What to do if you suspect scholastic dishonesty
If you are the course instructor
As required by the UMD Student Academic Integrity Policy, the instructor must take the following steps:
- The instructor must contact the student within ten (10) business days of becoming aware of the concern;
- The instructor must discuss the concern with the student and invite them to share their perspective;
- If the instructor believes scholastic dishonesty occurred, the instructor files a report that provides all relevant details with OSCCR;
- The instructor grades the student’s work in light of the reported concern;
- OSCCR will invite the instructor to participate in student conduct proceedings as needed, which may include requests for a) additional information and/or b) participation in formal hearings and appeals.
- NOTE: As is required by Academic Affairs policy: Teaching and Learning: Instructor and Student Responsibilities, reporting to OSCCR is mandatory when the instructor’s response to a concern of scholastic dishonesty affects a student’s grade or their responsibilities in a course,
Teaching Assistant and Exam Proctor Obligations
Teaching assistants and exam proctors must report observations of scholastic dishonesty to their supervising instructors.
If you are not the course instructor
- UMD community members who are not the instructor of the course may file a report directly with OSCCR if they believe the student is responsible for scholastic dishonesty. This excludes proctors and Graduate Teaching Assistants who must report any observations made within their employment setting to their supervising instructors.
What happens after I file a report?
OSCCR will confirm receipt of your report and follow up with any additional questions relevant to the report. Next, OSCCR contacts the student (Respondent) with fair and timely notice of the allegations, and follows the appropriate procedure for Scholastic Dishonesty.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to have scholastic dishonesty on a student's record?
Scholastic Dishonesty is a violation of Sect. IV, Subd. 1 of the Board of Regents Student Conduct Code. Once a report of Scholastic Dishonesty is fully resolved, a file is created and is generally kept for 7 years from the date of the incident.
Is there a notation on a student's official transcript?
There is no notation on a student's official transcript to indicate any engagement in academic dishonesty. Likewise, if a student received a grade of F or N due to scholastic dishonesty, there is no notation on the official transcript.
Suggestions for Maintaining Academic Integrity
- Create new tests and assignments, avoid recycling old versions previous semesters without any modification.
- Randomize seating during exams.
- Use scrambled versions of exams.
- Check students’ IDs when exams are turned in.
- Leave backpacks, etc., at the end of the aisle or in front of the room.
- Faculty member or proctors walk around the room.
- Use essay exams instead of multiple choice and true/false.
- Add a statement to syllabi and exams outlining the consequences of scholastic dishonesty dishonesty. Recommended Policy Statements for Syllabi
- Utilize the following UMD ITSS campus resources: Turnitin; LockDown Browser
- As one practical, easy-to-implement practice, you might add a “footer” to course documents to note “This work is the intellectual property of the instructor and may not be altered, shared for commercial purposes, or distributed in any modified or unmodified form, either during or subsequent to enrollment in the course.” These resources provide “how to” about adding a footer, in Google Docs, Word, and PDFs.