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Student Coursework Academic Misconduct Rule

This is not a current document. It has been repealed and is no longer in force.

Section 1 - Overview

(1) The University of New England (UNE) values Academic Integrity and aims to foster good scholarship and effective learning.

(2) UNE expects fair and honest behaviour in the practice of academic endeavours in all settings. The University does not tolerate dishonesty and impropriety in academic work and imposes strict penalties on any Student found to have acted dishonestly or improperly in assessment processes.

(3) This Rule provides the framework for Student Academic Misconduct arising in respect of all coursework programs and units of the University, including coursework components of higher degrees by research, and must be read in conjunction with the Student Coursework Academic Misconduct Procedures that support this Rule.

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Section 2 - Scope

(4) This Rule applies to:

  1. Students enrolled in coursework programs and coursework units at the University, including higher degree by research Students, non-award Students, Students enrolled cross-institutionally, former Students; and
  2. University Representatives.

(5) Exceptions to this Rule are Students enrolled in the Joint Medical Program (JMP) for whom the JMP Student Academic Misconduct Rule applies.

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Section 3 - Rule

Academic Integrity

(6) Academic Integrity is the practice of acting fairly, honestly and ethically in academic endeavour.

Academic Misconduct

(7) Academic Misconduct is any conduct by which a Student:

  1. seeks to gain, for themselves or another person, any academic advantage or advancement which they are not entitled to; and/or
  2. improperly disadvantages someone else.

(8) Academic Misconduct also includes, but is not limited to:

  1. cheating, acting dishonestly or otherwise attempting to gain an unfair advantage in any assessment task or colluding with or assisting someone else to do so;
  2. reusing or recycling an assessment task, in whole or in part, previously produced by the Student and assessed in the same or another unit or course offered by the University, or any other institution, without appropriate acknowledgement and without prior permission of the current Unit Coordinator;
  3. undertaking an assessment task, or part thereof, for or on behalf of another Student;
  4. fabricating, falsifying or misusing documents;
  5. misrepresenting, fabricating or falsifying information, authorship or data;
  6. using unauthorised equipment, material, texts or information in a supervised assessment task;
  7. engaging in unauthorised communication of any form with any other person in an assessment task;
  8. attempting to bribe or coerce a University Representative or a Student in order to gain an academic advantage;
  9. communicating examination or quiz papers or answers to Students or unauthorised persons either contemporaneously or in time zones where the examination or quiz has not yet taken place;
  10. claiming joint authorship with other authors without their permission;
  11. interfering with any research-related property or material of another person, or assisting someone else to do so;
  12. failing to comply with reasonable instructions from an examination supervisor; and/or
  13. failing to comply with University rules, policies or codes of ethics, or those of relevant professional and statutory bodies, or instructions from supervisors while completing assessment tasks and/or undertaking Work Integrated Learning activities.

(9) Plagiarism is a form of Academic Misconduct and is the use of another person's work without appropriate acknowledgement and includes:

  1. the use of close paraphrasing of ideas, concepts, words, data or work of others without acknowledgement of sources;
  2. presenting extracts from sources without accurate and appropriate referencing;
  3. colluding with others to produce work that is presented misleadingly as the Student's own work;
  4. presenting under the Student's own name, work substantially written by someone else (e.g. using a ghost writer, purchasing work from someone or an electronic site, or using work obtained freely from a person or an electronic site); and/or
  5. failing to acknowledge work primarily produced by a collaborator.

Academic Integrity Module

(10) It is a mandatory requirement of admission that Students complete the Academic Integrity Module prior to the submission of their first assessment task in their first trimester of enrolment.

Penalties

(11) One or more of the following penalties may be imposed on a Student who is found to have committed Academic Misconduct. These penalties are listed in escalating order of severity:

  1. Reprimand
  2. Probation
  3. Rewriting and resubmission of an assessment task, or a comparable assessment task, which may be subjected to a reduction of 20-50% of the mark that the assessed task would otherwise have received
  4. Reduction in assessment mark
  5. Reduction in unit mark and grade
  6. Award of a grade of WUN (Withdrawn by the University and Deemed to have Failed)
  7. Exclusion from enrolment in a particular course or unit permanently or for a period of time
  8. Exclusion from the University for a period of up to five years
  9. Expulsion
  10. Revocation of Award (UNE graduates whose work is found to contain Plagiarism after graduation)

Investigations

(12) Investigations of complaints of coursework Academic Misconduct must be undertaken in accordance with the Student Coursework Academic Misconduct Procedures.

Appeals

(13) A Student may appeal an Academic Misconduct decision in accordance with the Student Coursework Academic Misconduct Procedures.

