Handling and Reporting Violations

Report a Violation

No instructor likes to face the prospect of handling an incident of suspected cheating by a student. Here are some ideas, drawn from the experience of others, which may assist.

Intervening at the time if the situation warrants
Sometimes you may be faced with a situation in which you wish to intervene immediately to address potential misconduct.

Before an Exam
Many faculty members take special care to emphasize how seriously they take the Honor Code before distributing exams to set the tone. For example, you can:

• reiterate the reasons why the Code exists,
• require everyone to sign the Honor Pledge before you leave the room,
• indicate that you will not grade any paper on which the Pledge is not signed,
• reiterate the high expectations you have of them and your own obligation to comply with the Honor System by reporting suspected misconduct.

More suggestions on preventing and deterring misconduct during exams are available in Helpful Links.

During an Exam
If you observe students acting in a suspicious fashion you need to decide whether to wait and gather evidence of what actually transpires or intervene to deter the possibility of misconduct. If students appear to be acting in suspicious ways during the course of an examination, it is probably best to:

• walk around the room and make eye contact,
• ask them to move their seat,
• remind them that no talking is allowed,
• or otherwise prevent the problem from continuing (at the very least so others are not distracted and do not think that you will condone such behavior).

You can also use a “spot check” strategy, such as telling students when you distribute the exam that you will be checking in from time to time to see if they have questions at various points during the exam period, then doing so. Even if you act to interrupt what appears to be potential cheating, you can also take steps outlined below to document your observations, meet with the students involved and report the suspected misconduct so that the Student Attorney General can have a record of the activity in the event that occurs again.

Classroom Disruption
Sometimes, students may engage in disruptive behavior during class or laboratory activity itself, conduct that may in itself violate some portion of the Honor Code other than the provisions relating to academic misconduct. For specific guidance on dealing with such problems, see the resources available in Helpful Links.

Meeting with a Student Suspected of Academic Misconduct
More often, you will become suspicious that academic misconduct has occurred only after the fact. In such circumstances, it is particularly useful to meet with the student in question prior to submitting the report form describing the suspected Honor Code violation. Faculty members are encouraged by Faculty Council resolution to consider meeting with students suspected of misconduct so that the instructor has the opportunity to make a full assessment of what happened, and retains the opportunity to employ this “teachable moment” to educate the student what they did wrong and how to avoid future problems. Here are some suggestions on how to make such meetings proceed relatively smoothly.

Prepare for the discussion by reviewing policies and facts.

• Know the facts. Familiarize yourself with the prohibitions on academic misconduct contained in the Honor Code itself and the information you will need to complete the form for reporting suspected academic misconduct. If you want clarification or guidance, contact the Student Attorney General, Judicial Programs Office, or a member of the Honor System Faculty Advisory Committee. Also review the procedural protections afforded students under the System so that you may reference them or advise the student to seek specific guidance on these points from the Student Attorney General.
• Think critically and make notes. Think carefully about the basis for your suspicion of misconduct and make careful notes about what you already know and what you’ll want to find out or explore. For example, ask yourself
  • What conduct you observed or other evidence you have that has given rise to your suspicion: "Did the student in question do something in particular? Was a paper submission out of character with prior work or was language use uncharacteristic? If the conduct occurred in connection with a classroom examination, what did you observe about the conduct of this student and others?"
  • What your expectations have been about conduct of this sort and how you have expressed them to student: "Were particular instructions given with regard to the assignment or examination? How did the conduct run afoul of your expectations?"
  • What additional information you may need or want to consider before proceeding to meet with the student or report the suspected misconduct: "Do you want to check student work through use of an online resource? Do you want to review other students’ papers once again? Do you want to talk with a colleague about his or her own experience with similar circumstances? If you’re uncertain about your assessment of the situation, exactly what questions do you think you want resolved?"

Set up a meeting with the student if you believe it would be worthwhile.

• Act as promptly as feasible. You may choose to meet with the student either before or after submitting a report of the suspected misconduct, but many faculty members have found it more useful to arrange such a meeting immediately in order to get pertinent information that may prove helpful in completing the report form (including information on what happened, the type particular type of violation in question, and the sanctions that they believe should be imposed).
• Consider confidentiality. Bear in mind the importance of confidentiality in making arrangements for such a meeting. Consider returning a paper without a grade along with a note on the student’s paper asking him or her to set up a meeting. Catch the student alone after class, or drop the student an email note simply asking them to set up a meeting time without getting into details. It is best not to leave phone messages that might be overheard by others.

Faculty members are not required to hold such meetings if they believe that nothing would be gained from doing so, but many report that such conferences with students are very worthwhile. If you have questions about whether to opt for this strategy and how to proceed, please contact the Student Attorney General or the Office of the Dean of Students.

Develop a strategy for discussion with which you are comfortable.

