1: Membership, Election, Tenure

1.1: Membership of this Committee shall consist of: (a) Six elected Faculty members of whom at least two shall be tenured, (b) Registrar or designated associate, (c) Dean of Students or designated associate, (d) Three students.

1.2: Faculty members will serve for a term of three years, two members elected annually.

(Passed January 16, 1970; Revised May 6, 1975, and February 15, 1994)

2: Jurisdiction, Obligations, Procedures

2.1: It shall be the general responsibility of this Committee to review and administer the academic policies and procedures of the College as they apply to undergraduate students; to review, discuss, and rule on matters pertaining to student academic status, academic record, and conformity with academic regulations; and to provide a forum for the discussion of student concerns within the academic community. It shall be the specific responsibility of the Committee to administer the Faculty rules and regulations on grade changes; administer the Faculty rules and regulations on grade changes, academic good standing, Academic Probation, Required Withdrawal and the Faculty Honors List; consider and rule on applications for re-admission of persons required to withdraw for academic reasons; consider and rule on registration-related issues, transfer credit procedures and regulations not primarily related to the curricular concerns of the transferred course, and issues (but not departmental in nature) pertaining to the permanent academic record or the student; consider and rule on student requests for exceptions from or modification of Faculty (but not departmental) academic rules, regulations and deadlines. The Committee may not waive academic requirements, but it may recommend such waivers to the Faculty for its action. (Passed January 16, 1970, amended May 6, 1975 and February 15, 1994)

2.2: It shall be the responsibility of this Committee to work with the student Academic Honor Council to adjudicate violations of the Student Integrity Contract involving academic dishonesty. Each hearing panel called by the Academic Honor Council shall include three non-student members, drawn from the members of the Committee (excluding the Chair and the Dean of Students) or from Faculty members of the Jury Panel. The Dean of Students or designated Associate shall be a non-voting participant on all hearing panels. If the Council finds that a student has violated the Integrity Contract contract, it shall recommend a penalty to the Chair of the Committee, who shall review it for conformity to establish policies and procedures. In the absence of the Chair, he or she shall designate another Faculty member to perform this review. The Chair shall receive all documents submitted at the hearing as well as the tape recording of the hearing. If the Chair approves, he or she shall immediately forward the decision to the Dean of Students for implementation. If the Chair has substantial concerns regarding the penalty, he or she shall return the case to the Academic Honor Council within 72 hours, excluding weekends, with a written summary of these concerns for reconsideration. The Council shall either confirm or alter its decision. The Chair may not overturn the Council’s finding that a violation has occurred. After such a reconsideration, the Chair may not raise the same concerns a second time and shall forward the Panel’s decision to the Dean of Students for implementation. (Passed February 14, 2006)

2.3: The Faculty of Trinity College urges each individual Faculty member to bring cases of academic dishonesty before the Academic Honor Council for adjudication. To initiate a case, Faculty members may contact either the Dean of Students or the Secretary of the Student Academic Honor Council. The Faculty recognizes that the individual instructor has the prerogative under the canons of academic freedom to resolve such cases through the issuance of a punitive grade and by such other means as the assignment of additional work. The Faculty believes, however, that formal adjudication of such cases by the Academic Honor Council, operating under accepted rules of fundamental fairness, will best protect the rights of both the student and the Faculty member, avoid contentiousness, and lessen the likelihood of litigation. Furthermore, adjudication of all such cases by a single body will guarantee consistency in the penalties meted out for similar offenses and insure the identification of repeat offenders. Finally, giving students substantial control over academic dishonesty cases will strengthen the culture of academic integrity at the College. (Passed May 14, 2002)

2.3.a: At the end of each semester the Academic Affairs Committee shall designate those students who qualify for the Trinity College Faculty Honors List. (For eligibility criteria, see the Catalogue Issue of the Trinity College Bulletin.) The Academic Affairs Committee will approve the list and report its actions at the first regular Faculty Meeting in each term. (Passed May 11, 1982, and revised April 10, 1984)

2.3.b: One member of the committee shall be appointed to act as an adviser to the Public Relations Office on the preparation of Bulletin and Handbook changes pertaining to academic rules and likewise to consult with the editor of the Faculty Manual. (Passed January 16, 1970, and revised May 6, 1975)

