Hunter’s Policy on Academic Integrity: Procedures for Academic Dishonesty

To initiate the procedure for addressing an allegation of academic dishonesty, faculty members must first determine if they are seeking an academic sanction or a disciplinary sanction. An academic sanction involves a grade penalty only (i.e., a reduced grade); a disciplinary sanction involves various penalties, which may include a grade penalty.

I. Procedure for Academic Sanctions

When the faculty member suspects academic dishonesty and wants only an academic sanction, the professor should first confer with the student. If the student admits to the violation, the instructor should inform the student of the grade penalty and report the action taken on the “Report Form: Academic Dishonesty- Academic Sanctions” to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Official, currently, Sharmeen Ahmed, in the Office of Student Services, room 1131 East.
If the student admits to academic dishonesty but believes the grade penalty is too severe, the instructor should fill out the appropriate line on the “Report Form: Academic Dishonesty-Academic Sanctions” to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Official. The instructor shall submit the grade at the end of the semester. At that point, the student may contest the grade sanction by appealing the course grade through the college’s grade appeal procedure. Once the student has admitted the violation, s/he may contest only the severity of the grade sanction, not the dishonesty allegation itself. If the student appeals the grade, the departmental and Senate grade appeals committees should send copies of their findings to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Official.
If the student denies the allegation of academic dishonesty, the faculty member will report that this is the student’s position on “Report Form: Academic Dishonesty-Academic Sanctions.” The matter will then be reviewed and a judgment rendered by the Academic Integrity Review Committee (described below).
Students who either admit to an act of academic dishonesty or are found to have committed one by the Academic Integrity Review Committee will receive a letter from Hunter College Academic Integrity Official notifying them that this matter has been reported to the Office of Student Services. When an academic dishonesty accusation is resolved by the Academic Integrity Review Committee, the student and faculty member will be notified of the findings.

II. Procedure for Disciplinary Sanctions

If the faculty member suspects academic dishonesty and seeks a disciplinary sanction ( see “Report Form: Academic Dishonesty-Disciplinary Sanctions” for a list of options), which may also include an academic sanction, the faculty member should submit the following “Report Form: Academic Dishonesty-Disciplinary Sanctions” to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Official. (Disciplinary sanctions are not issued when only academic sanctions are sought. The college always retains the right, however, to bring disciplinary charges against the student if there is a history of academic dishonesty.)
The allegation against the student will then be adjudicated, as is currently done, through the CUNY Faculty Student Disciplinary Procedure. This procedure, in its entirety, can be found in Bylaws of the Board of Trustees of the Hunter College Undergraduate Catalog 2007-2010.

III. Academic Integrity Review Committee

The Purpose of the Academic Integrity Review Committee is to review evidence when an academic sanction is being sought and when the allegations of academic dishonesty are in dispute. The Committee will proceed in the following manner:

If the charge of academic dishonesty is denied by the student, the faculty member will advise the student that the matter has been referred to Hunter College Academic Integrity Official, who will initiate the fact-finding process to be conducted by the Academic Integrity Review Committee.
A panel of three Academic Integrity Review Committee members will be selected and convened by Hunter College Academic Integrity Official to review the evidence for each case.
The faculty member and student will be invited to present their case at a formal hearing, which will be conducted within 30 days of receipt of “The Report Form: Academic Dishonesty-Academic Sanctions.”
The Committee will deliberate in closed session (i.e., with neither student nor instructor present) and submit its findings, in writing, to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Official, who will then notify the faculty member and student. Although faculty members reserve the right to submit grades whenever they deem appropriate, they are encouraged not to submit grades for the disputed work or a final course grade until they have been notified of the committee’s findings. Students may appeal the final course grade through the college’s grade appeal process.

Committee Structure:

The Academic Integrity Review Committee will be appointed by the Vice President for Student Affairs. The Hunter College Senate will nominate four faculty members and eight students to serve on this committee. The Faculty Delegate Assembly will also nominate four faculty members.

A panel of three, consisting of two faculty members and one student selected from the sixteen committee members, will be convened by the Hunter College Academic Integrity Official for each review or hearing. Faculty members and graduate students affiliated with the department, and undergraduate students majoring in the department’s programs, will not be selected to serve on that particular panel.

IV. Clarifications of the Process

All questions regarding these procedures or the college’s disciplinary process should be referred to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Official, currently, Sharmeen Ahmed (Room 1131 East, phone (212) 396-6484 or email at sharmeen.ahmed@hunter.cuny.edu).