Sanction Levels
These sanction levels are being proposed so that students from different Faculties receive the same level of sanction for similar acts of fraud, with the impact of these sanctions also being taken into account.
However, the proposed levels should be seen as guidelines to which Faculties are not formally bound – each case of fraud being unique and sanction levels not being able to take all specific circumstances into account. Consider one of many possible examples: a graduate student should normally be subject to stronger sanctions than a first-year student. The sanction levels do not have legal status and cannot be invoked when appealing a decision.
Below are the four sanction levels, covering the most minor offences to the most severe, with examples illustrating the gravity of the fraud under consideration. Faculties can impose one or more sanctions, and even a combination of sanctions from different levels.
Level 1: Sanctions 2(a) and 2(b) – see Regulation on Academic Fraud
Level-1 sanctions should be given for academic fraud on assignments that account for only a small percentage of the final grade or on a small section of a larger assignment. Fraud in these circumstances usually stems from non-observance of the required methodology and is generally attributable to a student’s lack of experience during a first academic session at the postsecondary level. The most frequent cases involve the following:
- students who quote an author word for word without using quotation marks and without providing the reference in a small section of an assignment or on an assignment that accounts for only a small portion of the final grade;
- inexperienced students who present a team assignment in which a section prepared by a teammate comprises elements that constitute academic fraud.
Level 2: Sanctions (c) to (h) – see Regulation on Academic Fraud
Level-2 sanctions should be given for incidents of fraud that are more serious than those of level 1. The most frequent cases involve the following:
- students who have already received a level-1 sanction and who reoffend;
- students who submit the same assignment, or a portion of the same assignment, in two different courses without notifying the professor in advance;
- students who complete an assignment in groups despite the directive to do it alone;
- students who quote an author word for word without using quotation marks or who present another person’s ideas without providing proper acknowledgement;
- students who use plagiarized material in part of an assignment;
- students who make up sources, statements or references;
- students who try to cheat in some way during an examination;
- students who present a large portion of another person’s assignment as their own, or who buy an assignment;
- students who modify a graded work after the fact in the hope of obtaining a grade review.
Level 3: Sanctions (i) to (o) – see Regulation on Academic Fraud
Level-3 sanctions should be given for incidents of fraud that are more serious than those of level 2. The most frequent cases involve the following:
- students who have already received a level-2 sanction and who reoffend;
- students who send another person to write an examination in their place.
Level 4 : Sanctions (p) and (q) – see Regulation on Academic Fraud
Level-4 sanctions should be given for the most serious incidents of fraud. The most frequent cases involve the following:
- students who have already received a level-3 sanction and who reoffend;
- master’s or doctoral students who falsify or make up data or evidence, or who take ownership of another author’s ideas in their thesis or dissertation;
- students who commit a reprehensible act under civil or criminal law for the purpose of academic fraud: falsifying official documents, for instance to gain admission to a program or to qualify for scholarships; breaking and entering to gain access to exam questions; buying questions found on a stolen examination; trying to gain unauthorized access to a computer system in order to change their academic results; trying to sabotage the work of other students, etc.