FACULTY AND STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THE CODE

It is a student's right to learn in an atmosphere of integrity and mutual trust. It is an accused student's right, before any penalty is imposed, to receive reasonable notice of the incident and to have a chance to respond in accordance with the provisions of the Academic Misconduct Code.

It is a student's responsibility to know and abide by the academic community's expectations regarding individual academic effort; the community's conventions for using the work of others; and all specific course and University rules that relate to academic evaluation. For further information, see "A Student's Guide to Academic Integrity at the University of Oklahoma."

It is a faculty member's right to expect that all students who seek instruction and evaluation will do so honestly.

It is a faculty member's responsibility to support integrity and to follow the Academic Misconduct Code's procedures for either admonishing the student or filing a complaint of misconduct before imposing any penalty for misconduct.

A STUDENT MAY REPORT ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT to a faculty or staff member whenever it occurs, whether or not the student is in the same class or has firsthand knowledge of the incident. Only a faculty or staff member may take action to file a charge or impose an admonition
for academic misconduct.

A STUDENT MAY BE ACCUSED OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT whenever a faculty or staff member believes, after reasonable investigation where necessary, that academic misconduct has occurred and that the student has some responsibility for it. The professor who believes misconduct has occurred may either give the student an admonition and grade penalty or file a complaint of
academic misconduct.

CHOOSING AND IMPOSING THE ADMONITION

Choosing the admonition. An instructor who determines that a student is responsible for an act of misconduct may impose an admonition (warning) plus a grade penalty and/or remedial work, without filing a charge of academic misconduct, if:

(1) The instructor determines that the incident is not egregious. The incident should merit no penalty greater than a zero on the assignment. The instructor may also determine that the incident is better treated as an instructional rather than a disciplinary matter. Serious and/or repeat offenses are not appropriate for admonitions. The instructor may verify the absence of prior admonitions by contacting the Provost's office.

(2) The incident occurs in an academic exercise that does not involve a semester-long activity. The exercise cannot be a final examination, a term paper or project, a graduate thesis or dissertation, or an examination that determines the status of graduate students (e.g. qualifying, candidacy, general, comprehensive, or certification examination, or a thesis or dissertation defense)

Imposing the admonition. To impose the admonition and any penalty or remedial work, the instructor should do the following:

(1) Inform the student of the incident and how the instructor concluded that the incident occurred.

(2) give the student an opportunity to respond or explain;

(3) admonish the student and explain the grade reduction or other requirement to be imposed (where appropriate, the student should also receive instruction to resolve any confusion the student may have had regarding what constitutes proper academic conduct); and

(4) inform the student, in writing, how to appeal the decision.

Steps 1, 2 and 3 can occur informally in a meeting with the student or by any other means reasonably calculated to provide the student with the necessary information. Face-to-face meetings are preferred but not required. The information in requirements 1, 2, and 3 need not be provided in writing. Requirement 4, information regarding appeal, must be provided in writing. This requirement may be satisfied by including a link to this webpage in the course syllabus.

In addition, the admonition should be reported to the Campus Judicial Coordinator. An optional form for this purpose is available HERE. Reporting the incident is important so that repeat offenses can be tracked. In addition, providing the student with a copy of this report helps to establish that requirements 1-4 were met in the event of a later challenge to the admonition.

ACCEPTING OR CONTESTING THE ADMONITION

Accepting the admonition. Acceptance of an admonition means the following:

(1) The student may receive a grade penalty no greater than a zero on the assignment.

(2) The student may be required to do additional, remedial work such as rewriting a plagiarized paper.

(3) The admonition will be reported to the Provost. It will not be counted, or reported outside the University, as an act of misconduct. However, if the student is ever again charged or admonished for academic misconduct, the prior admonition will count as proof that the student has been warned about misconduct and specifically informed about the standards for academic integrity. Therefore, the admonition may lead to a more severe penalty for any future offense.

