Policy on Academic Honesty

Definitions

Student work: fine arts student work covered by rules regarding academic honesty includes papers, research, tests, examinations and all forms of studio and production work as practised within the Faculty.

Breaches of academic honesty: please consult the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty for a discussion of academic honesty and definitions of breach of academic honesty. Among other issues, the senate policy discusses offences such as cheating; submission of one piece of work in satisfaction of two assignments without prior informed consent; impersonation; plagiarism and other misappropriation of the work of another; abuse of confidentiality; falsification or forgery of documents; obstruction of the academic activities of another; aiding or abetting academic misconduct; failure to divulge previous attendance at another postsecondary educational institution on an admissions application etc. In particular, students taking courses in the Faculty of Fine Arts should be mindful of the dangers of misappropriation and misrepresentation which are breaches of academic honesty.

Misappropriation of another’s work: in the creation and presentation of all studio and performance work, and all other artistic and technical works, students who use the work of others must clearly state the extent and nature of the appropriation to their instructor. Failure to do so shall constitute a breach of academic honesty.

Misrepresentation of collaborative projects: failure to give appropriate credit to collaborators, or the listing of others as collaborators who have not contributed to the work, shall constitute a breach of academic honesty.

Procedures

1. The Senate Policy on Academic Honesty governs the procedure of the Faculty in cases of alleged breaches of academic honesty.
2. Any faculty member suspecting that a student has engaged in a breach of academic honesty shall notify the associate dean, or designate, who shall in turn assist the faculty member in following the procedures provided in the senate policy.
3. The associate dean of the Faculty shall be the Faculty person responsible for the carriage of all cases of breaches of academic honesty.
4. The Academic/Administrative Policy and Planning Committee shall be the body responsible for hearing cases of breaches of academic honesty and imposing penalties.

Procedural Guidelines

1. If an instructor believes an offence has occurred, the student should be sent a notice in writing from the assistant director, Academic Affairs that an offence is suspected, and that the instructor or course director wishes to meet with the student. The student will be informed that a representative may accompany her/him and that the meeting will be on the record. A deadline for responding of no less than seven calendar days will be imposed. The student will also be informed that the course in question may not be dropped (as per Senate Policy, E 4). Further procedures as defined in the Senate Policy, item D 3, a and b will apply.
2. If the instructor or course director decides to pursue the matter, the following material will be sent to the associate dean’s office:

i. the contested piece of work, (if possible);
ii. the evidence supporting the alleged offence;
iii. the record of the meeting;
iv. the course syllabus and relevant assignment sheets;
v. any handout on academic offences;
vi. record of student’s performance in the course to date;
vii. student’s written admission of guilt and joint recommendation of instructor and student as to penalty, if applicable;
viii. any other relevant materials.

If the student chooses not to attend the aforementioned meeting, this material will be sent after the time limit for arranging that meeting has expired.

3. The associate dean will present the case to the Academic/Administrative Policy and Planning Committee, which is the relevant committee empowered to hear such cases and to impose penalties. All further procedures as defined in the senate policy will be followed.

Penalties

When a student has been found to have committed a breach of academic honesty, without limiting the ultimate discretion of the Faculty committee to impose any or all of the penalties set out in the senate policy as may be warranted in the circumstances, the committee may impose any or all of the following penalties:

1. a failure in the course;
2. failure in the course and a notation of breach of academic honesty on the transcript;
3. suspension;
4. expulsion with transcript notation.

Note: to view the revised Senate approved policy, please visit http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/policies/.