PROCEDURES TO FOLLOW WHEN FACULTY SUSPECT PLAGIARISM
(from the Report of the Ad Hoc Plagiarism Committee, CoLA Council, Spring 2006.)
Note the full report may be found on this page at the link "CoLA Council -- Plagiarism Report ".
The following sequence of procedures is in keeping with the SIUC Student Conduct Code.
1. If a faculty member suspects that a student has committed plagiarism or other academic dishonesty, the first step is for the faculty member to arrange a meeting with the student to discuss the evidence for this charge. If the student refuses, fails to show for the appointment or drops the course, the faculty member should put his/her charge in writing to the chairperson. Regardless of whether the student accepts responsibility or denies the charge, proceed to step 2. The faculty member should state in writing his/her conclusion from this meeting (or non-meeting if it did not occur due to no-show or refusal of student to attend). The student should be made to realize the seriousness of the charge and that a finding of academic dishonesty will be placed in the student's record at the Office of Student Judicial Affairs retained for six years (and that this is a separate record from his/her transcript unless the charges result in suspension or expulsion.) If the faculty member decides that no academic dishonesty occurred, the matter is dropped at this level.
2. The faculty member and student are to meet with the faculty member's department chairperson. If the student has accepted responsibility (step 1), the purpose of this meeting is to make certain that the student's acceptance of responsibility is witnessed. If the student denies the charge, this meeting constitutes the first level of appeal. There are two possible outcomes of this meeting. If the student accepts responsibility, the chairperson writes a memo documenting the meeting copied to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs, dean of the college in which the course is offered, the faculty member and student. Before a sanction is decided, the chairperson should contact the Office of Student Judicial Affairs to determine whether that student has committed a similar offense in the past. The sanction is then decided by the chairperson. If the chairperson decides that no academic dishonesty occurred, the matter is dropped at this level. If the student accepts responsibility but feels that the sanction is too severe for the offense, that too is taken to the next level.
3. If the student denies the charge, his/her second appeal occurs by a meeting with the Dean of that college (or a judicial board if permitted by that college). The Director of the Office of Student Judicial Affairs attends meetings at this stage as an adviser. If the dean (or judicial board) finds that the evidence supports the charge of dishonesty, that decision is placed in the student's file at the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and the sanction is set by the dean. If the dean decides that no academic dishonesty occurred, the matter is dropped at this level.
4. If the student is dissatisfied with the outcome of the hearing at the Dean's level the student may file an appeal with the Provost (or Provost's designee).
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