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ARC Guide to Academic Disciplinary Procedures

Contents WHAT IS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINARY? ................................................................................................. 2

What is Plagiarism, Collusion and Cheating? .......................................................................................... 2

How can plagiarism occur? ..................................................................................................................... 2

How can collusion occur? ....................................................................................................................... 3

How can cheating occur? ........................................................................................................................ 4

What is Contract Cheating and how can it occur? .................................................................................. 4

What is Referencing? .............................................................................................................................. 5

Preparatory Materials and Copies of Coursework .................................................................................. 6

What is poor academic practice? ............................................................................................................ 6

What is TURNITIN? .................................................................................................................................. 6

I HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF DISCIPLINARY OFFENCE- WHAT SHALL I DO?............................................... 7

Will I get an opportunity to explain myself? ........................................................................................... 7

Will I be asked to attend a meeting in my College? ............................................................................... 8

Should I disclose difficulties I had with the work and in my personal life? ............................................ 8

I have sent a response to my College and attended a meeting; what now? .......................................... 9

My response has been rejected by the College ...................................................................................... 9

Will I have to attend a hearing? ............................................................................................................ 10

What happens at a hearing? ................................................................................................................. 10

Hearings; Order of Proceeding ......................................................................................................... 11

What penalties can be applied? ............................................................................................................ 14

“Mark of zero” penalty; what does it actually mean? (UG students) ................................................... 14

What if I do not agree with the Disciplinary Panel’s decision? ............................................................. 15

Suspension and/or Exclusion- how does that affect me? ..................................................................... 15

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What advice and help can I expect to receive from the Advice & Representation Centre? ................ 16

WHAT IS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINARY?

Student misconduct which can result in students facing disciplinary procedures is described by the

University in Senate Regulation 6

The University has produced their own guidance which can be found here

This guide is about conduct which breaches academic rules. If you are facing a disciplinary following

a non-academic offences, please refer to our guide on Non-Academic Disciplinaries.

What is Plagiarism, Collusion and Cheating?

The most common academic disciplinary offences considered under the academic disciplinary

procedure are Plagiarism Collusion and Cheating:

Plagiarism is the knowing or reckless presentation of another person’s thoughts, writings, and inventions, as one’s own. It includes the incorporation of another person’s work from published or unpublished sources, without indicating that the material is derived from those sources. It includes the use of material obtained from the internet.

Collusion involves helping, or attempting to help, another student to gain an unfair advantage in any formal assessment or examination.

Cheating is understood to be any attempted or actual dishonest action in relation to any academic work or research, including in respect of any assessment or examination. For example, taking unauthorised material into an examination (including revision notes or unauthorised equipment) shall normally be regarded as cheating.

Please note: attempted action, even if unsuccessful, will result in a penalty, if proven. The Academic Skills Service can help you further to improve your writing practice.

How can plagiarism occur?

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Most essays, reports, assignments and occasionally exams will need to include sections or ideas from

other people’s work; this is standard academic practice. However, it is important that where you

have included other people’s ideas, text or diagrams in an assignment, they must be clearly

referenced (please see section below). This will leave the examiners in no doubt that you are only

expecting to be marked for identifying or analysing a relevant source and not trying to claim

someone else’s work as your own original idea. If it is found that you have attempted to pass

someone else’s work off as your own, this will be classed as plagiarism.

Examples of actions which result in plagiarism:

Simply copying out other authors own words, word for word without any acknowledgement.

This is the most obvious case.

Using substantial extracts of other authors’ answers but transposing the order of some paragraphs, omitting odd sentences and making slight changes, without any acknowledgement of the source. This form of plagiarism is more common.

Rewriting another person’s answer entirely in your own words, but preserving essentially intact both the sequence and structure of his/her argument, without acknowledging it as being the source of the material.

Taking a paragraph from one source, then a paragraph from another and so on, all without acknowledgement of these sources, and linking them with a few words of your own.

All (or any) of the above, and not acknowledging (in the text and/or in the footnotes/ endnotes) the source as necessary, but listing the work in the bibliography. Simply listing a source in your bibliography without indicating clearly in your essay which material from that source is used in your essay (and where it is used) is NOT sufficient acknowledgement of the source, and DOES constitute plagiarism.

