FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS (BY LSA FACULTY MEMBERS)
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1. Does LSA have an Honor
Code for students, or something similar?
The College of LSA does not have an Honor Code to which
its students pledge, but this does not mean we are any less committed
to honesty and academic integrity than institutions with Honor
Codes. The College does have a statement of LSA Community
Standards of Academic Integrity and expects all of its members
to uphold these Standards.
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2. What should I do if
I think I have an incident of academic misconduct?
Contact the Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center (SAA; 1213 Angell Hall) at 764-7297 or
lsajudicial@umich.edu.
Your questions and options can be discussed, and the Office will
assist you in making your decision about whether to report a complaint
of academic misconduct or not.
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3. Do I have to notify
or speak to the student before reporting a complaint of academic
misconduct?
No, it isn’t necessary, but the choice is yours.
You should do what is most comfortable for you. When you report
a complaint to the Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center , the student
is notified and is asked to call the Office to schedule an appointment.
Whether you have contacted the student about the complaint before
the appointment in the Assistant Dean’s Office is entirely
up to you. Please feel free also, however, to get in touch with
the Office of the Assistant Dean with any questions or concerns
about your options or your contacts with the student.
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4. Can the student contact
me?
Yes, the student who has had a formal complaint of academic
misconduct reported to the Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center against
him or her may contact you, but you are in no way obligated to
discuss the case or any aspect of it with the student. You may
simply let the student know that the matter is now out of your
hands and is being handled by the Office of the Assistant Dean.
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5. Can I just fail the
student and not go to the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center ?
No, not without the student’s acceptance of responsibility
for the incident and that grade.
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6. Can I simply resolve
the case myself?
The general expectation in LSA is that complaints of
academic misconduct will be reported to the Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center and resolved at that level. This can assure that
due process is followed, that the process is educational, that
fair and similar sanctions can be assigned in similar incidents,
and that the records of violators are maintained accurately and
in confidence. It is the case, however, especially when the violation
is not egregious, that the individual instructor may resolve an
incident. Three conditions, however, always apply and must be
attended to:
- You must fully apprise your student of the allegation and
show the student any evidence, if requested, that you have
- The student must accept responsibility for the incident
- The student must accept the grade and/or remedial work you
assign.
You also should document the student’s
acceptance of responsibility and of your sanction(s) and verify
that the conditions listed above have been met. Finally, you should
report your handling of the incident to the Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center .
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7. If I resolve an incident
myself, why do I have to report it?
It is important when you resolve an incident of academic
misconduct yourself to report your handling of the case to the
Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center (1213
Angell Hall; 764-7297; lsajudicial@umich.edu
) so that the Office can track repeat offenses. A student responsible
for a second offense will be called in to the Assistant Dean’s
Office, but otherwise no action will be taken.
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8. What do I need to
do to file a complaint of academic misconduct?
You may submit your complaint either by email tolsajudicial@umich.edu; or by campus or U.S. mail to Assistant
Dean Esrold Nurse, 1213 Angell Hall, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1003;
or by delivery to the first floor of Angell Hall, #1213, inside
the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center. In submitting a case
to the Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center , please include such information
as:
- a letter/email summarizing your concern (including, for
example, the course division and number; the name of the student
or students involved and their UMID#’s; a brief description
of the nature of the incident; what has been done about the
concern, if anything, thus far; your proposed grade penalty,
if any, for either a specific assignment(s) or the final course
grade; etc.i>)
- relevant materials (including, for example, the original
or a copy of the student’s work, a copy of the plagiarized
material, a copy of the course syllabus containing any statement
from you on your expectations for academic integrity, etc.)
- copy of any other materials that would support your concern
(for example, work of other students on the same assignment
that demonstrates how unusual the student’s work is,
work of the same student that would illustrate a change in
pattern/style and demonstrates how unusual the work is, etc.).
Please be aware that all information provided
to the Office of the Assistant Dean is considered evidence and
may be shared with the accused student(s).
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9. How much evidence
do I need to file a complaint?
How much evidence you will need is determined largely
by the type of complaint you are reporting and your goals in reporting
it to the Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center.
While the Assistant Dean holds to a high standard in the adjudication
of each academic misconduct case, his Office is not a court of
law in which the burden of proof is “beyond a reasonable
doubt.” The burden of supporting the complaint is “more
likely than not.” The Assistant Dean’s goal in each
case always is that the process be educational regardless of the
outcome of the complaint. You should know, too, that additional
evidence sometimes is discovered during the investigation by the
Office of the Assistant Dean. If you have questions about the
amount of evidence you have or the burden of proof, please call
the Office at 764-7297.
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10. Do I participate
in the adjudication of the case with the Assistant Dean?
NO. Once you file a complaint of academic misconduct
with the Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center , the case is adjudicated
by the Assistant Dean or designee. You may be contacted for clarification
about the complaint or consulted about the position the student
has taken, but very little of your time will be required when
this occurs. A representative of the LSA Student Government Honor
Council regularly sits in on the meeting between the Assistant
Dean or designee and the student. In exceptional and rare cases,
an appeal of the decision by the Assistant Dean or designee will
be heard by the LSA Academic Judiciary Committee, and if that
should occur, you then might participate.
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11. Can I direct the
student simply to drop my course?
NO. A student charged with academic misconduct may not
change registration in the course (e.g., , drop the course) in which
a charge is pending or in which a finding of academic misconduct
has been made.
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12. Can I find out from
the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center ’s Office if the student has been
found responsible in any other academic misconduct incident?
NO. Federal regulations do not allow the Office of the
Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center to share that kind of information about a student,
but the Office does maintain such records on LSA students.
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13. If it is time to
submit course grades at the end of a term, what should I do?
If a final grade must be reported for the course while
the case is pending before the Assistant Dean, you should report
the course grade as NR (no report), and not as I (incomplete).
NR is a temporary, neutral grade that may be used in special circumstances
where you are not yet able to report a final grade. You will be
notified, as soon as possible, of the resolution of the case,
and you then should submit the appropriate grade on a Supplemental
Grade Report (SGR) form available from your department office.
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14. Will I be informed
of the outcome of the complaint?
YES. The Assistant Dean or designee has the authority
to determine, based upon all the information available, whether
a violation of academic integrity has occurred. The student then
will be informed by letter, with an email copy to you, of the
decision and sanction(s), if any, to be imposed.
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15. If a student is
responsible for academic misconduct, should that student automatically
be assigned a failing grade for the course?
The course grade is your decision. When a student is
found responsible for academic misconduct by the Assistant Dean,
most instructors will fail the student for that assignment. Sometimes
the assignment is large enough that failing it leads to failure
in the course. Some instructors, however, will fail the student
in the course because that is their policy. It is strongly recommended
that instructors state on the course syllabus their expectations
of academic integrity and any policy involving course failure
for academic misconduct. The Assistant Dean can tell you of different
grading decisions made by other faculty members.
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