Academic Handbook
Student Rights & Responsibilities
- Students and Instructors: Classroom Environment
- Academic Fraud
- Consequences of Academic Fraud
- Academic Fraud: Forgery
- Student Complaints Concerning Faculty Actions
- Additional Resources for Students Making a Complaint
The College's mission is to prepare all students to be a knowledgeable citizen of the 21st century and empower them to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world. This can only occur in an environment that contributes to scholarship and to creative work. Students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences have both rights and responsibilities.
Students and Instructors: Classroom Environment
Students have the right of respect from all instructors and staff in the College. University policy also discusses in detail faculty members' responsibilities to students. If a student has a complaint about an instructor, the procedures described below in Student Complaints Concerning Instructor Actions should be followed.
If there are aspects of the classroom or course activities (including on-line or out-of-class activities) that trouble any student, the instructor should be told immediately by the student about the situation. The student may also meet with the course supervisor or with the chair of the department offering the course. The staff in the office of CLAS Academic Programs and Services are happy to talk with any student about classroom activities and behavior.
Students have the right to a classroom environment that encourages learning. As a part of a community of learners, students and instructors should work toward classrooms and courses in which everyone feels able to explore new ideas and to acquire skills. The ability to learn is lessened when instructors or students engage in inappropriate behaviors.
The College's Educational Policy Committee has noted that the following behaviors are particularly injurious to the classroom environment.
- Students who sleep in a class or read non-class materials in class disrupt the course. There is a great difference between "active listening" and ignoring the activities of a class session
- Students who engage in non-class activities, for instance using a cell-phone, working on another class's assignment, and so on, disrupt the learning environment of others, as well as reducing the possibility of learning for themselves.
- Students or instructors who use abusive or disrespectful language also damage the classroom environment. Respect for others is the best way to nurture the community of learning.
Instructors may include a discussion of classroom behavior in the syllabus or during a class period.
Inappropriate classroom behavior by students is a violation of the Code of Student Life. Instructors may take immediate disciplinary action against students who are physically or verbally disruptive in a class or may refer the matter to the Dean of Students. An instructor who takes immediate action reports in writing to the Dean of Students what disciplinary action was taken.
Academic Fraud
All students suffer when academic misconduct takes place. Academic fraud disturbs the mutual respect that should exist between instructors and students and among students and can poison the atmosphere of a classroom. Perhaps most seriously, those who commit academic fraud are robbed of the educational experiences that are the primary purpose of course work in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences considers all instances of academic fraud as serious academic misconduct.
All forms of plagiarism and any other activities that result in a student presenting work that is not really his or her own are considered academic fraud. Academic fraud includes these and other misrepresentations:
- Presentation of ideas from any sources you do not credit;
- Use of direct quotations without quotation marks and/or without credit to the source;
- Paraphrasing information and ideas from sources without credit to the source;
- Failure to provide adequate citations for material obtained through electronic research
- Downloading and submitting work from electronic databases without citation;
- Participation in a group project which presents plagiarized materials;
- Taking credit as part of a group without participating as required in the work of the group;
- Submitting material created/written by someone else as one's own, including purchased term/research papers.
All forms of cheating on examinations and other work also interferes with a student's own education as well as the education of others in the class. Academic cheating includes all of the following and any other activities that give a student an unfair advantage in course work.
- Copying from someone else's exam, homework, or laboratory work;
- Allowing someone to copy or submit your work as his/her own;
- Accepting credit for a group project without doing your share;
- Submitting the same paper in more than one course without the knowledge and approval of the instructors involved;
- Using notes, text messaging, cell phone calls, pre-programmed formulae in calculators, or other materials during a test or exam without authorization;
- Not following the guidelines specified by the instructor for a "take home" test or exam.
Consequences of Academic Fraud
Revised by the Educational Policy Committee, Fall 2006.
Overview
Only an instructor and a department are in a position to define academic fraud and the scope of that fraud, and therefore must be the ones to choose specific, appropriate consequences at the departmental level for academic fraud.
All instances of academic fraud should receive consequences appropriate to the scope of the fraud and to the perceived intention of the person committing the fraud.
Likewise, instructors and departments are responsible for treating students consistently. This is crucial in sections of the same course or in the same course taught by different instructors.
Academic fraud is reported in writing to the instructor’s DEO and to the student; the DEO will forward reports of academic fraud to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Procedures and Policies
1. The instructor (or supervisor if the instructor is a teaching assistant) will begin the reporting process by informing the suspected student of the concern in an email at the uiowa.edu account, asking the student to discuss the situation.
2. In considering the appropriate consequence for academic fraud, the instructor will take into consideration the scope of the fraud, the student’s perceived intent, the nature of the course, the assignment, and the academic discipline.
3. The instructor will inform the DEO and the student in writing of the academic fraud committed and the action taken. The report will be sent through traditional mail. Documentation to support the claim will be included in the copy of the report to the DEO.
4. The DEO will review the report and take appropriate internal action.
5. The DEO will forward all adequately supported reports of academic fraud to CLAS through the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Curriculum, 120 Schaeffer Hall.
6. The department will keep report of academic fraud on file from the date of the instructor’s report until the student graduates or for five years, whichever is sooner.
7. CLAS will review all reports and will discuss any patterns of fraud or other questions concerning the fraud with the appropriate DEO and/or with the instructor.
8. If CLAS finds that the academic fraud is minor in nature or questionably intentional, a student will receive a letter of disciplinary warning and the report will be filed until the student graduates or for five years, whichever is sooner. If a second or third report of minor fraud is placed in the student’s file, CLAS will treat the fraud according to the guidelines for intentional academic fraud, below.
