Academic Integrity

NU-Q AND NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY PRINCIPLES AND SAFEGARDS

Academic integrity at Northwestern is based on a respect for individual achievement that lies at the heart of academic culture. Every faculty member and student belongs to a community of scholars where academic integrity is a fundamental commitment. The following statement broadly describes principles of student academic conduct.

BASIC STANDARDS OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Registration at Northwestern requires adherence to the University's standards of academic integrity. These standards may be intuitively understood, and cannot in any case be listed exhaustively; the following examples represent some basic types of behavior that are unacceptable:

1. Cheating: using unauthorized notes, study aids, or information on an examination; altering a graded work after it has been returned, then submitting the work for regarding; allowing another person to do one's work and submitting that work under one's own name; submitting identical or similar papers for credit in more than one course without prior permission from the course instructors.

2. Plagiarism: submitting material that in part or whole is not entirely one's own work without attributing those same portions to their correct source.

3. Fabrication: falsifying or inventing any information, data or citation; presenting data that were not gathered in accordance with standard guidelines defining the appropriate methods for collecting or generating data and failing to include an accurate account of the method by which the data were gathered or collected.

4. Obtaining an Unfair Advantage: (a) stealing, reproducing, circulating or otherwise gaining access to examination materials prior to the time authorized by the instructor; (b) stealing, destroying, defacing or concealing library materials with the purpose of depriving others of their use; (c) unauthorized collaborating on an academic assignment (d) retaining, possessing, using or circulating previously given examination materials, where those materials clearly indicate that they are to be returned to the instructor at the conclusion of the examination; (e) intentionally obstructing or interfering with another student's academic work or (f) otherwise undertaking activity with the purpose of creating or obtaining an unfair academic advantage over other students' academic work.

5. Aiding and Abetting Academic Dishonesty: (a) providing material, information, or other assistance to another person with knowledge that such aid could be used in any of the violations stated above, or (b) providing false information in connection with any inquiry regarding academic integrity.

6. Falsification of Records and Official Documents: altering documents affecting academic records; forging signatures of authorization or falsifying information on an official academic document, grade report, letter of permission, petition, drop/add form, ID card, or any other official University document.

7. Unauthorized Access to computerized academic or administrative records or systems: viewing or altering computer records, modifying computer programs or systems, releasing or dispensing information gained via unauthorized access, or interfering with the use or availability of computer systems or information.

NU-Q PROCEDURES FOR CASES OF ALLEGED ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

I. INITIATION OF A COMPLAINT

A. All cases of alleged academic dishonesty by students in courses in NU-Q must be referred to the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, or in his/her absence a person designed by him/her. Cases should be referred within one month of the date of the alleged incident, or within one month of the date the reporting individual becomes aware of the alleged incident, whichever is later. However, no action will be taken on any case if more than one year has elapsed since the alleged incident. Once a matter has been referred to the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, it may not be withdrawn without the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs' approval, nor may a referring faculty member resolve or take any action related to the case without the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs' approval.

B. The Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs shall review the facts of the alleged incident, including statements of the reporting individual, the instructor(s), and any supporting material. If, after the review, the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs determines that there is cause for further investigation, he or she shall draft a letter for the student including the date of the incident (if known), the course and instructor, and the nature of the alleged violation. A copy of the current procedures should accompany the letter. The student shall be notified via email that they are to report to the office of the Associate Dean to receive the letter in person.

C. The student will be asked to make an appointment with the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs to discuss the case by a date specified in the letter, but no fewer than five working days of the date of the letter, at which time the student may present any relevant material or statements in his or her behalf. The student will have the right, prior to meeting with the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, to review relevant original materials regarding the allegations in the Office of Admissions and Student Affairs, to obtain copies of such materials if desired, and to discuss the matter with a faculty adviser or other individual. Review of original materials must take place by appointment during normal working hours at the Office of Admissions and Student Affairs.
If the student does not schedule a meeting to take place by the deadline set forth in the letter of notice to the student or receive written notification of a deferral of that meeting, the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs may make his/her determination on the basis of the evidence before him/her at that time. The Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs may grant reasonable requests for an extension of this time deadline in his/her sole discretion.

D. In certain cases where timely notification is important-as, for instance, if a student is about to leave campus for vacation-verbal notification may be made, but such verbal notification should be followed by a letter.

II. MEETING WITH THE ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ADMISSIONS AND STUDENT AFFAIRS

A. The Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs has the authority to determine, based on a preponderance of the evidence available, whether a violation of academic integrity has occurred.

B. In meeting with the student, Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs will describe the charges made and detail the evidence supporting those charges. At this initial meeting, the student may decline to discuss the matter and/or request that the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs defer making a determination until after a subsequent meeting between the student and the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, at which the student may present relevant information or evidence. This second meeting must be requested at the initial meeting and will be scheduled at a time to be specified by the Associate Dean.

C. After his/her review, Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs shall inform the student by letter of his or her decision and the sanction, if any, to be imposed. (If the student is not registered in NU-Q the sanction will be determined by the school in which the student is registered; see VI. below.)

III. SANCTIONS

A. Sanctions which may be imposed by the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs include, but are not limited to: a letter of warning; a defined period of probation with the attachment of conditions; a defined period of suspension, with or without the attachment of conditions; permanent exclusion from the University; notation on the official record; revocation of an awarded degree; or any combination of the previously listed sanctions.