How can collusion occur?

It will not be surprising if the members of a group who study together produce answers which are

broadly similar, however if two or more students’ work is substantially identical, they will all be

presumed to be cases of plagiarism and/or collusion, unless a student can prove that he/she is not

responsible for copying and has not given his/her work to another student to copy. Therefore it is

important to make sure that you recognise the importance of safeguarding the confidentiality and

originality of your work prior to submission.

Steps to avoid collusion:

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Do not read each other’s essays. Do not read out your essays to each other, either in draft or in final form. Where it is suggested that your English needs amendment, do not show that part of your essay to the listener(s).

Do not circulate or exchange essays before submission. You must absolutely ensure that you do not show your essay to any other student before submission.

Do not progress from discussing how a question might be answered to working out a common essay plan that you will use.

Do not ask another student to type your essay on his or her computer; it can lead to different students’ work becoming conflated.

How can cheating occur?

Taking unauthorised material into an examination (including revision notes or unauthorised

equipment) is quite common but is still regarded as attempted deception and therefore cheating.

Examination invigilators are alert and monitor the exams very closely, so do not take the risk.

Steps to avoid cheating:

Always ensure you have read the rules for each exam you are due to take; your College will provide you with rules well in advance of the examination date and these rules will clearly detail what you are allowed to take into that specific examination with you.

The examination rules will also detail whether you are allowed an annotated or un-annotated book (if you are allowed a book at all), you need to ensure you fully understand what this means. If you are uncertain please contact your College.

What is Contract Cheating and how can it occur?

Contract Cheating means acquiring an assignment on the open market (e.g. via the internet) and/or

paying for someone’s services to write the assignment for you. Whether this was paid or not paid is

irrelevant and it is still classed as a disciplinary offence. Furthermore, posting a request for an

assignment is also considered to be an offence.

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It may be that you are legitimately seeking advice on a subject and not asking for a completed

assignment, in which case you still need to be careful. If this is the case you must ensure you cite the

source in your assignment and provide a copy of the help provided so as to prove the usage was:

- To inform the development of your own ideas

- To clarify a concept you were struggling to understand

Do remember, your College and the University have a responsibility to offer you assistance in such a

case, free of charge.

What is Referencing?

Obviously, in student essays and examinations, truly original ideas will be rare. You will, for the most

part, be presenting opinions derived from teachers, textbook writers and other authors.

It is therefore not plagiarism to write an essay which begins “In answering this question I cannot do

better than to quote in full the view presented by Jones in his book ‘Standard Answers to Common

Essay Questions’, who writes “........” and ends: “Thus Mr Jones has given us an excellent answer to

this very interesting question”.

Although not plagiarised, such an essay will fail (on other grounds, because we are seeking your own

words and your ideas, not Jones’). More specifically, we are looking to see why you may agree or

disagree with published commentaries on the points raised in assessment questions (e.g., as may be

found in textbooks, journal articles, judicial opinions) and/or whether you may come up with any

novel ideas and/or criticisms on the subject area to be analysed.

As a general guide, be aware that in all the following circumstances you must include a correct

reference when:

Quoting sections from a book; Including text that you have cut and pasted from the internet; ‘Paraphrasing’ or summarising someone else’s argument or idea; Using another student’s notes (even in group work projects); Including points from lecture notes.

Plagiarism can not only occur when quoting from books or websites but also in the copying of

another students work. This is treated very seriously and should never occur in academic practice.

Although there are several systems of referencing, the Harvard System version is generally used for

assignments at Brunel. You may want to clarify with your College what referencing style they prefer.

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You do not need to avoid direct quotation entirely. Quotations are an integral part of most essay

writing. However, they should be used sensibly and not so frequently so as to make the assessment

into a disjointed piece of work, characterised by excessively short paragraphs. IT IS YOUR

RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND REFERENCING.

Preparatory Materials and Copies of Coursework

For Good Practice you should always try to retain all preparatory notes and/or photocopies of

materials used for assessments at the very least, until you receive notification of your mark/grade

for the associated assessment.