• Plan your opening and use a simple, factual statement of where things stand:
  • “I asked you to come in because I have some questions about your paper. It seems very much like an article with which I’m familiar but that article isn’t referenced.”    - OR -    “I checked some of your sources but I can’t seem to find them.”    - OR -    “I’m concerned because your paper looks a great deal like someone else’s in the class."   - OR -    “I found your work on this paper somewhat surprising since the language doesn’t sound like you and the formatting is unusual.”
• “I asked you to come in because I had a report that you seemed to be looking at someone else’s paper during the exam and discovered some unusual similarities between the papers.”    - OR -    “I had a report from one of the class that you and some other students seemed to be sitting together in the library working on the take-home exam. As you know, the instructions specified that you were not allowed to collaborate on this project.”
• Plan Your Questions. Think through the kind of questions you want to use.
  • Open-ended: "Perhaps you could explain your research process on the paper."     - OR -    "Can you explain what happened when you sat down to take the exam."    - OR -     "Can you tell me how you went about working on the take-home?"
  • Closed-ended: “Are you familiar with the article by x.”    - OR -    “Where can I find the sources you listed?”    - OR -    'Were you looking at your neighbor’s paper during the exam?”
  • Directive statements: “Please tell me about how you developed the thesis for this paper”    - OR -   “Please show me how you worked that problem.”
• Use active listening techniques (asking questions, listening to the student response, and then paraphrasing so you are sure that you grasped what the student was saying correctly). Recognize that this session is one for information gathering and discussion rather than one in which you need to be intimidating to the student. Also remember that students can be confused and adopting a “neutral” rather than judgmental stance is likely to be more productive until such time as you reach a decision about how you will ultimately proceed.
• Visualize possible scenarios. Think through several possible scenarios that might arise as the meeting progresses.
• Plan your responses in the event of typical outcomes. For example,
  • The student may admit wrongdoing and you may need to explain that you must nonetheless submit a report form on the incident along with recommendations for sanction. You can also urge the student to discuss with the Attorney General the possibility of accepting responsibility for the conduct and proceeding to an expedited hearing that will assign a sanction very promptly so the student can move on with his or her life.
  • The student may deny wrongdoing in a defensive manner and you may simply want to bring the matter to a close by saying that you thought it best to give them an opportunity to explain themselves but will now be submitting the report form so that the Student Attorney General can take matters from there.
  • The student may also insist that he or she did not understand that what they were doing was wrong. You can then talk with them about the reasons that the conduct was nonetheless wrong and discuss educational sanctions that you might recommend in the report form (such as having the student rewrite the assignment for its educational value while receiving a failing grade on that component of the course).
  • The student might also attempt to convince you not to report the conduct, citing personal problems, extenuating circumstances, difficulty in keeping up with the work and so forth. You should probably acknowledge their explanations by summarizing using active listening techniques, but are probably best served by returning the conversation to your basic outline which focuses on why the conduct was problematic and how they should conduct themselves in the future. You can tell the student that they will have an opportunity to talk with the Student Attorney General about the extent that such factors might have a bearing on the sanction and indicate that you will provide any pertinent information along with your report of the incident. You may also want to advise the student about how they might proceed in the face of similar problems in the future (for example, “It’s better to contact me in advance if you’re sick and can’t get the work done on time, rather than submitting someone else’s assignment as your own”). If you think it advisable, you may also wish to refer the student to other campus resources such as Counseling and Wellnes Services.

Hold the Meeting.

• Set a time limit. Have an idea about how you will manage the time allotted for the meeting and have a plan about how long you expect to meet. For example, it’s probably a good idea to set an outside time limit for the meeting (30 minutes is probably enough in most cases). You may also want to advise the student of your time constraints at the start of the meeting so that you have a shared understanding on this point (For example, “I want to talk with you about a concern I have about your paper. I have about 30 minutes available for this meeting. Is that going to be okay with you?”). Do your best to avoid distractions during the course of the session (for example, decide that you’ll let voicemail handle the phone and post an “in conference” note on your door if you generally do that).
• Conclude the meeting by explaining what will happen next. Faculty policy states that faculty members are expected to report suspected academic misconduct to the pertinent Student Attorney General so that the Honor System can be used to make pertinent factual findings and impose sanctions as appropriate. Faculty members may not impose their own sanctions outside this process. Explain to the student that you will be submitting a report to the Student Attorney General that will include your summary of the facts and circumstances and your recommendation about what should happen next. The student should be encouraged to contact the Student Attorney General directly to review the specific steps that the Student Attorney General will take to reach a final decision on whether formal charges will be brought, the assistance available to the student, and the details of the procedures used by the Honor Court from there.

Filing a Report of Suspected Academic Misconduct
A convenient online reporting form is provided via this website. Once the report is filed, the Student Attorney General’s Office will automatically provide the student with a copy of the report and will contact you to discuss the matter further as needed.