2.3.c: The Academic Affairs Committee shall designate one of its members to meet at least once a semester with the IDP subcommittee on curriculum and internal affairs. (Passed February 15, 1994)

3: Information for the Faculty and Students on Procedures Already Established by the Academic Affairs Committee

3.1: Cases of academic dishonesty must be reported to the Academic Affairs Committee within thirty days of the date when the dishonesty is discovered. (Passed May, 1999)

 3.2: Procedures of Due Process followed by the Academic Affairs Committee in Cases of Academic Dishonesty:

3.2.a: A Faculty member who believes that there has been plagiarism or other academic dishonesty shall provide the Committee with a written charge and specifications. A hearing will be promptly scheduled. Prompt notification of the hearing and a list of Committee members will be given to the Faculty member and the accused student.

3.2.b: A copy of the charge and specifications will be provided to the accused student, who shall attend the hearing. The accused student may be accompanied at the hearing by an adviser if he/she gives adequate notice to the Chair of the Committee. The adviser may not have formal legal training.

3.2.c: The Faculty member will be expected to attend the hearing and may be questioned.

3.2.d: Ordinarily, the Committee will first hear the Faculty member bringing the charge. He/she may make a statement, after which he/she will be questioned by members of the Committee and then by the accused student. Next, the accused student may make a statement, after which he/she will be questioned by members of the Committee and then by the Faculty member.

3.2.e: The Faculty member and the accused student may call witnesses, who may be questioned by members of the Committee and by parties to the case. The witnesses will be heard in an order determined by the Chair. Each witness will be present at the hearing only when giving testimony. Witnesses will be expected not to discuss the case outside of the hearing.

3.2.f: In cases where more than one student has been charged with academic dishonesty, all of the accused students may be present when any one of their number is addressing the Committee.

3.2.g: As a rule, academic dishonesty hearings are closed and the proceedings are kept confidential. A hearing may be open, however, upon the written request of the accused student.

3.2.h: Any member of the Committee who is party to a case shall disqualify himself/herself for that case.

3.2.i: As a rule a student found guilty of academic dishonesty shall be assigned a penalty from one of three Penalty Categories -- Censure, Suspension or Expulsion -- depending on the severity of the offense. The Penalty Categories are described below:

3.2.i.i: CENSURE: The penalty for an initial offense reported to the Committee when the act of academic dishonesty involves cheating on an isolated part of a quiz or an examination, the circumscribed and inadvertent use of an unattributed source (written or oral) within a paper, or other dishonest acts of comparable magnitude.

3.2.i.ii: SUSPENSION: The penalty for repeated cheating on one or more quizzes or examinations, for deliberate plagiarism, or for other dishonest acts of comparable magnitude. This penalty will also be imposed for an offense in a course after the instructor has warned the student in writing (whether or not the initial offense was reported to the Committee) or when a student who has already been Censured for academic dishonesty commits a second censurable offense.

3.2.i.iii: EXPULSION: The penalty when a second penalty of Suspension is warranted.

3.2.j: Within the Penalty Categories Censure and Suspension, the Academic Affairs Committee shall determine the length of the Censure or the Suspension, the conditions, if any, under which a Censure may be removed from the student's Permanent Record, the conditions under which a student on Suspension may return, and any other factors it may deem relevant to the penalty for the case heard.

3.2.k: The Academic Affairs Committee may also recommend that the Faculty member assign a penalty grade to the student in the course in which the offense occurred.

3.2.l: The Committee will not assign a penalty outside the Penalty category for the offense unless there are mitigating circumstances of such unusual magnitude as to be wholly compelling to all of the members of the Committee who heard the case.

3.2.m: The record of each hearing shall consist of a detailed written report which shall be incorporated into the Minutes of the Committee and of a tape recording of the entire hearing. In the event of an appeal, these materials will be made available to the appellant, Faculty members and to the Academic Dishonesty Appeals Board.

(Passed January 16, 1970; May 6, 1975; Revised May 20, 1983; Revised May 8, 1984, February 14, 2006)