Records Management

(14) Electronic records relating to any action or decision made under these Rules must be recorded in accordance with the University Records Management Rule.

Responsibilities

(15) University Representatives have a responsibility to:

  1. educate Students about Academic Integrity and the consequences that arise from Academic Misconduct;
  2. examine assessment items for Academic Misconduct; and
  3. report cases in which there is evidence of Academic Misconduct in accordance with the Rules and associated Procedures.

(16) Unit Coordinators are responsible for providing Students with advice on appropriate scholarly practice including (either directly or indirectly using web links where applicable):

  1. clear explanations and examples of referencing requirements and academic conventions;
  2. information and instructions on how to conduct, present and acknowledge collaborative work where required (directly or indirectly using appropriate web links);
  3. appropriate learning experiences that include demonstration of a Student's understanding of Academic Misconduct; and
  4. guidance on how to avoid further recurrences.

(17) Teaching and Learning Support will:

  1. provide an Academic Integrity Module (AIM) in the Learning Management System (LMS) that demonstrates to Students their rights and responsibilities in relation to Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct; and
  2. annually review the AIM and report to the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic) on the number of completions in the current year.

(18) Students have a responsibility to:

  1. act fairly and honestly;
  2. complete the Academic Integrity Module before the submission of their first assessment task in the first trimester of enrolment at the University;
  3. familiarise themselves with the referencing requirements, academic conventions and appropriate scholarly practices associated with their enrolled units;
  4. understand and comply with these Rules and associated procedures;
  5. submit assessment work through the UNE plagiarism detection software unless a specific exemption has been granted; and
  6. comply with the rules for conduct of examinations.

Authority and Compliance

(19) The Vice-Chancellor, pursuant to Section 29 of the University of New England Act, makes this University Rule.

(20) University Representatives and Students must observe it in relation to University matters.

(21) The Rule Administrator is authorised to make procedures and guidelines for the operation of this University Rule. The procedures and guidelines must be compatible with the provisions of this Rule.

(22) This Rule operates as and from the Effective Date.

(23) Previous rules, policies, procedures and guidelines on coursework Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism and related documents are replaced and have no further operation from the Effective Date of this new Rule.

(24) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this University Rule, the Vice-Chancellor may approve an exception to this Rule where the Vice-Chancellor determines the application of the Rule would otherwise lead to an unfair, unreasonable or absurd outcome. Approvals by the Vice-Chancellor under this clause must be documented in writing and must state the reason for the exception. Applications for an exception shall not be treated as an appeal under clause 13 above.

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Section 4 - Definitions

(25) Academic Integrity is defined in clause 6 of this Rule.

(26) Academic Misconduct is defined in clauses 7-9 of this Rule.

(27) Assessment tasks are compulsory or optional activities or exercises, which have an explicit intent to assess and guide Student progress or learning achievement in a unit of study. Assessment tasks can be designed for diagnostic, formative, summative, evaluative or informative purposes.

(28) Effective Date means the day on which this Rule is published or on such later day as may be specified in this Rule.

(29) Exclusion or Excluded means a Student, for a fixed period of time, is denied enrolment at the University in a unit and/or a course and/or the University and/or they are excluded from entering the University's premises or any defined part of the University premises or engaging in an activity as a Student. Excluded students do not have an automatic right of re-admission.

(30) Expulsion or Expelled means the permanent separation of the Student from the University.

(31) Plagiarism is defined in clause 9 of this Rule.

(32) Probation means the Student who has received a Reprimand is advised, in writing, that if found guilty of further acts of Academic Misconduct during a specified period not exceeding three years, a specific penalty will be applied.

(33) Reprimand means an official warning confirming the fact that a finding of Academic Misconduct has been sustained, issued in writing to the Student coupled with a caution against repeating the conduct.

(34) Revocation of Award is the cancellation of a University of New England Award by the University.

(35) Rule Administrator is the Vice-Chancellor or Delegate.

(36) Student means an Admitted Student or an Enrolled Student, at the relevant time.

  1. Admitted Student means a Student who has been admitted to a UNE course of study and who is entitled to enrol in a unit of study.
  2. Enrolled Student means a Student who has been admitted to a UNE course of study at UNE or elsewhere and who is enrolled in a unit at UNE.

(37) UNE Act means the University of New England Act 1993 No 68 (NSW).

(38) University Representative means a University employee (casual, fixed term and permanent), contractor, agent, appointee, UNE Council member, adjunct, visiting academic and any other person engaged by the University to undertake some activity for or on behalf of the University. It includes corporations and other bodies falling into one or more of these categories.

(39) Work Integrated Learning is an activity that integrates academic learning with its application in the workplace.