Types and Sanctions

Updated January 2024

 

Academic Integrity Violations Types

There are five TYPES of academic integrity violations — Warning, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4.

Warning: Where a student has made a genuine error in an assessment, Faculty may give a warning to encourage and support learning. Warnings will not be considered a violation, but a learning opportunity. A warning will be recorded on the student record to identify to other faculty that this opportunity has been given to the student.

Level 1 Violation: Violations in the Level 1 category may be minor in nature and affect a small portion of assessment work in question. Examples (not intended to be an exhaustive list):

  • Failure to acknowledge working with a third party on an assessment without explicit permission from faculty.
  • Failure to attempt to cite or give proper acknowledgment in a small/minor portion of the assignment.

Level 2 Violation: Violations in the Level 2 category are of a more serious or extensive nature than the ones described in Level 1 or are those that affect a larger or more significant portion of the assessment. Examples (not intended to be an exhaustive list):

  • Recognizing for the first time that a student has breached Academic Integrity on more than one occasion but has not been previously reported.
  • More than one form of Violation within one
  • Plagiarizing portions of a written assignment or
  • Facilitating copying during an exam or in the completion of other
  • Submitting the same work, or major portions thereof, to satisfy the requirements of more than one course without permission from the instructor.
  • Cheating during a test, exam or other type of Academic Assessment (this could include using prohibited materials such as books, notes, calculators, or other electronic devices).
  • Receiving assistance from others (e.g., research, statistical, computer programming, field data collection help, or technical art/design production help) that constitutes an essential element in the undertaking without acknowledging such assistance in a paper, examination, or project.
  • Repeat Violation at Level 1, where education Sanctions have taken place, may be considered to raise the Violation to a Level 2

Level 3 Violation: Violations in the Level 3 category affect a sizable proportion of the assessment work done to meet course requirements and/or involve premeditation. Level 3 Violations may even be selected for students who have repeated Level 1 or Level 2 violations. Examples (not intended to be an exhaustive list):

  • Removing posted or reserved material, preventing other students from having access to materials.
  • Falsification of data or inventing and/or deliberately altering material (e.g., citing a source that does not exist).
  • Engaging in contract Cheating through the selling or purchasing of assessments for submission for grades.
  • Collaborating before an exam to develop methods of exchanging information and implementation thereof.
  • Use or distribution of material which has been acquired through unauthorized.
  • Repeat Violation at Level 1 or Level 2, where education Sanctions have taken place, may be considered to raise the Violation to a Level 3

Level 4 Violation: Violations in the Level 4 category are reserved for the most serious breaches of Academic Integrity and/or incidents preceded by repeated violations at all previous levels. Examples (not intended to be an exhaustive list):

  • Providing another student with login information in an attempt to have that person complete the assessment work (false impersonation).
  • Infractions of Academic Integrity resembling criminal activity (e.g., forging a grade form, stealing an examination, buying an exam, falsifying a transcript).
  • False impersonation in an
  • Sabotaging another student’s work through actions designed to prevent the student from successfully completing an assignment.
  • Repeat Violation at Level 3, where education Sanctions have taken place, may be considered to raise the Violation to a Level 4

 

Sanctions

Mandatory and/or optional Sanctions are assigned based on the Violation level. Educational Sanction options take the form of modules, workshops and one-to-one meetings can be selected directly on the online form.

Mandatory Sanctions:

  • Warning: While there are no mandatory Sanctions for warnings, Faculty are strongly encouraged to consider educational options and optional Sanctions as outlined in 5 b).
  • Level 1 Violation: Educational Sanction as selected by the Faculty will determine one or more Sanctions (See below for examples).
  • Level 2 Violation: Educational Sanction as selected by the Faculty. A grade of “0” on the assignment will be given.
  • Level 3 Violation: Educational Sanction as selected by the Faculty. A grade of “0” on the course will be assigned.
  • Level 4 Violation: Educational Sanction as selected by the Faculty. Suspension from the College for a minimum of one Semester or regular program delivery as per the extenuation circumstances:
    1. One to Three Semesters: Must be approved by the Dean of the applicable School.
    2. Three or More Semester: Must be approved by the Dean in consultation with the Associate Vice-President Academic.

Optional Sanctions:

Faculty may choose additional Sanctions for a Warning, Level 1 or Level 2 Violations. Examples of suitable Warning and Level 1 Sanctions include (but are not limited to):

  • Resubmission of the original assessment
  • Submission of a new assessment
  • A portion of assessment work receives a grade of “0”, or associated penalty at the discretion of the faculty, resulting in a reduced overall grade.

Examples of suitable Level 2 Sanctions include (but are not limited to):

  • Submission of a new assessment piece for full or partial
  • Presentation to Faculty on Academic Integrity for bonus