams and that the penalty be similar. The
instructor shall send a written report of any disciplinary action
to the Office of the Dean and the report shall be placed in
the student’s file.
- Homework, Lab Reports, etc.: Each instructor
shall announce at the beginning of each course the acceptable
policies on student collaboration in each of the graded course
requirements. When the policy is clearly violated, a zero shall
be assigned for the total portion of the course grade allocated
to the requirement in which the violation occurred (e.g., a
zero for all homework assignments if cheating occurred on a
homework assignment.) A written report of this action shall
be sent by the instructor to the Office of the Dean and placed
in the student’s file.
- Exams: In cases of cheating on hourly
or final exams, it is recommended that the instructor reduce
the student’s grade, including the assignment of the grade
of “F” in the course. When a course grade has been
reduced to an “F”, the student may not drop the course,
nor use the Second Grade Option procedure to eliminate the failing
grade from semester and cumulative GPA values that appear on
the permanent record card (i.e., the grade transcript.) It is
recommended that cheating on quizzes be considered as serious
a violation as on exams and that the penalty be similar. The
instructor shall send a written report of any disciplinary action
to the Office of the Dean and the report shall be placed in
the student’s file.
- Student Appeal
When a written report of disciplinary action by an instructor is received by the Office of the Dean, the student shall be notified in writing of the action. If the student feels that the finding of cheating is in error or the penalty is unjust, the student may request a hearing by notifying in writing the associate dean of the College, who will in turn appoint a committee to review the incident. If the student is not satisfied with the results of the hearing, the student may request a review by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
- Disciplinary Action by the Dean
In cases of flagrant or a second offense, the dean of the College may impose the following or other penalties as the offense may warrant: cancellation of the student’s registration, disciplinary probation, suspension from the College, or recommendation of expulsion from the University by the President. If the student feels that the penalty imposed by the dean is unjust, the student may request a review by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
- Record of Disciplinary Action
Reports of academic misconduct received by the Office of the Dean shall be placed in the involved student’s file maintained in the Office of the Dean. The Office of the Dean shall notify the student of each report and the right of the student to request a hearing for review of the case. The reports shall be destroyed when the student graduates or within two years after the student leaves the University.
(These regulations are based on the recommendations of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Student Academic Conduct which were approved by the Faculty on April 29, 1980.)