Resources for Faculty

Rights and Responsibilities of Faculty and Staff

• Faculty have the right to establish standards of academic performance and expectations for students under their instruction and to assign grades accordingly.
• The instructor charging a violation must make a reasonable attempt to meet with the student before giving that student written notice of the charge and recommended sanction.
• The instructor in charge of the class in which the alleged violation occurred and the person charging a violation of the Student Academic Honesty Code has the right to be informed of Committee procedures and to be present throughout the presentation of witnesses and evidence at any Committee hearing requested by the accused student.
• The instructor of the class in which the alleged violation occurred and the person charging a violation have the right to appeal the decision of the Academic Honesty Committee to the President of Auburn University.

Faculty and Staff rights and responsibilities are listed in Chapter 1207 and 1208 of the Student Academic Honesty Code.

Easy Guide to Reporting Suspected Dishonesty Cases by Faculty Members

If you have evidence of someone cheating, you should report it to the Academic Honesty Committee. This is the only way sanctions can be consistent and the only way multiple offenders can be caught. The steps to take:

• Make the reasonable attempt to meet with the student and tell him or her that you plan to report the incident. Assume the student is innocent and allow the student to attend class and take exams.
• Within 15 days of detection, send the student a letter with copies to:
  • the Interim Associate Provost,
  • the student’s dean,
  • your dean, and
  • your department head.
  This letter should pinpoint the date and describe the alleged violation. Details of your evidence may be omitted. The letter to the student should also describe the sanctions, if any, that you are recommending.
• Send all relevant evidence, plus a full description of what happened, to the Interim Associate Provost. You may recommend sanctions.

  Dr. J. Emmett Winn
  Associate Provost
  Office of the Provost
  208 Samford Hall
  

• You will be asked to appear, with the student, before the committee. You may bring witnesses.
• You will be informed by the Interim Associate Provost of his/her decision, and you have the right to appeal his/her decision to the president.

Examples of Violations

• Plagiarism – using the words or ideas of another as if they were one’s own without giving the author or creator credit through proper documentation or recognition, as through the use of footnotes.
• Using unauthorized sources in preparation of your work.
• Copying from another student’s exam, paper or assignment
• Use of materials not authorized during a test; eg., notes, textbook, notes written on any part of your body or clothing including hats and shoes
• Submitting a paper, report, examination, or any class assignment which has been altered or corrected, in part or in whole, for reevaluation or re-grading without the consent of the instructor
• Serving as or enlisting the assistance of another as a substitute in the taking of examinations
• Enlisting the assistance of another to write a paper or writing a paper for someone.
• Altering or misusing a document for academic purposes. This would include university forms and doctor’s excuses.
• Selling, giving, lending, or otherwise furnishing to any other person, whether electronically or otherwise, any material (homework assignments, tests, etc.) which can be shown to contain the questions or answers to any examination scheduled to be given at some subsequent date in any course of study, excluding questions and answers from tests previously administered and returned to a student by the instructor.
• Altering or attempting to alter an assigned grade on any official Auburn University record.
• An instructor may delineate other actions he or she considers a violation of the Code in a written course syllabus.

Code violations are listed in Chapter 1201.1 of the Student Academic Honesty Code.

Ways to Discourage Academic Dishonesty

• Notify students that you expect them to do their own work.
• Add a paragraph on your syllabus stating your position regarding academic honesty and what you consider to be violations of the Student Academic Honesty Code. You may also want to state that all alleged violations of the Student Academic Honesty Code will be reported to the Academic Honesty Committee.
• During an exam, if space permits, have students leave a chair between them and the next student so they will not be tempted to look at the paper of the student sitting next to them.
• Offer at least two versions to every exam so that every other person will have a different exam.
• Make changes to exams each semester so that the same exam is not given twice. This could mean slight changes in wording and/or reordering test questions.
• Walk around the room during exams to discourage students from looking at the exams of the students sitting next to them.
• Check the Internet for any materials that may be posted about your class.