Changes to the Penalty Guidelines effective September 1st 2014
www.ryerson.ca/ai aio@ryerson.ca
Policy 60 Academic Misconduct Penalty Guidelines
Suggested Guidelines for Faculty, Academic Integrity Council (AIC) and Senate Appeals Committees (SAC) on Issuing Penalties
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS:
SUGGESTED GUIDELINES1
 Can be assigned as part of a
penalty for educational
purposes where appropriate.
 Can be assigned as a course
requirement if a student is
not charged.
 Minimum penalty if
misconduct is outside of a
course.
Grade reduction
 Penalty most often selected
which can include a
by faculty for most minor acts
Zero (0) on the work
of misconduct
(Minimum penalty in a
 Cannot be assigned if
course)
misconduct is outside of a
course
F grade in the course
 Seriously pre-meditated
 Affected others
 Serious breach of
professional ethics
 Occurred in an upper year or
capstone course for the
program
 Cannot be assigned if
misconduct is outside of a
PENALTY
Academic Integrity
Tutorial Workshops
1
EXAMPLES1
 List of available workshops:
https://ccs.cf.ryerson.ca/studentworkshops/aistudent/notice.cfm








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Minor plagiarism
Sharing files/work with another student (working together on an individual
assignment)
Minor cheating in a test or exam
Major plagiarism
Enlisting someone else to do an assignment or paper
Submitting another student’s work (in whole or part) without his or her
knowledge
Fabricating data or information about patient or client
Cheating or plagiarizing in a 4th year capstone or upper level course
Lying or supplying false information (severity depends on document and
purpose)
Not an exhaustive list – each situation may vary depending on details
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Changes to the Penalty Guidelines effective September 1st 2014
www.ryerson.ca/ai aio@ryerson.ca
Policy 60 Academic Misconduct Penalty Guidelines
Recommendation of
Disciplinary
Suspension (DS) from
1 term to 2 years



course
Believed that the student
needs to take time off to
resolve other issues or reassess their role as a student
Affected many others (largescale cheating situation)
More serious misconduct
outside of a course
Believed that the student is
not suitable for the
profession in their field of
study
Recommendation of
Disciplinary
Withdrawal (DW)

Recommendation of
Expulsion


Very rare
Believed that the student is
not suitable for study at
Ryerson University in any
program
2 or More Disciplinary
Notations
(An automatic hearing
with recommendation
of penalty coming
from the
chair/director)


No term of suspension
Disciplinary Suspension (DS)
from 1 term to 2 years
Disciplinary Withdrawal (DW)
Expulsion


 Major cheating in a test or exam
Situations in which students have been or should be on Disciplinary Suspension:
 Student altered transcript for entry into co-op program and potential co-op
placement
 Student enlists outside professional services to complete work
 Student aids others in large-scale cheating
 Student lies or supplies false information (severity depends on document
and purpose)
Situations in which students have been or should be withdrawn:
 Student enlisted someone else to do their exams for them
 Student stole an exam
 Student stole someone else’s work and submitted it for grading
 Student lied or supplied false information (severity depends on document
and purpose)
 Alteration of an official documentation
Situations in which students were expelled:
 Student stole an exam with the intention of selling
 In an appeal hearing for a charge of misconduct, the student submitted
altered documentation
 Student misrepresented himself as an instructor to obtain the Instructor test
bank
 Student submitted a false document and misrepresented himself as a Dean
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No term of suspension occurs when it is believed that the student did not have an
opportunity to learn (example: appropriate citation) from the first offence (offences
happen during the same semester or same time frame)
DS occurs when 2 acts of misconduct have occurred. Term is based on acts of
misconduct committed and seriousness
DW occurs when it is believed that after these 2 or more acts of misconduct the
student is not suitable for the profession in their field of study
Expulsion occurs normally when a student has received 3 or more disciplinary
notations
2/4
Changes to the Penalty Guidelines effective September 1st 2014
www.ryerson.ca/ai aio@ryerson.ca
Policy 60 Academic Misconduct Penalty Guidelines
GRADUATE STUDENTS:
SUGGESTED GUIDELINES2
EXAMPLES1
 Can be assigned as part of a
 List of available workshops:
penalty for educational
https://ccs.cf.ryerson.ca/studentworkshops/aistudent/notice.cfm
purposes where
appropriate.
 Can be assigned as a course
requirement if a student is
not charged.
 Minimum penalty if
misconduct is outside of a
course.
Grade reduction
 Penalty most often selected
 Minor plagiarism
which can include a
by faculty for most minor
 Sharing files/work with another student (working together on an individual
Zero (0) on the work
acts of misconduct
assignment)
(Minimum penalty in a
 Cannot be assigned if
 Minor cheating in a test or exam
course)
misconduct is outside of a
course
F grade in the course
 Seriously pre-meditated
 Major plagiarism
 Affected others
 Enlisting someone else to do an assignment or paper
 Cannot be assigned if
 Submitting another student’s work (in whole or part) without his or her
misconduct is outside of a
knowledge
course
 Cheating
Recommendation of
 Believed that the student is Situations in which students have been or should be withdrawn:
Disciplinary
not suitable for the
 Major plagiarism in a thesis (including submitted drafts) or comprehensive
Withdrawal (DW)
profession in their field of
exam
study
 Student enlisted someone else to do their exams for them
PENALTY
Academic Integrity
Tutorial Workshops
2
Not an exhaustive list – each situation may vary depending on details
3/4
Changes to the Penalty Guidelines effective September 1st 2014
www.ryerson.ca/ai aio@ryerson.ca
Policy 60 Academic Misconduct Penalty Guidelines

Serious breach of
professional ethics
Recommendation of
Expulsion


Very rare
Believed that the student is
not suitable for study at
Ryerson University in any
program
2 or More Disciplinary
Notations
(An automatic hearing
with recommendation
of penalty coming
from the Program
Director)
Fail
(Minimum penalty
outside of a course)
(Please see Policy 60
section E4 for more
information)

Disciplinary Withdrawal
(DW)
Expulsion



NEW penalty for graduate
supervised research
activities/ outside of a
course (See Policy 60
Section E4 for more
information)
Constitutes a failed attempt



Student stole an exam
Student stole someone else’s work and submitted it for grading
Student lied or supplied false information (severity depends on document
and purpose)
 Alteration of an official documentation
 Fabricating data or results
 Lying or supplying false information
Situations in which students were expelled:
 Student stole an exam with the intention of selling
 In an appeal hearing for a charge of misconduct, the student submitted
altered documentation
 Student misrepresented himself as an instructor to obtain the Instructor test
bank
 Student submitted a false document and misrepresented himself as a Dean
 DW occurs when the student has received 2 acts of academic misconduct
 Expulsion occurs normally when a student has received 3 or more
disciplinary notations

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Appropriate for a finding of plagiarism in a thesis, etc. where an educational
remedy has already been assigned, but not in the case of a second charge of
academic misconduct.
Please contact the Academic Integrity Office for advice at aio@ryerson.ca or
at 419-979-5000 ext. 3273.
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