How to talk with students about suspected academic misconduct

Discover ways to approach conversations with individuals or the whole class when academic misconduct is suspected.

By Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning

Faculty and instructors are responsible to follow up on suspected academic misconduct, according to the USask Regulations on Student Academic Misconduct. Doing so also shows they care about:

  • students and their learning,
  • the validity of the assessment,
  • the fairness of grades for all students in the course.

If faculty and instructors do not follow up, there are risks for students.

  • If students are not made aware of their errors that constitute academic misconduct, they may make the same errors again.
  • If students are aware of their academic misconduct, but there are no consequences, they may risk it again.
  • If other students see that academic misconduct goes unaddressed, they can lose confidence in the fairness of the assessments.

Talking to an individual student

Sometimes you ask a student to meet with because you ae quite sure you have detected academic misconduct. Sometimes you are less sure and want to understand the student’s process and approach.  What a student says in a meeting can help you decide what to do next. You or the student may want to have another person sit in.

The following are suggestions for having a real-time meeting with a student, either in-person or on-line.

Prepare
  • Understand the academic misconduct regulations
  • Check in with your Associate Dean or their designate who helps manage academic misconduct processes in the College

Set a Meeting
  • Request that the student meet to discuss the concerns in-person or on-line
  • The meeting should occur in a timely manner while also allowing the student to have fair notice about the concerns you want to discuss

In the Meeting
  • Take notes during the meeting
  • Present a clear description of your concern and reasons for it
  • Pose questions that explore the issue (e.g., what was your process for completing this assignment, completing this lab, studying for this exam; what kinds of assistance did you get?)
  • Consider what kinds of responses you could receive and what you might do in each circumstance (e.g., student admits, student denies, student admits some parts and denies other parts, student says they didn’t know, student implicates others, student says nothing)
  • Be ready to pause the meeting or schedule a follow up if emotions (theirs or yours) are running too high (allows you and them to reset)
  • Acknowledge that it is distressing to discuss academic misconduct, have information about wellness supports for students on hand
  • Conclude the meeting with clear next steps — You don’t need to arrive at a decision by the end of the meeting

Follow up
  • Do what you said you would do; meet the timelines you identified — If these need to change, advise the student.
  • Send student a summary of key points; ask them to add to or correct any errors or omissions; remind them about wellness supports.
  • If you need support or advice, reach out to the lead in your College.

Talking to the whole class

Sometimes you suspect academic misconduct may have occurred with many students in the course but you are not well positioned to pursue an allegation. You can still communicate about your concern. What is vital is that you both identify the issue and welcome their questions.  It is counterproductive if your message makes students afraid to approach you about how to meet the expectations and avoid the academic misconduct. Your message needs to convey and motivate a commitment to learning and your role in teaching about good academic practices.

The following could help you be clear about your concern and expectations:

Message

What you might say

My concern

“I am suspecting X, and am concerned about this because….”

What I want for you

“I want you

  • to learn,
  • to have assessments you produce and the feedback you get to mean something,
  • to know you and your peers are receiving the grades that reflect your true levels of achievement,
  • to avoid the distress of academic misconduct accusations and the penalties that can follow.”

What I will reinforce or teach you about today

“I am going to review the expectations and show you in more detail the kind of problem I am concerned about

  • The expectation is Y…and this is in place because it helps you learn to…,
  • This means that when X happens, you are engaging in academic misconduct for this assessment,
  • Instead of X, do Y, and the best ways to do Y are…,
  • I want you to ask me questions so that together we can avoid the academic misconduct process — I find academic misconduct accusations and decision processes distressing, too.”

 

Title image credit: ICSA on Pexels

This resource is shared by the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL), University of Saskatchewan, under a CC BY-NC-SA license.