9. If CLAS finds evidence of intentional academic fraud, CLAS will enforce the following consequences:
- For a first offense: The student will be placed on disciplinary probation until graduation or until a period of five years from the period of the probation. A notation will not appear on a student's permanent record/transcript for the first offense.
- For a second offense: The student will be suspended for a calendar year or longer from the College and will not be allowed to register during that time at the University. The offense will be recorded on the student's permanent record/transcript during the period of suspension as follows: Not permitted to Register: Academic Misconduct.
- For a third offense: The Dean of the College will recommend to the University president expulsion from The University of Iowa. Once expulsion occurs, the offense will be recorded on the student's permanent record/transcript as follows: Not permitted to Register: Academic Misconduct.
10. CLAS will report the action taken to the student, to the academic advisor, to the instructor finding the fraud, and to the appropriate DEO. If the student placed on disciplinary probation is planning to receive a degree from a UI college other than CLAS, that college will be notified of the action taken.
11. CLAS internal records concerning first and second offenses are destroyed when the student graduates or after five years. Reports for a third offense become part of the permanent student record kept in the Office of the Dean of Students.
Academic Fraud: Forgery
The Code of Student Life prohibits forgery of any University records, documents, or student identification cards.
Professional staff members at CLAS Academic Programs & Services interview students suspected of forgery and take disciplinary action based on the interview and verification provided by the advisor, instructor, or dean whose signature is in doubt.
The following occurs when an allegation of forgery is found to be true:
- For a first offense: The student will be placed on disciplinary probation warning until graduation or for a period of five years starting from the initiation of the warning. When the forgery involves an instructor’s signature, the instructor has the option of requesting that CLAS administratively drop from the course the student who has forged the signature on an add form. CLAS may also re-add to the course a student who forged an instructor's name on a drop form.
- For a second offense: The student will automatically be dropped or re-added to the course in question regardless of whose signature was forged. The College reserves the right to consider additional penalties such as suspension or notation of the violation on the student’s permanent record.
Committee to Resolve Student Grievances Concerning Fraud
If a student believes that the finding of academic fraud or cheating is in error or the penalty unjust, the student will be encouraged to arrange a meeting with the instructor and the departmental or program administration.
If the student is dissatisfied with the result of this meeting, he or she may request a hearing by writing to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Curriculum (120 Schaeffer Hall), who may refer the matter to the College's Committee to Resolve Student Grievances.
If the student is not satisfied with the results of the hearing, he or she may request a review by the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education.The College's Committee to Resolve Student Grievances is an ad hoc committee composed of faculty and student members. It is constituted when a student requests a hearing to reconsider a finding or penalty administered by a department in a case of plagiarism, cheating, or other academic misconduct, and when the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Curriculum ascertains perceived bias on the part of the department.
Student Complaints Concerning Faculty Actions
Complaints may concern inappropriate instructor conduct; incompetence in oral communication; inequities in assignments; scheduling of exams other than at authorized published examination times; failure to provide disability accommodations; grading grievances; or other such issues.
A student who has a complaint against an instructor is responsible for following the procedures below.
Complaints should be brought to the attention of the instructor, department, and if necessary the Associate Dean as soon as possible. Only in extraordinary cases may a procedure involving a complaint begin more that six months after the time of the incident.
Students with grading grievances are responsible for providing all documentation except for grade records. Departments are required to keep grade records but completed assignments and other materials belong to the student.
Please Note: According to College policy, grades may not be changed by the College without the permission of the department concerned.
- The student should first talk with the instructor about the situation. However, if the student feels for whatever reason that the instructor cannot be approached directly, the student may first talk to the course supervisor; the department's director of undergraduate studies; the department's DEO (the departmental executive officer); or to another appropriate person such as the person in the department who handles complaints.
- If the complaint is not resolved, the student should talk to a higher official within the departments, such as the course supervisor; the department's director of undergraduate studies; the department's DEO (the departmental executive officer); or to another appropriate person such as the person in the department who handles complaints.
- If the matter remains unresolved, the student may submit a signed, written compliant to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs (120 Schaeffer Hall). Please note that a complaint is not accepted by email. The complaint should outline the situation as well as the attempts the student has made to resolve the issue as suggested above. The student should provide copies of appropriate materials to support the complaint. The Associate Dean will attempt to resolve the complaint and, if necessary, may convene a special committee to recommend appropriate action. In either case, the Associate Dean will respond in writing regarding the outcome of the complaint.
Additional Resources for Students Making a Complaint
Academic Accommodations for Disabilities
If a complaint arises concerning academic accommodations for a disability, the student should consult Student Disability Services and should also follow the mechanisms described above. Resources concerning disabilities may be found at the University Disability Resource page. The student may also file a complaint with the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity.
Sexual Harassment
If the complaint involves sexual harassment, the procedures above need not be followed. The University policy on sexual harassment and consensual relationships in the instructional context may be found in the University Operations Manual. Important resources and information on sexual harassment may also be found at The University of Iowa Sexual Harassment site. Additional information and resources may also be found at the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity.
Discrimination
If a complaint arises concerning discrimination, the student should follow the mechanisms described above. Resources and additional information may also be found the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity.
The Office of the University Ombudsperson
The Office of the University Ombudsperson responds to problems and disputes brought forward by all members of the University community students, staff, and faculty that appear unresolvable through existing channels. Before consulting the ombudsperson, ordinarily an attempt should be made to resolve problems by following the procedures described above.
For any complaint that cannot be resolved through the mechanisms described above, a student may file a formal complaint, which will be handled under the procedures established for dealing with alleged violations of the statement on professional ethics and academic responsibility in the University Operations Manual.
Questions about any of the procedures described above can be answered by the professional staff in CLAS Academic Programs & Services.