Some Colleges require a sample of student cohort who will be required to submit these preparatory

notes and materials (in original or photocopied form) and these are often expected to be available

on request at any time after submission of your assessment. These notes and materials are to

include hard copies of any materials used, including web materials. You are also expected to keep at

least one hard copy of your coursework/report and a copy of your assessment electronically on

computer and on disk/CD/DVD.

It is vital you retain all of your Preparatory Materials (including written notes), not only in case you

do not pass the assessment first time around but because this clearly shows how you compiled your

assessment and what you used to successfully complete the assessment.

What is poor academic practice?

Poor academic practice refers to unintentional and inadequate academic practice rather than

plagiarism; if it is decided that your work resembles that of poor academic practice rather than

plagiarism, your work should be marked or graded in the normal way (on its academic merits).

If you are a final year student, Poor Academic Practice may be treated as an unacceptable response

to allegations of plagiarism. You have after all managed to successfully progress to level 3, after 2

years of studying and it will be expected that you know how to reference correctly.

What is TURNITIN?

Brunel University uses TURNITIN in an effort to identify plagiarism; students' papers are submitted

electronically and then they are compared against:

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previously submitted material held in the database over 1.8 billion web sites essays from cheat sites selected subscription services

The service compares the student's work with the other sources and produces an originality report.

This report highlights where matches have been found in the text and indicates the sources of the

match. Reports are colour coded to indicate the percentage of text matched. The report is non-

judgmental in that it does not distinguish between properly referenced and acknowledged

quotations and unacknowledged information sources.

Academic judgment is still required to determine whether plagiarism has occurred therefore Turnitin

is only available to academic staff at Brunel University.

If you receive a Turnitin report as part of the evidence in the plagiarism allegations, you should

immediately arrange to meet your tutor or speak to your programme or course leader to clarify

which parts of the report apply to the those allegations and which are innocent matches or properly

referenced sections.

I HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF DISCIPLINARY OFFENCE- WHAT SHALL I

DO?

If you are identified by your College as having committed an academic offence, the Head of College

will write to you asking you to explain your actions. With the letter you will receive evidence of the

academic offence, for example copies of your work, identifying where the plagiarism has occurred

and copies of the source (extracts from books, journals or websites) that the material may have

been plagiarised from. The letter will contain what regulation you are believed to have breached.

Will I get an opportunity to explain myself?

Yes, you will need to explain your actions in writing to the Head of College within 7 days.

Examples of what you can write in your letter are:

Whether you admit or deny the allegation(s)

Your explanation of what happened

If you are admitting to the allegation:

Whether you knew that this was wrong at the time that you did it

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Details of why you think this may have happened – i.e. what your motivation for doing this was

An explanation of why you believe that you acted this way – if you were experiencing difficult circumstances that may have affected you it is important to explain this.

Have you ever received any feedback which mentioned that your referencing style is

incorrect? And have you always referenced this way?

If you are denying the allegation you should explain how you prepared the piece of work and, if possible, how you think that the allegation may have arisen. You can respond to allegations by email:

College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences: mps-cbass@brunel.ac.uk

College of Health and Life Sciences: mps-chls@brunel.ac.uk

College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences: mps-cedps@brunel.ac.uk

Will I be asked to attend a meeting in my College?

Your College has the option to ask you to attend a meeting to further discuss the matter. It would be

beneficial for you to be prepared and be honest.

The Vice Dean (Education) of your College has responsibility for handling concerns of academic or

non-academic misconduct.

Should I disclose difficulties I had with the work and in my personal

life?

If you do have particular mitigating circumstances that may have had an effect on you at the time of

writing the piece of work or attending an exam, it may be helpful to get a supporting letter from an

objective third party. This could be a doctor or counsellor if they were aware of your personal

circumstances at the time. Where possible you should discuss the letter with your counsellor or

doctor to make sure that they are aware you agree to your personal data being released. These

details should include (where possible) confirmation of diagnosis, confirmation of time affected by

the situation and an indication of the severity of your condition and the likely impact. It is

recommended that you show a draft copy to the ARC before submission (you should not however let

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this cause you to miss the 7 days deadline). You should also read our guide on Mitigating

Circumstances.

