Procedures
Student Probation, Suspension, and Expulsion Procedure For Administrative and Disiplinary Violations
Purpose
The objective of this document is to detail the processes that follow after a student has committed violations of an academic nature.
Scope
These are institution-wide processes, applied by the academic staff to students who have violated the University’s policies and expectations.
Referenced Laws, Regulations, and/or Policies
This is the University procedure.
Procedures
Academic Probation
If a course instructor suspects that a piece of work submitted for assessment contains plagiarized material, or that a student has cheated on an examination, the course instructor will refer the case to the Dean of Academic Affairs along with appropriate documentary evidence for further investigation and discussion.
Should the Dean of Academic Affairs judge that the evidence submitted warrants further investigation, a hearing will be held that will include the student, the Dean of Academic Affairs, a Student Support Services officer, typically the advisor/tutor, and the reporting course instructor. As long as the University operates on a remote basis, with corresponding difficulties arising from differences in time zones, the Dean of Academic Affairs reserves the right to reduce the number of participants in a given hearing.
Depending on the circumstances and severity of the offense, sanctions may vary from an informal reprimand to the placement of the student on probation. Usually the sanction will involve a grade sanction and a disciplinary sanction. A record of the academic misconduct will be entered on the student’s record by the Registrar. If the verdict is probation, the Dean of Academic Affairs will submit the Probation, Suspension, or Expulsion Filing Form (attached) to the Registrar. The Dean of Academic Affairs will notify the student of the probation through the Notification of Probation to Student form (attached), specifying the duration of probation and indicators of improvement. The student must then submit an Improvement Report (attached) to the Dean of Academic Affairs; the student’s statement on this form should reflect his or her understanding of the violation and commitment to avoiding such instances in the future. The Dean will, upon receipt and approval of the completed Improvement Report, forward the report to the Registrar. Upon receipt of the signed Improvement Report, the Registrar will remove the “Hold” from the student’s course record. A student on probation will be allowed to register for courses for the following semester (i.e. in Orbund) ; should the student fail to submit an acceptable improvement report, the student will be denied admission to courses (i.e. in Canvas) and will be placed on suspension.
Suspension
If a student has committed a violation that is ‘of serious concern’, a student may be suspended. Examples include the submission of entire plagiarized documents, submissions of plagiarized material after a student has previously been sanctioned for plagiarism twice, and cheating on examinations.
A suspension is a forced temporary leave from the University. In order for a student to be suspended, a course instructor must refer the case to the Dean of Academic Affairs along with appropriate documentary evidence for further investigation and discussion. If the Dean of Academic Affairs finds the violation worthy of suspension, the Dean of Academic Affairs will issue the Probation, Suspension, or Expulsion Filing Form to the Registrar (attached) and inform the student of the suspension using the Notification of Suspension to Student form (attached).
The student will be re-admitted only after their improvement report (attached) has been submitted and approved. The improvement report must be accompanied by:
Statement of Reflection: The statement must demonstrate the student’s reflection on the suspension and what he or she has done to correct the behaviors as outlined in the notification from the University.
One Supervisory Reference Letter. This letter must come from an individual who has direct supervisory responsibilities over the student. The letter must testify how the student has improved over the course of the expulsion period and/or how the student can fulfill the conditions of the suspension. If the student is attending another institution, the letter must come from the head, principal, student affairs administrator, instructor, or advisor.
Expulsion
Expulsion is the permanent termination of a student’s enrollment at the University. Expulsion usually arises from a pattern of probation and/or suspension violations for which a student has been sanctioned. Some incidents, however, are serious enough in and of themselves to warrant expulsion. When the Dean of Academic Affairs finds that a student should be expelled from the University for academic reasons, the Dean will bring the case to the President. Should the President agree that expulsion is warranted, the Dean of Academic Affairs will then send a Notification of Expulsion (attached) to the student and file the Probation, Suspension, or Expulsion Filing Form with the Registrar (attached).
Review
The Academic Department is responsible for ensuring compliance with this procedure in various offices of the University.
Date
Adopted on January 31, 2022.
Amended on August 24, 2023; Effective Immediately
