For Faculty Reporting an Infraction

Overview of Procedures for Faculty Reporting a Suspected Infraction

Instructors who suspect a student of an honor code infraction are encouraged to contact the Senior Class Dean (adviser to the Honor Board) or the Dean of the College to consult about their specific situation. You should also refer to the Student Handbook (see Honor Code Statement).

If you suspect a student has violated the Academic Honor Code, report it to the Chair of the Academic Honor Board.

The Honor Board is responsible for determining whether or not an infraction took place and what the appropriate penalty should be.

If possible, speak privately with the student whose work is in question. This is not mandatory, but it is highly encouraged as an opportunity for you to get a better sense of what might have taken place.

If you suspect collusion on an exam, homework, etc., you should speak individually to the students involved. Cases that come to the Academic Honor Board (AHB) may not be clear-cut, and it is important that you remain open-minded and convey a nonjudgmental manner when discussing concerns with the student.

After speaking with the student(s) you should give the student the opportunity to report themselves to the chair of the AHB and ask them to let you know when they have done so. A student may refuse to report themselves, but you must report any suspected infraction.

Once you have reported the suspected infraction, submit the material that led you to suspect an infraction (e.g., paper, exam, homework) to the Honor Board Chair, c/o the Dean of the College. If the issue is plagiarism, include the sources for the work in question so that the AHB can understand the extent of the infraction.

In the case of anomalous and identical or very similar answers on an exam a sampling of comparable answers written by other students will be useful to the Board. Make copies of everything you submit.

Do not grade the assignment or give the student a final grade in the course until the issue has been resolved by the AHB.

A student may neither drop a course nor change the grading option after being reported to the Honor Board. If the student has registered for the course with the S/U option, the Board has the option of changing the grading option to a letter grade.

Confidentiality is extremely important. Though you may seek advice from others, in your department, for example, the name of the student in question must not be revealed.

Smith’s faculty endorsed the student body’s vote to adopt an Honor Code in December of 1944. The language of the vote defines the faculty’s responsibility as follows: “If a case of plagiarism is discovered by a member of the faculty, we ask that he (sic) have the student involved report herself to the Chairman of the Honor Board. Should any student fail to report herself, the student of faculty member to whose attention the infringement came shall report it to the Chairman of the Honor Board.”

Please note: the Honor Board does not meet during winter, spring, and summer breaks; however, all infractions need to be reported as soon as they occur.