Overview
UWM expects each student to be honest in academic performance. Failure to do so may result in discipline for academic misconduct under rules established by the Board of Regents and UWM Academic Policy Committee (UWS Chapter 14 and Fac. Doc. 1686 ). Academic misconduct is an act in which a student seeks to claim credit for the work or efforts of another without authorization or citation, uses unauthorized materials or fabricated data in any academic exercise, forges or falsifies academic documents or records, intentionally impedes or damages the academic work of others, engages in conduct aimed at making false representation of a student’s academic performance, or assists other students in any of these acts. The most common forms of academic dishonesty are cheating and plagiarism.
Cheating Includes:
- Submitting material that is not yours as part of your course performance, such as submitting a paper or assignment that is the work of another person, or copying from another student’s exam.
- Tampering with the laboratory experiment or computer program of another student
- Using information or devices that are not allowed by the faculty; such as using formulas or data from a computer program, or using unauthorized materials for a take-home exam.
- Obtaining and using unauthorized material, such as a copy of an examination before it is given.
- Fabricating information, such as data for a lab report.
- Violating procedures prescribed to protect the integrity of an assignment, test, or other evaluation.
- Collaborating with others on assignments without the faculty’s consent.
- Cooperating with or helping another student to cheat, such as allowing another student to copy from your exam.
- Other forms of dishonest behavior, such as having another person take an examination in your place, altering exam answers and requesting the exam be regraded.
Plagiarism Includes:
- Directly quoting the words of others without using quotation marks or indented format to identify them.
- Using information, figures, illustrations, concepts or data (published or unpublished) produced by others without identifying the original source.
- Paraphrasing materials, analyses, or ideas of others without identifying the sources.
- Submitting, without permission, work previously presented in another course.
If a student is charged with academic misconduct, there are specific procedures, including the right of appeal, which must be followed by UWM. Sanctions imposed by the university in response to academic misconduct range from reprimands to expulsion.
Academic Misconduct Procedures
Student academic misconduct procedures are specified in Chapter UWS 14 and the UWM implementation provisions. This process is described in a flowchart .
For undergraduate student academic misconduct procedures, please visit the Dean of Students Office website.
An instructor who believes a student has engaged in academic misconduct first discusses the matter with the student. Following the meeting, if the instructor concludes that misconduct occurred, the instructor follows the guidelines to assess what level of sanction is appropriate. The instructor may decide that only a modest sanction (“group A”) is warranted, such as a private reprimand or repeat assignment.
More serious sanctions (“group B”) may include a written reprimand to be retained in the student’s file, lower or failing grades for the assignment or course, or removal from the course. An instructor who considers the misconduct to be serious enough to warrant a sanction of probation, suspension or expulsion (“group C”) must consult with the appropriate Investigating Officer (IO), who is an appointee of the Dean in the student’s School or College. All sanctions may be appealed to a hearing committee, and a misconduct hearing is automatic when serious (group C) sanctions are recommended.
Students must be informed in writing when charges of academic misconduct are made with substantial sanctions (group B or C). Misconduct letters must explain the facts of the case, the sanctions imposed, and the right of appeal within ten days; a copy of UWS Chapter 14 and Fac. Doc. 1686 should be attached. For graduate students, such letters should include information that a written request for appeal must be directed to the Dean of the Graduate School, Mitchell Hall Suite 251, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, P.O. Box 340, Milwaukee WI, 53201-0340. Misconduct letters should be sent to the student’s UWM email address. In addition, letters may be sent via postal mail. Copies should also be emailed to the Investigating Officer and the Dean of the Graduate School. Please use the Graduate School template for the UWS Chapter 14 Academic Misconduct Written Report. For guidance on UWM academic misconduct procedures, including instructor responsibilities, contact gs-appeals@uwm.edu
How to Appeal Charges of Academic Misconduct
If you are a graduate student who has been charged with academic misconduct, you have the right to request, within ten (10) days of the mailing or personal delivery of the misconduct report, a hearing before the Graduate School Scholastic Appeals Committee, which serves as the academic misconduct hearing committee for all graduate students. (See UWS Chapter 14 and Fac. Doc. 1686 for further information and procedures.)
If you decide to exercise this right, you must send a written request to the Dean of the Graduate School. You may submit the request in writing by email to gs-appeals@uwm.edu, or by mailing or dropping off a request to the Dean of the Graduate School, Mitchell Hall Suite 251, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, P.O. Box 340, Milwaukee WI, 53201-0340. Scheduling of your hearing will begin once you submit an Academic Misconduct Hearing Request Form to the Office of the Dean.
You should be aware that if you request a hearing, the Graduate School Scholastic Appeals Committee (which is the “Hearing Body”) may impose a disciplinary sanction that differs from the recommendation of the instructor or Investigating Officer. In other words, should the Committee determine that the evidence presented at the hearing supports the allegation of misconduct, it may support the sanction(s) as recommended by the instructor, or impose a sanction that is either more or less severe than the sanction(s) the instructor recommends. The Graduate School will retain all records related to the disciplinary action.
If you decide to appeal charges of misconduct, the Graduate School Associate Dean will act, with the assistance of the Coordinator for Academic Appeals, to convene the Graduate School Scholastic Appeals Committee. You have the right to submit a written statement or evidence for review by the Committee. The documents you wish to submit in support of your case should be provided at least one week in advance of the Hearing, to give the Committee adequate time to study them. At the Hearing, you will have the right to present your own case, to respond to questions, to present witnesses, to question adverse witnesses, and to be accompanied by a representative. This representative may sit in on proceedings and advise you, but you must speak on your own behalf at the Hearing. The course instructor and the Investigating Officer for your School or College will also act as witnesses at the Hearing.
It is recommended that you read about the disciplinary procedures outlined in UWS Chapter 14 and Fac. Doc. 1686 , which explain about the Hearing and your rights in relation to the appeal. You may request information and consult with gs-appeals@uwm.edu in the Graduate School.