[The following document was written by Professor Elizabeth Sutherland for the Student Affairs Committee, Spring 2001.]
Instructor's Responsibility and Student's Rights
In Cases of Academic Dishonesty
The Honor Statement of the University of Tennessee mandates that no student shall plagiarize assignments, give inappropriate assistance in academic work, or receive inappropriate assistance in academic work. For infractions of the Honor Statement, the instructor of a course may impose penalties up to and including failing the student in the course and placing a letter in the student's permanent record. The instructor must, however, comply with certain regulations if such penalties are not to be overturned. For further details on the correct procedures for imposing such penalties, please refer to pages 31-33 in Hilltopics.
I. Instructor's prerogatives
- In cases of academic dishonesty, the instructor has the right to give the student an F on the assignment or exam or an F for the course. The instructor may only suspend the student from the class after the student has been provided a hearing (see item II b below).
- The instructor may also refer the case to an Academic Review Board by notifying the head of his/her academic unit and the Office of the Dean of Students.
II. Limits to instructor's prerogatives
- When an instructor pursues any penalty for academic dishonesty, she/he must notify the student in writing, countersigned by the department head, indicating the penalty and the route of appeal. This letter must be copied to the Office of Dean of Students, the administrative head of the instructor's academic unit, and the head of the academic unit in which the student is enrolled.
- If the instructor chooses to suspend a student for academic dishonesty, the
Student must be provided a hearing prior to the effective date of such suspension.
III. Student's rights
The student should first discuss the penalty with the instructor in question. If the student and instructor are unable to resolve the situation, the student may appeal the penalty to the Academic Review Board by notifying the Dean of Students within seven calendar days of receiving written notice of penalty from the instructor.
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