Purpose
For the Xavier University School of Medicine to maintain its standards of academic integrity, it is important to hold students accountable to the highest standards of ethical behavior.
Policy
Students play an active role in their own education and the care of patients, and each student bears responsibility for their own work and behavior. A student who commits any act of academic dishonesty, including knowingly helping another student to commit such an act, or failing to report when another student has committed such an act, is deemed to have violated this policy and is subject to disciplinary action.
Scope
This policy applies to all medical students.
Policy Violations
The following conduct is prohibited by this policy:
Any action or attempted action that may result in creating an unfair academic advantage for oneself or an unfair academic advantage or disadvantage for another member or members of the academic community. This includes a wide variety of behaviors such as cheating, plagiarism, altering academic documents or transcripts, gaining access to materials before they are meant to be available, helping another individual to gain an unfair academic advantage, and research misconduct.
Note also that students are required to report known or suspected academic misconduct.
Procedure
If a student is suspected of academic misconduct, the faculty member responsible for the course in which the misconduct allegedly occurred must, if feasible, review the facts of the case promptly with the student. If the faculty member believes that academic misconduct has occurred, the faculty member must first contact the relevant dean (Dean for Basic sciences or dean of clinical sciences) to determine whether the offense is a first offense, or a second or subsequent offense. If a first offense, the faculty member may – in consultation with the dean – choose to resolve the case directly with the student in accordance with this section (i.e., the faculty member and student may reach an agreement on the resolution of the alleged misconduct. Note, neither the faculty member nor the student is obligated to resolve an allegation of academic misconduct under this section). If such an agreement is reached, the faculty member must promptly provide the student with a letter outlining the resolution that includes the charges, a summary of the evidence, the findings, and the sanctions agreed upon, and must also simultaneously provide a copy of that letter to the dean as noted above.
The faculty member may also decline this option and defer to the dean. If the faculty member attempts to resolve the case directly but cannot reach an agreement with the student (e.g., the student denies cheating or the student does not agree with the proposed sanction, etc.); if the offense is a second or subsequent offense; or if in the case of a first offense, the faculty member believes that the sanction warranted is more severe than failure in the course, the faculty member must promptly notify the dean in writing of the alleged violations, evidence, including potential witnesses, and other pertinent details of the case. In such instances, the case will proceed to the next phase of resolution as outlined below.
Hearings
The relevant dean will be assigned to gather information regarding the alleged academic misconduct to determine the appropriate means of resolution. The dean may dismiss a case for a lack of sufficient information or if the alleged conduct does not fall within conduct prohibited by this policy. Absent these circumstances, the case will be resolved as explained below.
The dean will, after the initial inquiry, meet the respondent. The dean may also meet with witnesses and others involved and obtain and review relevant evidence. The dean will review the allegations and evidence with the respondent and give the respondent an opportunity to respond. The dean will determine based on preponderance of the evidence whether the respondent is responsible for the alleged policy violation(s), and, if so, issue (an) appropriate sanction(s).
Appeals
The respondent may appeal against the sanction(s) made by the Dean. A respondent must file any appeal within five (5) days of the date of the notice of outcome.
Any appeal must be filed in writing with the Chief Academic Officer. The decision made by the CAO is final.
Sanctions
The following factors may be considered in the sanctioning process:
- the specific academic misconduct at issue;
- the student’s academic misconduct history; and
- other appropriate factors.
The following is a list of possible sanctions. The conditions related to the sanction will depend on the specific facts and circumstances of each case and is under the discretion of the Dean who provides the sanction.
- Formal Warning: The student is notified in writing that his or her actions constitute a violation of this policy, and may be subject to other actions (e.g., re-taking an exam or failure in a course).
- Probation
- Suspension
- Expulsion
Records
Academic sanction given to the student will be recorded in the student’s file.
Policy contact: Dean of Student Affairs
Updated: December 2021