Information for students receiving a Policy 71 allegation

Informal Resolution by the Instructor

An instructor who discovers or is made aware of an apparent academic offence in a course they are teaching may choose to resolve the offence informally if this is the student’s first academic offence and the penalty imposed does not exceed a reduction in the course grade. The instructor should summarize the allegation, document the student’s agreement to the disciplinary penalty in writing, and forward this information to the Associate Dean.

The Associate Dean must approve any penalties agreed upon between the student and their instructor. If the Associate Dean does not approve the penalty or believes further investigation of the case is warranted, they will proceed with a formal resolution. All students found guilty of an act of misconduct are placed on disciplinary probation.

Informal Resolution by the Associate Dean

When presented with evidence of a possible misconduct, the Associate Dean may propose an informal resolution via email. The informal resolution proposal will:

• outline the alleged offence and, if applicable, the specific course involved;
• provide a brief summary of the evidence behind the allegation;
• indicate the proposed disciplinary penalty; and
• give the student 5-business days to request a formal investigation.

An informal resolution is offered to expedite the processing of a discipline case. Students are encouraged to request a formal investigation if they:

1. have additional evidence they would like to be considered in the final decision;
2. would like to dispute some or all of the evidence presented by the instructor; or
3. believe the penalty is unduly harsh relative to what is outlined in Policy 71 and the Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.

Allegation Letter

When presented with evidence of a possible misconduct, the Associate Dean will either propose an informal resolution or issue an allegation letter to the student that:

• outlines the alleged offence and, if applicable, the specific course involved;
• briefly summarizes the evidence for the allegation;
• in some cases, requests a formal meeting to discuss the evidence and/or request that the student respond to the allegation with a written explanation of the evidence.

Students have 5-business days to respond to the allegation. During this period, they can present additional evidence to be considered in the inverstigation, and respond to or dispute the evidence presented by the instructor. If the student requests a meeting to discuss the evidence, one shall be arranged. If the sutdent does not respond to the allegation within 5 days of the allegation date, the investigation will proceed based on the available evidence and a disciplinary decision may be rendered without their input.

Grade Under Review (UR)

When the alleged offence is associated with a particular course, a grade of "UR" (Under Review) will be temporarily placed on the student's Quest record for that course. Students are not able to drop a course with a UR grade. If a UR grade is active when academic progression is generated, an academic standing of 'Deferred' will temporarily be assigned; the student's academic standing will be processed once a grade is assigned for the course.

The UR grade is removed after a 10-day appeal window, effective from the date that the final decision summary letter is issued. Some UR grades are removed before the end of the appeal window to allow for final grade submission.

Formal Investigation

After receipt of the student’s written response or after the time for a response has passed the Associate Dean shall conduct a thorough investigation of the allegation. To assist in the investigation the Associate Dean may consult with others (for example, subject-matter or technical experts, another associate dean and/or UW Police).

Students are assured that details of their investigation are kept confidential. Only the people directly involved in any given investigation are aware of some or all of the incident details. These may include:

• the person initiating the allegation (e.g. instructor, exam or assignment coordinator, police);
• the administrative staff member issuing the allegation email and discipline summary;
• the administrative records staff member issuing the UR grade;
• the Associate Dean, Student Relations, investigating the allegation and making the final decision based on the summary of findings; and
• the Associate Dean and respective administrative staff member of a student’s home faculty for students who are not in Science.

Discipline Summary

The Associate Dean will make a decision based on the evidence gathered during the investigation. At the conclusion of the investigation, a discipline summary letter will be prepared and sent to the student via email. The letter will summarize the evidence that was considered when coming to a decision regarding the allegation, the final decision, the assigned penalty (if applicable), and a rationale supporting the decision and penalty. All students found guilty of an act of misconduct are placed on disciplinary probation.

It is difficult to predict how long it will take before a discipline summary is issued, but cases tend to be resolved within two weeks of the student meeting to discuss the allegation.  

Decisions regarding guilt are made on a balance of probabilities. Penalties are based on Policy 71’s Guidelines for Assessment of Penalties, the Framework for the Assessment of Undergraduate Plagiarism, and the Framework for the Assessment of Unauthorized Collaboration Involving Undergraduate Students. These guidelines describe typical penalties for various offences. Compelling mitigating and aggravating factors may alter the penalty assigned.

Some investigations will result in the case being dismissed based on insufficient or inconclusive evidence to support the allegation. Others will be dismissed with a reprimand, meaning if there is ever a second allegation of a similar nature, the penalty is unlikely to be mitigated according to the Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.

Penalties

The following factors to be considered by associate deans when imposing a penalty include, but are not limited to:

• The severity of the offence, including its impact on others (UW students, faculty or staff; other students, members of the community)
• Relative weight of the assignment
• The level of the student’s academic experience
• Whether the student admits guilt, accepts responsibility for his/her action and is amenable to educative remedies
• Extenuating circumstances that may help explain the action taken by a student
• Any aggravating factors
• Any record of previous offences

The penalties imposed for acts of misconduct vary. Penalties can include but are not limited to:

• grade penalties (assignments, tests and final course grades)
• loss of credit (PD courses, work-term reports)
• additional course(s) that do not count toward graduation requirements
• community service
• suspension

During a suspension, students cannot enroll in courses at the University of Waterloo or another institution for credit toward their UW degree. Students cannot graduate and the University will not verify that degree requirements have been met. A suspension note will be visible on a student’s unofficial and official transcript for the duration of the suspension. Students are welcome on campus to use campus facilities and can participate in future term course selection and course enrolment.

Students who are found guilty of an academic or non-academic offence are always assigned a disciplinary probation penalty.

Disciplinary Probation

There is no indication of disciplinary probation in the student’s Quest account or on a student’s transcript.

Probation only impacts a student when there is a subsequent finding of misconduct. In this situation, the penalty associated with a guilty outcome is typically more severe than the penalty for the first offence or the penalty listed in one of the penalty guidelines or frameworks (see Section on Disciplinary Summary). Probation expires when a student graduates.

A student has 10 working days after receiving a formal discipline decision to submit an appeal under Policy 72 – Student Appeals. A student may appeal the finding and/or the penalty. Penalties, including suspensions, are normally not enforced while an appeal is being decided, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Grounds for Appeal

A decision may be appealed only when a student is able to establish that the outcome of the case might have been substantially affected by one of more of the following grounds:

1. a fundamental procedural error seriously prejudicial to the student;
2. clear evidence of bias in a decision;
3. significant new information relevant to the case that was not available through diligence prior to the decision has been discovered;
4. inadequate weight being given to the evidence provided;
5. the severity of the penalty imposed exceeds the nature of the offence for reasons identified by the student.

Dissatisfaction with University policy, remorse or ignorance is not a sufficient ground for appeal.

How to Submit an Appeal

If a student wishes to appeal a disciplinary decision, they must file a 72A Notice of Appeal within 10 days of the decision with the Chair of the Science Faculty Committee on Student Appeals (FCSA), via Lisa Weber.