The Schulich School of Business will be implementing changes to its academic honesty policy in the fall term.
According to Olga Carew, student and academic services coordinator at Schulich, the changes are being put in place to streamline the process of academic honesty cases and to support the school’s ongoing efforts to maintain the highest standards in all aspects of the school’s activities.
“When we looked at the policy, we noticed that there were a lot of steps involved for both students and faculty members, and a case could take up to several months to be resolved,” says Carew, adding that the new policy will help both faculty and students reach a solution in a more timely manner.
In the past, if a student was suspected of a breach of academic honesty, he or she would have to meet with the professor, who would then assess whether or not there was enough evidence to move the case forward.
If all the evidence pointed towards moving forward, the student and professor would proceed to an exploratory meeting in which a decision would be reached about the breach and its penalties.
“Under the new policy, students no longer have to meet with the professor and can go directly to an exploratory meeting with the associate dean, which speeds up the process,” says Carew.
The revised policy also includes changes to what constitutes an academic honesty offense. The disruption of an academic evaluation by any means, as well as the aiding or abetting of others to commit an offence of academic dishonesty, constitute breaches of academic honesty.
According to Carew, the penalties for such offences depend on the degree of the breach and are assessed based on factors such as the students’ year of study, level of academic experience, and intent going forward.
Carew says the penalties will range from written disciplinary notes to complete failures of courses. Under the new policy, if a student is expelled from the university, he or she may not be readmitted to the program at Schulich.
Rameeza Ahmed
Assistant News Editor
