The UCSA Student Advocates can help you understand the allegation and the University’s misconduct procedures, including the range of possible outcomes.

The UCSA Student Advocates can review your draft written submission and provide feedback.

A UCSA Student Advocate can support you through the meeting/hearing process, which includes attending the meeting/hearing with you as your advocate.

The UCSA Student Advocates can provide you with information on how to appeal the decision/outcome resulting from the Academic Misconduct process.

The Academic Integrity Officers are UC academics appointed by each department to investigate breaches of discipline by students in the respective departments in the first instance.

The Proctors are UC academics whose responsibility is to investigate breaches of discipline.

The Misconduct Committee is a panel made up of senior University staff members and a UCSA Student Executive.

The three entities have different powers as to the penalties they can impose on students who are found in breach of academic integrity. Please check the possible penalties tab for more detailed information.

University of Canterbury defines Academic integrity as “acting honestly, fairly, ethically, responsibly and with due care in academic work” (Academic Misconduct Regulations, para 4(a)). This means that the work you produce must be your own work written in your own words, and material used in your work must be genuine.

The University of Canterbury defines Academic Misconduct as “student conduct that is in breach of academic integrity” (Academic Misconduct Regulations, para 4(b)).

Examples of academic misconduct are:

• Plagiarism.
• Cheating.
• Submitting the same piece of work for more than one course without prior permission from the relevant Dean of the relevant Faculty (self-plagiarism) (Taught and Project Course Regulations, para 6).
• Collusion (unauthorised collaboration).
• Buying or otherwise obtaining assignments.
• Paying someone to complete the work (contract cheating).
• Fabricating or altering material such as survey results or other data and presenting the material as being true.
• Enabling academic misconduct of others by, e.g., giving another student your work so that the other student can copy and submit it as their own work.
• Completing academic work for another student that is then submitted as their own work.
• Use of unauthorized aids during a test or exam.
• Impersonating another person in a test or exam.

Essentially academic misconduct occurs when the student submits other people’s work as their own work, or if the material they use in their work are fabricated or altered. This can be for their whole piece of work, or just parts of their work.

Poor academic practice occurs when the breach of academic integrity is a result of unintended breach of instructions, carelessness or neglect, and there was no dishonest intent.

It is also important to remember that all students must comply with the UC Student Code of Conduct.

When you enrol to be a student at UC, you are required to sign the UC Student Agreement which states that you agree to abide by the statutes, regulations, rules, and policies of UC. As part of that agreement, you have agreed to abide by the UC Student Code of Conduct (LINK), which outlines the way UC students are expected to behave during their time at UC and reaffirms UC’s commitment to provide a safe working and study environment. This includes not breaching academic integrity.

This is what you should do:

• Read the allegation letter carefully.
• Consider contacting a UCSA Student Advocate for support here. We can arrange an appointment with you in person, via Zoom, telephone, or email. Our experienced team can support you through the whole process.
• You have an opportunity to respond to the allegation, but you must do this within certain timeframes. The ways of responding to the allegation should be specified in the allegation letter.
• If the evidence supporting the allegation is not provided to you, you have the right to request them.

If you do not respond to the allegation sent to you by the Academic Integrity Officer, you may be referred to one of the UC Proctors who will take over the investigation of the allegation.

If you do not respond to the allegation sent to you by one of the UC Proctors, your grades for all your courses will be sanctioned until you respond. You will then need to provide the Proctor with a good reason as to why you did not respond earlier.

If you do not respond to the allegations sent to you by the Misconduct Committee, a decision will be made in your absence. Often, decisions that are made in the students’ absences do not result in good outcomes for the students.

You can respond by submitting a letter or email, with relevant supporting documents if applicable.

If you accept the allegation, you can explain in your letter the circumstances that led to your actions.

If you do not accept the allegation, you can explain why the allegation is not true.

The UCSA Student Advocates can provide you with a letter template. The advocate can review your draft response or email and provide feedback before you submit it. Please allow 1-2 working days for the Student Advocates to provide feedback. Please contact us here to arrange this.

You will be required to have a meeting with the Academic Integrity Officer, UC Proctor or the Misconduct Committee.

The meeting/hearing will happen in a meeting room on campus or via Zoom.

The meeting with the Academic Integrity Officer will involve the Academic Integrity Officer, the student and the UCSA Student Advocate if support is request by the student. The meeting may also include the Course Coordinator and any other support person the student wishes to bring along.

The meeting with the UC Proctor will normally only involve the Proctor, the student and the UCSA Student Advocate if support is requested by the student.

A Misconduct Committee hearing will be attended by 3 senior UC staff members, a UCSA Student Executive, a secretary, a Proctor, the student, and the UCSA Student Advocate if support is requested by the student.

In the meeting you will have the opportunity to talk about your case, and the Academic Integrity Officer / Proctor / Misconduct Committee will ask you questions. You may also ask them questions.

The UCSA Student Advocates have speaking rights in these meetings/hearings.

Yes, you may bring a friend, a family member to the meeting/hearing as your support person if enough notice is given. In some circumstances, a UC Student Care Advisor may be permitted to serve as a support person with permission from the investigator/Misconduct Committee. You will generally not be allowed to have any other University staff member as a support person. You may also not use anyone who is involved in the same matter as your support person.

Please note that support people generally do not have speaking rights in the meeting, i.e., they will not be allowed to speak on your behalf. Their role will be to provide you with emotional support.