There are many examples of circumstances which could have impacted on your academic work, so if

you are in any doubt whether you should include this in your response to plagiarism allegations,

please speak to an ARC adviser.

I have sent a response to my College and attended a meeting; what

now?

Once you have written your response, the Head of College will conclude whether the work is either

an example of poor academic practice (please see below) or plagiarism. If it is concluded that your

work is poor academic practice rather than plagiarism, it will be marked or graded in the normal

way based on its academic merits. If, on the other hand, the Head of College believes that plagiarism

has taken place, your work will be referred to the Secretary to the Misconduct and Professional

Suitability Board.

My response has been rejected by the College

If, following the investigation, the College decides not to accept your response, your case will be

forwarded to the Secretary to the Misconduct and Professional Suitability Board (otherwise called a

Secretary to the Disciplinary Board). The next steps of the procedure are described in sections 3c and

4b of the Senate Regulations 6

Once the Secretary receives your case, it will be decided whether the case is a ‘type one’ or ‘type

two’ case:

“A type one case is when a concern is raised about alleged collusion or cheating in an examination or test by a student who has not, on a previous occasion, been issued with a formal judgment under this regulation that either collusion or another form of cheating has been committed in an examination test, and the concern relates to a potential single instance of collusion or another form of cheating in an examination or test.” This means that if this is your absolute first and only allegation, relating to a single piece of work, your case will be considered as “type one”.

“A type two case is another concern about collusion or another form of cheating in an examination or test.” This means that if the university has successfully proven at least once before that you have

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committed an academic offence, any further allegations will be considered as “type two” case.

Will I have to attend a hearing?

“Type one” cases are decided “on paper” (i.e. without the need for a hearing) by the Vice-

Chancellor's Representative (Academic)

“Type two” cases are referred to a Disciplinary Panel and you will be invited to attend a hearing.

If your case is deemed to be “Type two”, the Secretary to the Disciplinary Board will write to you

confirming the allegations and evidence against you, along with the regulation you are alleged to

have breached.

The pack contains the hearing details and most importantly Order of Proceedings which shows you

how the day is formatted and confirms when you will be required to speak.

The procedure is described in detail in paragraph 89 of the Senate Regulations 6

What happens at a hearing?

You will be given 10 days’ notice if you are required to attend a hearing and you can be accompanied

by a current student, a current academic, or an adviser from the ARC. Please bear in mind we won’t

be able to attend at short notice. You must tell us if you wish us to attend with you as soon as you

receive notification about the hearing from the University. We may not be able to attend at less

than 7 days notice.

There are in 3 members who sit on the panel. These consist of 2 Senior members of University Staff,

often Heads of College and 1 Student Union Officer. Also present would be a note taker, a member

of staff from your College acting as a College Representative, you and your representative (if you

choose to take one).

The hearing is your opportunity to state exactly why you think the academic offence has occurred. It

is highly important to be honest. It is a confidential space and any information you tell the panel

would not be discussed with anyone else without your permission. You can prepare an oral

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statement detailing similar information to that of your written response to the Head of College. This

may help you to remember everything that you want to get across to the panel.

Hearings usually last about one hour, sometimes a little bit longer. When it is over you will be asked

to leave and the panel will make their conclusions which will be communicated to you usually with 7

days. You can ask for a decision to be sent to yours and your representative’s email address.

Remember to dress smart, have a bottle of water and most importantly to be on time.

Hearings; Order of Proceeding

1. Introduction of those present, outline of the proceedings, and reminder of confidentiality of the proceedings by the Chair The Chair will start by asking everyone present to introduce themselves, he/she will then go

through the proceedings of the day and remind all present that what is discussed should

remain confidential.

2. Declarations of interest Do you know anyone on the Panel that may mean a conflict of interests? You need to notify

the secretary as a matter of urgency if you believe there is. The Panel members should not

be from your College.

3. The University Representative A senior member of staff from your College will be present during the hearing to state the

College’s case against you and to answer any questions the Panel may have concerning the

case against you.

It is important that you write questions down as they arise as you may not remember by the

time you need to ask.

