If an instructor suspects you have committed academic dishonesty, s/he is expected to contact you to discuss the issue(s) and provide you with a fair opportunity to answer the charge. This is your opportunity to provide an explanation. If there has been a misunderstanding or the instructor has the facts wrong, you should gather and present whatever evidence exists to show this to the instructor.
Attempting to avoid the instructor or dodge the issue will not make it go away. How you behave in this process may be a factor that becomes important later. For example, if you initially lie and then later offer the truth, you have greatly affected your credibility.
If you are being charged with academic dishonesty, the charge will be processed in one of two ways:
- The instructor may decide to reduce your grade or give you a mark of zero on the assignment in question.
- There may be a hearing before a Faculty Adjudicator, who has the authority to give a wide range of sanctions, including, but not limited to, an F on a course with a transcript notation, suspension from the university and expulsion from the university. If you are going before a hearing, click here to go to the Student Guide to Academic Dishonesty Hearings.
Click here to see the Academic Integrity Policy