(4) The Provost will review the incident and may propose a more severe penalty if the incident is particularly egregious or is a repeat offense. Any student for whom an additional penalty is proposed will get an additional notice and opportunity to contest the admonition. The student's previous decision to accept the admonition will not be construed as an admission of guilt.

Contesting the admonition. Any student who receives an admonition can contest it. To do so, the student must contact the office of the Campus Judicial Coordinator within 15 regular class days after receiving the admonition.

Campus Judicial Coordinator Justin McFeeters is located at 338 Cate Center and can be reached at 325-1540 or jmcfeeters@ou.edu.  A regular class day is any day, Monday through Friday, when classes regularly meet. It does not include weekends, holidays, and Intersessions. The CJC may establish reasonable deadlines for a followup meeting or the receipt of additional information.

If the student chooses to contest the admonition (or the Provost's proposal of a greater penalty) the student retains all the rights that the Code gives any student against whom a complaint is filed. These rights include the right to representation, hearing, appeal, and the assignment of a neutral grade while the matter is pending. However, if guilt is subsequently established, the case will be reviewed in its entirety by the instructor, the Academic Misconduct Board, the student's dean, and the Provost. Penalties will be imposed as appropriate under the Code and will not be limited to the grade penalty initially proposed in the admonition.

THE MISCONDUCT COMPLAINT

Unless the student is admonished as provided above, a misconduct complaint must be filed before any penalty is imposed or remedial work required of the student. Conduct for which the student is neither admonished nor charged cannot ordinarily form the basis for any penalty, any conclusion as to a student's guilt on a later complaint, or any enhancement of the penalty in a later case.

Choosing to file a complaint. It is appropriate to file a charge rather than impose an admonition whenever the conduct is egregious enough to warrant penalties greater than a zero on the assignment, whenever the assignment is one that does not permit admonitions for misconduct, and whenever the instructor deems it impossible or inappropriate to contact the student directly regarding the incident.

Filing a complaint. Ordinarily within 15 regular class days of the incident, the instructor should send the campus judicial coordinator this form, or a memorandum, or an e-mail containing the following information: the student, the class, the date of the discovery, the nature of the incident, and the proposed grade penalty if any. The CJC will then take responsibility for notifying the student and all other necessary university officials.

Grades and other actions pending outcome. The presumption of innocence means that the student may continue to attend class, receive grades, and enroll in future semesters while the complaint is pending. However, during that time a student may not graduate, may not receive transcripts without permission from the Provost, and may not receive credit for the course in which the misconduct occurred. If a final grade must be reported for the course while the case is pending, the grade should be reported as N. N is a temporary, neutral grade that is used in many circumstances where the instructor has not yet reported a final grade.

Student's options: right to a hearing, etc. A student who receives a charge of misconduct may admit to the charge or deny the charge. Prior to making this choice, the student may seek a meeting with the person filing the charge in order to clarify any misunderstandings. This meeting is not mandatory and will take place only if both parties desire it. Ordinarily, a student who admits to the charge will meet with his or her dean to take responsibility for incident and discuss any mitigating factors. The dean will then make a recommendation to the Provost as to the disciplinary sanction. A student may have a hearing in order to deny the charge, to dispute any part of the instructor's version of events, or for any other reason. Hearings should be scheduled within twenty class days of the request. When that is administratively impracticable, the student has the right to receive transcripts without special permission from the Provost and without notation of academic misconduct.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

The "STUDENT'S GUIDE TO ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
OKLAHOMA" provides information about OU's basic expectations regarding academic integrity.

A procedural FLOWCHART is available to outline and explain the steps in the academic
misconduct system.

The full text of the ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT CODE is included together with the STUDENT CODE and also as Appendix 13 of the FACULTY HANDBOOK.

Yearly REPORTS on the incidence of misconduct at OU, Norman Campus.

DISCLAIMER

The guidelines above merely interpret the Academic Misconduct Code for the convenience of students and faculty. The Academic Misconduct Code is a policy of the OU Regents. Nothing in these guidelines should be understood to overrule or conflict with the Code.