4. Questions to the University Representative a. From the members of the Panel

The panel have an opportunity to question the University Representative concerning

any queries they have relating to your case.

b. From the Student (or representative) You or your representative will also have an opportunity to ask the University

Representative questions which may help your case. It may be that the Panel

members already asked the question, in which case it is not necessary to go over the

same ground.

5. Witnesses called by the University Representative (where applicable)

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In Academic Disciplinary Hearings it is unlikely that there will be witnesses called by your

College but you will be notified if there are before the meeting takes place.

Questions to the Witness (es)

- From members of the Panel

The panel have an opportunity to question the University Representative concerning any

queries they have relating to your case.

- From the Student (or representative) – if present

You or your representative will also have an opportunity to ask the Witness (es) questions

which may help your case. It may be that the Panel members already asked the question, in

which case it is not necessary to go over the same ground.

6. The Student

This is your chance to have your say, so it is important that you have prepared brief bullet

points as reminders for you to refer to on the day (keeps words to a minimum, it’s hard to

read blocks of text under pressure).

You may know what you want to say but under the pressure you may forget and there is

nothing worse than leaving the hearing having not said everything you had wanted to say.

Points that should be considered are:

Whether you admit the allegations or not

If you do, what happened and how have you learnt from this

If you do not admit the allegation then how do you explain the evidence against you?

Where there any surrounding circumstances at the time that may have also affected you and impaired your judgment

Whether you proof read your work before submission

How many Assignments you have submitted previously, is this your first one?

Has any feedback you have received ever mentioned that your referencing style is incorrect? And have you always referenced this way?

Intention- plagiarism is an offence of intention to cheat. If you think you have simply made a mistake, then admit it and argue that you have poor scholarship skills and that if your intention was not to deceive

Evidence is key: Do you any have preparatory notes from when you were compiling your assignment, anything that can help prove that you did the work

What your understanding of plagiarism, collusion or cheating are and if its different in your home country

How you have learnt from this, will you be proactive in making sure your understanding is correct, perhaps by visiting ASK?

If you attended a meeting in your College to discuss the matter and felt it was not fair or you were

not fully prepared on the day then it is important you mention this. Furthermore, if you have any

minutes from such a meeting that you do not agree with, your College need to be aware of this.

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7. Questions to the Student

a. From members of the Panel

The panel have an opportunity to question you with any queries they have relating

to your case or for clarity on anything you may have said during the hearing.

b. From the University Representative

The University Representative also has an opportunity to question you with any

queries they have relating to your case or for clarity on anything you may have said

during the hearing.

8. Witnesses called by the Student (where applicable)

Questions to the Witness (es)

- From members of the Panel

The panel have an opportunity to question your Witness (es) with any queries they

have relating to your case or for clarity on anything they may have said during the

hearing.

- From the University Representative

The University Representative will have an opportunity to question your Witness

(es) with any queries they have relating to your case or for clarity on anything they

may have said during the hearing.

9. Concluding statement by the University Representative This is the University Representatives final opportunity to go over the most important points

that make the case against you.

10. Concluding statement by the Student This is your final opportunity to go over the most important points that make your case and

should be points you want the panel to focus on when making their decision.

This is not your opportunity to go over everything you mentioned at point 6.

11. Confirmation of Student’s address for correspondence The Secretary will confirm your current address to send the outcome letter to. It may also be

emailed to you if you ask for it. You can also request that a copy is send/emailed to your

representative (for example your ARC Adviser).

12. All except the members of the panel and the secretary will then leave the room The Panel members are left to make a decision.

++ END OF HEARING ++

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The decision of the Panel will be communicated to you in writing as soon as practicable after the

meeting.

What penalties can be applied?

If your case is a “Type one” case, and your explanation and response were rejected, the Vice-

Chancellor’s Representative (Academic) will apply a penalty as described in paragraph 78 of the

Senate Regulations 6

If your case is a “Type two” case, the Disciplinary Board may, following the hearing, apply a penalty

as described in paragraph 103 of the Senate Regulations 6

Please note: you can face one or more of the sanctions, i.e. you can be temporarily excluded AND receive a mark of zero in the work related to your academic offence.

