Policies and Accommodations

Unauthorized/excessive collaboration 

Cheating; unauthorized aid; violation of test regulations 

Misrepresentation, e.g., lying; falsifying VIFs or patient records 

Impersonation, e.g., clicker misuse; distributing confidential academic material; forged signatures 

Theft of intellectual property

Students who receive an allegation are entitled to:          

• a presumption of innocence;                     

• be made aware of the case against them;

• have matters addressed fairly and expeditiously;

• be accompanied by a support person to any meeting or hearing;               

• have matters heard by those who are not sitting in judgment of their own actions or decisions;                  

• know, respond to, and seek clarification of evidence presented by witnesses; and             

• decisions based on the balance of probabilities with consideration given to University consistency and precedent;        

Penalties are evaluated based on whether that student has had prior or similar academic offences; Instructors would not be aware of prior offences;  

Penalties need to be consistently applied across the faculty and between faculties, and need to be aligned with Policy 71 guidance on penalties; Instructors would not be aware of typical penalties used across the faculty or university for a similar offence; 

Penalties need to carefully weigh mitigating and aggravating factors in a consistent fashion, and; 

The student may not be a Science student, in which case it would fall to the Associate Dean of the student’s faculty to determine the penalty. 

Short-term Absence: students can self-declare, through Quest, an absence for 2 calendar days or less, during the Formal Lecture Period; a short-term absence can be self-declared for any reason that prevents a student from meeting their academic obligations, with the exception of Laboratory (LAB) and Clinic (CLN) courses/class components (LAB and CLN courses/class components do not qualify for accommodation as a result of a self-declared short-term absence); students are permitted only one self-declared short-term absence accommodation per academic term; no documentation is required. 

Covid-19-related Absence: students can self-declare, through Quest, an absence for 10 days or less due to Covid-19 related illness (including vaccination side effects) or a requirement to self-isolate; participation in online course elements may be reasonable, and any participation needs to be consistent across all courses; students are permitted only one self-declared Covid-19 related absence accommodation per academic term; no documentation is required. 

VIF Declaration: A VIF is a declaration of absence for students and requires that documentation be provided. Students must refer to their home Faculty's process for VIF submissions. Science VIF information can be found here. See also the Verification of Illness Form (VIF) from Health Services.

For extenuating circumstances that are not illness related, for which the VIF is not appropriate, other official documentation is necessary (for example: plane/train/bus tickets, court documents, police reports, death certificates/obituaries/letters from funeral directors, counsellor letters).                           

• Science maintains a page with up-to-date guidelines for Accommodations for Illness or Extenuating Circumstances and can be reviewed as necessary.

Refer to their home Faculty's process for VIF submissions. Instructions for Science students are found at: https://uwaterloo.ca/science-undergraduate-office/accommodation-illness-or-extenuating-circumstances#submitting.  

Decide how to accommodate missed course elements.  

Set accommodation policies in their course outlines so students know what types of accommodations, and under what general conditions accommodations may be applied.  

Provide expectations: A ‘severe’ incapacitation indicates students are unable to attend class and engage in most academic studies during the period indicated. If they attend classes/labs, submit assignments/reports or write tests/exams during this period, they are at risk of being accused of ‘misrepresentation’; a Policy 71 academic offence.                                       

• In the absence of stated course rules in the course outline, students will be advised that they should consider not writing tests/exams during the incapacitation period                                   

Verify VIFs are complete, with no clear indications of fraud. Any suspicious medical documentation should be brought to the attention of the Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Policy and the Academic Integrity Specialist. 

Confirm information students submit with their documentation aligns with information presented in the documentation. This confirmation may cause delays in VIF submission completion. 

Enter the record in vif.uwaterloo.ca. Information will be automatically emailed to not just the instructor of the missed course element but all the student’s instructors – to minimize the student inconsistently using the VIF (i.e., writing one test but not another during the same incapacitation period). Instructors will see what course(s) have been associated with the VIF. 

Educate students about VIF use and responsibilities.