Honor Code Sanctions & Appeals

Depending on the nature of the violation and any extenuating circumstances, one or more of the following penalties will be imposed:

• Any student who is found guilty of an Honor Code violation shall automatically be placed on Honor Probation. Probation remains in effect until graduation.
• Any student who is found guilty of an Honor Code violation shall have a written letter of reprimand placed in his/her permanent file that censures the inappropriate action in writing.
• Upon a finding of responsibility, the Academic Honor Council shall impose the following sanctions:
  • Grade Penalty The minimum penalty shall be a failure in the course, recorded as an Honors Failure (HF), and provide a recommendation to the Dean of Faculty regarding (b) Suspension, or (c) Dismissal.
  • Suspension Suspension may be any period of time through three years and is an appropriate sanction for intentional dishonesty, even on the first offense and is a recommended penalty for the second offense. A student may not receive credit for work taken at another institution during the period of the suspension.
  • Dismissal This is an appropriate sanction for intentional dishonesty on a second offense and is recommended for a third offense.
• Students found responsible for failure to report an academic honor violation shall at a minimum be placed on Academic Honors Probation and shall be required to attend the ethics seminar.

A written appeal from a finding of guilt of the Academic Honor Council may be made to the Dean of the Faculty within 10 class days of the decision. Only findings of responsibility by the council can be appealed.

• Prior to an appeal, if the student believes that there is new evidence or relevant facts that were not brought out in the original hearing and that may be sufficient to alter the original finding, the student may make a request that this information be considered. The student must make such a request in writing to the Academic Honor Council Chair by the date designated in the sanction letter. If the purported new evidence or relevant facts are deemed by the Chair to be substantial enough to potentially change the Council’s decision, the matter will be returned to the Academic Honor Council for reconsideration.
• If a student is found to have violated the Academic Honor Code by the Academic Honor Council and the student believes the finding was prejudicial or biased, the student may appeal. Appeals must be made in writing to the Dean of the Faculty by the designated date in the sanction letter. The Dean will provide the Academic Honor Appeals Committee with the written appeal. In making the appeal, the student must furnish evidence that there was procedural misconduct by the Academic Honor Council that was prejudicial to the accused student.
• The Academic Honor Appeals Committee is comprised of the Dean of the Faculty, the Chair of the Academic Honor Council and the Faculty Advisor to the Honor Council not present at the hearing. The Academic Honor Appeals Committee will meet to determine if grounds for appeal exists. The review will be limited to the verbatim record of the Informal and Formal hearing, supporting documents, and the written appeal. New evidence or other relevant facts not part of the original hearing will not be considered.
• The accused student will be notified in a timely fashion of the Academic Honor Appeals Committee’s determination. Decisions of the Academic Honor Appeals Committee are final.
• If a student elects to file an appeal, pending a decision from the Academic Honor Appeals Committee, the student may continue to attend all courses and participate in College life as usual. However, until a case has been completely resolved (hearing, all appeals, etc.) the student may not graduate from the college. Similarly, a student who has received sanctions must complete any requirements of those sanctions prior to graduation.
• A student with an “HF” and no other record of academic dishonesty may request, no earlier than one semester before graduation and no later than one academic year after graduation, that the Academic Honor Appeals Committee remove the “H” from the “HF” so that the transcript does not reflect in perpetuity that the failing grade was the result of a case of academic dishonesty. Seniors that receive an “HF” can make a similar appeal no more than one academic year after graduation.