B. Any grade entered for a student in a course in which an allegation of academic dishonesty is pending against him/her, whether for the course as a whole or for a piece of work submitted in the course, is subject to modification after all proceedings and appeals are concluded. Should the student be found to have violated academic integrity, the course instructor is empowered, in his/her sole discretion, to determine the effect this violation will have on the student's grade in the course; possible actions range from disregarding the incident in calculating the grade to failing the student in the course.

IV. APPEALS TO THE COMMITTEE ON ACADEMIC APPEALS

A. The Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs' decision and/or sanction may be appealed to the Committee on Academic Appeals by filing a written notice of appeal within ten working days of the date of the letter notifying the student of the Associate Dean’s decision. The student's written notice of appeal must state what is being appealed-whether the finding of academic dishonesty, the sanction imposed, or both-and must describe in detail the grounds for the appeal. The student's written notice of appeal should also state whether the student desires to present the appeal in person to the Committee on Academic Appeals. Appeals should be filed with one of the Senior Associate Deans for Journalism or Communication.

B. If the student so requests, he or she will be granted an opportunity to appear in person to present his or her case to the Committee on Academic Appeals and to hear and respond to any testimony provided by the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs or witnesses appearing before the Committee on Academic Appeals. Likewise, the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs may be present to hear and respond to testimony of the accused student or any witnesses appearing before the Committee on Academic Appeals. If the student wishes to present witnesses before the Committee on Academic Appeals, s/he must inform the Secretary to the Committee on Academic Appeals at least seven working days before the appeal is to be heard of the names of the proposed witnesses and of the nature of the evidence they are prepared to present. However, the Committee on Academic Appeals has sole discretion to determine what witnesses other than the accused student and the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs it will hear, if any. The Committee on Academic Appeals shall review the appeal as soon as practical after it has been filed.

C. Following its review, the Committee on Academic Appeals may sustain or reverse the finding of academic dishonesty, if that portion of Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs' decision was appealed, and may, if a finding of academic dishonesty stands, sustain or modify (but not increase) the sanction, if that portion of the decision was appealed. The Committee on Academic Appeals shall inform the student by letter of its decision.

D. The Committee on Academic Appeals shall consist of the Senior Associate Deans for Journalism and Communication and one other member of NU-Q or the larger Education City community as deemed appropriate by the Senior Deans. Should either or both of the Senior Associate Deans be unavailable or elect to recuse themselves from the matter the Dean of NU-Q shall appoint a replacement or replacements.

V. APPEAL TO THE DEAN

A. The student may appeal to the Dean of NU-Q the Committee on Academic Appeals' decision within ten working days of the date of the letter to the student with notification of the Committee’s decision. Such appeals must be in writing and include a detailed statement setting forth the grounds for the appeal. Appeals to the Dean will be limited to alleged errors in procedures, interpretation of regulations, or alleged manifest discrepancies between the evidence and a school finding and/or sanction. The Dean will receive appeals only after a sanction has been specified for the alleged violation (see VI. below); an appeal to the Dean may concern the finding and/or the proposed sanction.

VI. CROSS-SCHOOL CASES

A. In instances where a student registered in another school is alleged to have committed an act of academic dishonesty in a NU-Q course, the authority of NU-Q will extend only to determining whether or not the alleged action constitutes academic dishonesty and, if so, to the imposition of a grade penalty by the instructor in the course (see IIIB.). If the finding is affirmative and all appeals have been exhausted or the time for appeals has expired in the first school, the case will be formally referred to the appropriate authority of the school in which the student is registered for whatever further sanction that school deems appropriate. Similarly, the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs may be called upon to determine further sanctions for NU-Q students who have been guilty of academic dishonesty in courses in another school.

B. In instances where a student registered in NU-Q has been found to have committed an act of academic dishonesty in a course offered by another school, the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs will notify the student in writing of the formal referral of the matter to NU-Q for determination of a NU-Q sanction, if any. Such notification will inform the student that he/she may schedule an appointment with the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, to take place by a stated deadline, to present any evidence of mitigating circumstances, but not on the underlying question of guilt or innocence. If the student does not schedule an appointment within the allotted time, or within such extension of time as the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs may grant in his/her sole discretion, the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs will make a decision on sanctions based on the available information.

C. The Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs will inform the student in writing of any sanction to be imposed by NU-Q and of the student's right to appeal that sanction (but not issues of guilt or innocence) to the Committee on Academic Appeals.

VII. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

A. A student charged with academic dishonesty may not change his or her registration in the course(s) in which a charge is pending or in which a finding of academic dishonesty has been made.

B. At any stage of the proceedings described above, the student may be accompanied by another member of the NU-Q community (student, faculty or staff member) but not by an attorney. This person may not, however, take part in the proceedings; the student must speak on his or her own behalf.

C. Sanctions specified by Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, as modified by the Committee on Academic Appeals or the Dean (if an appeal has been filed), shall take effect at the expiration of the period for appeal of a decision if an appeal has not been filed, and after a decision has been reached by the Committee on Academic Appeals or the Dean if an appeal has been filed. If the appeal is not granted, the sanction will be applied retroactive to the date specified by the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, and, if necessary, current registrations may be canceled.

D. All materials relating to an allegation of academic dishonesty will be kept in Office of Admissions and Student Affairs until the student has graduated or for ten years after the incident, whichever is later.

E. All references to the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs in these procedures include the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs' designee if circumstances prevent the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs from participating.

F. All references to “letter” in these procedures include email as an official form of communication.