However, we strongly recommend that you bring a UCSA Student Advocate with you to support you in the meeting/hearing. Unlike general support people, the UCSA Student Advocates have speaking rights in these meetings/hearings. This means the Advocate will be able to assist you to explain what happened to the investigator/Misconduct Committee.

However, you must inform the Academic Integrity Officer / Proctor that a UCSA Student Advocate will be supporting you in the meeting with the investigator. Likewise, you must inform the Secretary to the Misconduct Committee that a UCSA Student Advocate will be supporting you in the hearing.

If you intend to have any UC staff member or any person involved in the appeal to act as your advocate in a Misconduct Committee hearing, you will need to obtain prior written approval of the Committee Chair.

You can also call witnesses to provide evidence in support of your story during the hearing if you wish. However, you must inform the Committee at least five working days prior to the hearing, and you must provide the names of any witness you want to appear at the hearing.

At the end of the investigation process, the investigator may decide:

1. that there is inadequate evidence from which to conclude that misconduct occurred;
2. that misconduct occurred and to impose a penalty for the misconduct; or
3. to refer the matter to another person or another committee.

If the investigator decides that there has been academic misconduct, then they can impose a variety of penalties.

The penalties an Academic Integrity Officer can impose are:

• the denial or partial denial of credit for the work; and/or
• resolve the matter in any other reasonable way.

The penalties the Proctor can impose are:

• a reprimand;
• the denial or partial denial of credit in any course;
• a direction that the student apologises in writing or in person (or both);
• a requirement that the student undertake specified unpaid University or community service not exceeding 40 hours in duration.

The penalties the Misconduct Committee can impose are:

• a reprimand;
• the denial or partial denial of credit in any course;
• a direction that the student apologises in writing or in person (or both);
• a fine not exceeding that specified in the Fees and Fines Regulations;
• a requirement that the student undertake specified unpaid University or community service not exceeding 40 hours in duration;
• the suspension of the student for a specified period of time or until a specified condition is met;
• the expulsion of the student; and/or
• award and “X” grade for a course, where all credit for a course is denied.

The outcome of the process will be notified to you in writing, usually in the form of a letter sent to you via email.

If the student is found to either have committed Poor Academic Practice or have breached Academic Integrity, the University will keep a record of the allegation and any decisions made by the Academic Integrity Officer, the Proctor, the Misconduct Committee, or the University Appeals Committee in the Misconduct Register for a period not longer than ten years.

The Misconduct Register is private and can be viewed by only a few University staff members.

If you are undertaking a qualification that results in professional accreditation, the University may disclose information on the discipline register to the relevant professional body. You should contact your department or Faculty if you want further information on this issue.

If you disagree with the decision made by the Academic Integrity Office, Proctor, or the Misconduct Committee, you are entitled to appeal the decision and /or any outcomes imposed. The letter informing you of the decision will inform you of how to appeal the decision.

Where the decision is that of the Academic Integrity Officer or the Proctor, the appeal will be to the Misconduct Committee.

Where the decision is that of the Misconduct Committee, the appeal will be to the University Appeals Committee.

You have ten working days to appeal a decision, and a late application to appeal will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances.

If you are applying to appeal after the 10 working days deadline, you will need to keep in mind that:

1. late application to appeal will be accepted only in exceptional circumstances, and
2. the decision by the Committees to not accept a late application cannot be appealed. https://www.dusa.org.au/get-help/appeal-of-academic-integrity-outcome

If you are considering appealing the outcome, please contact us (insert link to Advocacy online form here) for support and more information. The UCSA Student Advocates will explain the appeal process, identify whether there are grounds for an appeal, help you navigate UC Regulations and Policies, and support you through the appeal process.

After you have submitted your appeal, you will be required to attend an appeal hearing with the relevant Committee. The UCSA Student Advocates can assist you to prepare for this hearing, and attend the meeting with you as support to assist you to present your case.

After considering the evidence and information provided, the Misconduct Committee/ University Appeals Committee will deliberate and make a decision regarding the outcome of the appeal.

You will usually receive formal notification of the outcome of your appeal within 20 working days of the appeal. More complex cases may take longer for an appeal decision to be notified.

The possible outcomes of a misconduct appeal are:

• the Committee confirms that the original decision stands;
• the Committee changes the original decision in some way; or
• the Committee overturns the original decision.

The University Appeals Committee has the same powers as the Misconduct Committee.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome from the Misconduct Committee, you can seek leave to appeal to the University Appeals Committee. The outcome letter will also inform you of how to appeal the decision, please note, the deadline to appeal the decision will remain 10 working days from receiving your letter.

In order for leave to appeal to be granted, you must show that:

• there has been a breach of process in relation to the first appeal; or
• you have new evidence or information that was not available to you at the time of the first appeal.

If leave is granted by University Appeals Committee, the appeal will be heard by the Committee. The hearing will operate in a similar way to that of the Misconduct Committee.

If the outcome is a decision from the University Appeals Committee, there are no further rights of appeal within the University. The decision of the University Appeals Committee is final.

If you believe that the University’s appeal process has been conducted incorrectly or that the outcome is unreasonable, you have the right to raise the matter for external and independent review with:

• Dispute Resolution Schemes
• iStudent Complaints
• Disputes Tribunal
• The Human Rights Commission
• Office of the Ombudsman

Academic Misconduct Regulations

UC Student Code of Conduct

Misconduct Procedures

Appeals Regulations