“Plagiarism”
A sophomore was referred to Student Judicial Affairs for plagiarizing a paper in an anthropology
course. The TA who was grading the student’s paper noticed that some paragraphs were
written better and more accurately than other paragraphs within the paper. The TA proceeded to
look up a couple of phrases via Google and indeed found that some sentences were taken word
for word from an online source. This particular online source was not cited at all in the student’s
paper. When the student met with a Judicial Officer, he confessed that he did not know how to
cite sources properly and thus admitted to having plagiarized parts of his paper. The student
accepted the sanction of Disciplinary Probation until Fall Quarter 2012 and agreed to complete
community service hours. He also agreed to read a plagiarism pamphlet and to sign a contract
afterwards confirming that he understands what plagiarism is. Lastly, he agreed to meet with a
Student Academic Success Center writing specialist to go over his paper and how to cite.
“Theft”
A student was referred to SJA for stealing clothing from the UC Davis Bookstore. When she met
with a Judicial Officer concerning the theft, she admitted to have stolen the piece of clothing and
stated that she was dealing with a lot of stress from back home and from her academics. As a
disciplinary sanction for the theft, she accepted Deferred Separation status. She also agreed to
meet with a counselor at CAPS for help in dealing with the stress. Lastly, she agreed to write a
reflection paper about her experiences with SJA and CAPS and submit it to SJA during Spring
Quarter 2012.
“Unauthorized Assistance”
A student was referred to SJA for receiving unauthorized assistance on an assignment in an
engineering course. The professor noticed that this student’s work was very similar to another
student’s. When he met with a Judicial Officer, the student admitted that he had struggled with
the homework assignment and had thus sought help from someone who had taken the same
course before. The student also acknowledged that the TA, rather than another student, could
have been his source for help on the assignment. The student agreed to be put on Disciplinary
Probation until Fall Quarter 2012 as a result of his academic misconduct.