Penalty Guidelines

These are guidelines only. The penalties actually assigned may vary in accordance with the specifics of each case. The guidelines are not meant to define every possible kind of misconduct and do not in any way replace the formal definitions of academic misconduct provided in the Undergraduate Calendar.

  • cheated or plagiarized in a limited way, so that most of the work was still the student's own
  • reduction of 20 percentage points on the assignment in question
  • worked jointly on an assignment without the instructor's prior permission
  • cheated or plagiarized to a moderate extent, so that it can't be determined how well the student would have done working on his or her own
  • grade of zero on the assignment in question
  • cheated or plagiarized in a extensive way, so that little or none of the work submitted was the student's own
  • grade of zero on the assignment in question plus a reduction of 15 percentage points in the student's overall grade in the course
  • purchased a paper from an essay service or handed in a straight copy of a paper submitted in some other course or section
  • grade of zero in the course
  • cheated or plagiarized more than once in the same semester before a warning was issued about a first act of academic misconduct
  • consequences for the second or subsequent act will be the same as if it were a first offence
  • however, any further act of academic misconduct will be treated as a third offence
  • plagiarized or cheated in a significant way after being warned about a first act of misconduct
  • special grade of XF on transcript (in average calculations, counts as a grade of zero)
  • suspension from the University for a term of three semesters
  • plagiarized or cheated (even in a limited way) after being warned about a second act of misconduct
  • special grade of XF on transcript (in average calculations, counts as a grade of zero)
  • expulsion from the University (term is indefinite, but minimum of two years; student must petition to re-enter)
  • provided false or misleading information to obtain deferrals, retroactive withdrawals, admission, re-admission or transfer
  • attempted to obtain an academic advantage by bribes or threats
  • expulsion from the University (term is indefinite, but minimum of two years; student must petition to re-enter)
  • engaged in misconduct in a course or on a thesis where the punishment would have made the student ineligible to graduate had it been applied upon completion of the course/thesis
  • any affected degrees already granted will be rescinded