“Mark of zero” penalty; what does it actually mean? (UG students)

What does the penalty mean when it says “A mark of zero/grade F is assigned to the piece of work

and to the associated assessment block; reassessment will be permitted (or further attempt in the

case of an offence during reassessment), for a maximum grade of D- in the assessment block. The

assessment block shall contribute grade point 0 to the GPA calculation for the classification of any

award. The reassessment shall not contribute to the reassessment volume limit defined in SR2.”?

The decision about whether or not you may re-sit the work is made by your College. Therefore you

should approach them to find out whether they allow re-sits and, if so, when these are likely to take

place.

If you are allowed a re-sit you must obtain the minimum number of credits as specified in the Senate

Regulations) in order to be eligible for the award for which you are registered. Normally this is 120

credits at each level for an Honours degree. Therefore, although you will receive no marks for re-

sitting and passing the module in which you have been found guilty of an academic offence, you can

receive the credit that you need to complete your course.

The mark of zero for the module in which you were found guilty of an academic offence will be taken

into account in the calculation of your final marks which determine the Class of your Degree. This

may have a detrimental effect on the overall calculation, because a grade which could carry some

value, now brings zero to the equation.

As every student’s situation is different, you should seek further advice from your College in order to

determine what the is likely effect of being found guilty on the award for which you are registered.

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What if I do not agree with the Disciplinary Panel’s decision?

You can appeal the panel’s decision within 20 working days of the receipt of the result from the

hearing. It is highly recommend that you seek advice on this from the ARC.

The appeal needs to confirm on what basis you are appealing on. These are the following permitted

grounds for an appeal:

a. there has been procedural irregularity, i.e. that some rules or procedures were not

applied correctly;

b. there was prejudice or bias on part of the decision- maker or decision-making body;

c. the decision is unreasonable and/or the sanction or outcome disproportionate

d. there is new evidence important to the case which the student can demonstrate was for

good reason not previously available.

We can help you deicide whether appealing is a realistic option and whether you have a case for an

appeal. Details or how to appeal against a decision of a Misconduct and Professional Suitability

Board can again be found in Section 5 of the Senate Regulation 6, or by contacting the ARC.

Suspension and/or Exclusion- how does that affect me?

Academic offences can result in very serious consequences- so don’t take it lightly. Dependant on

the severity of the allegations the University have the power to suspend and/or exclude you from

campus:

Temporary suspension means that you will not be allowed to:

Sit such tests or examinations as are scheduled during that period;

Be told information about results / grades, progression to the next level or module choice for the next level

Be informed if you have re-sits

Access and utilise your Brunel email account.

Re-enrol

Temporary exclusion means that you are not permitted to come onto campus without the prior

written permission of the Secretary to the Disciplinary Board.

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Students who are temporarily excluded CAN sit exams, re-enrol or access their Brunel account.

However, if they a final year students, they will not be allowed to be informed about results/grades,

re-sit questions, or be informed if they have re-sits.

Please note: some students can be temporarily suspended AND excluded at the same time. In such

cases, the above restrictions are combined.

If you breach the terms of your suspension and/or exclusion this will be considered a further

potential breach of the Universities rules of Discipline. Therefore a further Disciplinary Procedure

might be instigated against you.

It is vital that you do not come onto campus without permission from the Secretary to the Misconduct and Professional Suitability Board, Ms Liz Racz (01895 265472 / liz.racz@brunel.ac.uk) Agreement shall normally only be given for the purposes of seeking the advice or support services and/or the UBS, or for the purpose of attending hearings or meetings connected with the investigation into the allegations against them. You will need to give 24 hours notice of your wish to enter the campus for any reason.

What advice and help can I expect to receive from the Advice &

Representation Centre?

The ARC can help you in the following ways:

Help you to understand the process

Talk through with you what has gone wrong and how to convey this to your College and the Misconduct and Professional Suitability Board

Check draft letters and oral statements before you submit them

Talk through realistic outcomes and what you could expect

Support you at the Disciplinary Panel and through the process

Help you decide whether appealing is a realistic option

The Advice and Representation Centre Union of Brunel Students Hamilton Centre Kingston Lane Uxbridge

Middlesex UB8 3PH Call: 01895 269 169

Email: advice@brunel.ac.uk

http://brunelstudents.com/advice