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Contact Officer | Registrar |
Approval Date | 25/08/2010 |
Approval Authority | Council |
Date of Next Review | 01/09/2013 |
8.1.1 Principles
8.1.2 Categories of student misconduct
8.1.3 Definitions
8.1.4 Responsibilities for student misconduct
8.1.5 Detection and reporting
8.1.6 Management of minor misconduct
8.1.7 Dealing with allegations of major misconduct
8.1.8 Penalties
8.1.9 Interim suspension
8.1.10 Appeals
8.1.11 Recordkeeping and reporting
Related Documents
Modification History
8.1.1 Principles
As members of the University community, students must conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the standards of behaviour set out in the QUT Student Code of Conduct (E/2.1) and other related policies. These standards of behaviour promote the good order and management of the University, and academic integrity.
Failure by a student to meet these standards of behaviour is dealt with as misconduct and the student may be subject to disciplinary action. Disciplinary action for misconduct will be taken by QUT under this policy in accordance with the following principles
- disciplinary procedures should be fair and just, and consistent with the requirements of natural justice
- penalties imposed for proven misconduct should be appropriate, proportionate and consistent
- decision-making on misconduct should be delegated to appropriate levels of responsibility within the University, and committees formed to consider student misconduct should include student representation.
The procedures for the management of student discipline set out in this policy will apply to any student of QUT.
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8.1.2 Categories of student misconduct
QUT defines student misconduct as coming within one of the following categories
- academic misconduct (C/5.3)
- breaches of policy on acceptable use of information technology resources (referred to in this policy as "acceptable use breach") (F/1.11)
- research misconduct (D/2.6)
- non-academic misconduct (E/2.1).
Breaches of library borrowing conditions are generally managed in accordance with procedures set out in borrowing of library resources (F/1.12).
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8.1.3 Definitions
'Discipline committee' means a committee having responsibility for considering major cases of student misconduct, as set out in 8.1.4.
'Minor misconduct' refers to behaviour which breaches the standards of conduct set out in the Student Code of Conduct (E/2.1), but where the extent, seriousness or impact of the breach is not substantial. Recidivist behaviour (in the same category of misconduct) will not be regarded as minor misconduct if the student has previously been counselled about the standards of conduct required by the University.
'Executive dean of faculty' includes the Director, QUT International College.
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8.1.4 Responsibilities for student misconduct
Responsibility for considering cases of alleged student misconduct and for determining whether misconduct is proven is delegated as follows.
The officer responsible for dealing with minor cases in each category also has a general responsibility for promoting compliance with relevant behavioural standards and for initiating processes for detection of breaches relevant to their area of responsibility, and will be the primary contact to receive information or a report on alleged misconduct in that category.
Major allegations of misconduct are dealt with by the relevant discipline committee constituted in accordance with terms of reference approved by the University. Discipline committee membership takes account of relevant expertise and includes student representation.
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8.1.5 Detection and reporting
Reports of alleged misconduct may come from a number of sources. Any person having relevant information about suspected misconduct may report it to the officer designated in 8.1.4. Additionally, the University undertakes routine checks on compliance in some areas, for instance, by review of logs of IT activity or by utilising plagiarism detection tools.
If a person is uncertain as to the appropriate officer to whom suspected misconduct should be reported, then the report may be provided to the Registrar, who will ensure that the report is referred to the appropriate officer.
Upon receipt of a report, the responsible officer should consider the following matters (in consultation with other senior officers as appropriate)
- whether the allegations should be dealt with as minor misconduct or not
- whether the circumstances warrant the imposition of an interim suspension by the Registrar under 8.1.9
- whether the student may have breached criminal laws and whether the conduct should be reported to the police or other law enforcement agencies by the Registrar in accordance with established protocols.
If it is determined that the matter should be dealt with under procedures for major misconduct, then a report of alleged misconduct, including all relevant documents and evidence, should be made by the responsible officer to the secretary of the appropriate discipline committee.
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8.1.6 Management of minor misconduct
Regardless of the category of misconduct, minor instances of misconduct by a student should be dealt with promptly and informally. The approach to managing misconduct at this level should be educative, raising a student's awareness of relevant behavioural standards or expectations, and without the imposition of any penalty specified in this policy.
Management of minor misconduct involves the following steps
- examination of documentation or evidence relevant to an allegation of minor misconduct
- interviewing the student concerned or otherwise informing the student of the manner in which their behaviour appears to have fallen below the required standards
- counselling the student about the standards to be met and, if applicable, outlining any available support mechanisms which may assist the student to meet those standards in the future.
In appropriate cases (particularly cases of non-academic misconduct), minor instances of misconduct may result in the responsible officer issuing a warning or, in appropriate cases, issuing directions to the student, in order to prevent occurrences of misconduct in the future or to remedy the minor breach. Records must be kept in accordance with 8.1.11 of how minor misconduct has been managed, in particular, any written warning or instructions given to the student to guide future behaviour.
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8.1.7 Dealing with allegations of major misconduct
Because significant cases of misconduct may, if proven, result in the imposition of a penalty upon the student, the procedures to be followed must be consistent with requirements of natural justice. All of the following steps must be undertaken in relation to misconduct which is alleged to have occurred whilst a person is a student at QUT.
(a) Allegation notice
Allegations of misconduct must be put to the student in writing. To ensure receipt by the student, the allegation notice must be posted to the student's current postal address in the student management system, and a copy forwarded to the student email address employed by the University for student communications. A notice must contain the following information to assist the student to understand the nature of the allegation, the process for dealing with the allegation, and the student's rights
(i) the relevant section of the QUT Student Code of Conduct (E/2.1.4) alleged to have been breached
(ii) the particulars or evidence of the incident or conduct giving rise to the allegation
(iii) the date, time and place set for a meeting at which the allegation of misconduct will be considered by the discipline committee responsible for dealing with misconduct in that category
(iv) any person proposed to be interviewed by the discipline committee at the meeting
(v) the student's right to respond to the allegation by, if the student elects, attending the meeting, and in any case, by providing written submissions on the allegations or the type of penalty which could be imposed if the allegation is proven
(vi) the student's right to arrange for the attendance of a person with relevant information to be interviewed by the discipline committee at the meeting
(vii) the student's right to be accompanied or represented by a support person at the meeting (for further, see 8.1.7(c))
(viii) the consequences of non-attendance or of failing to provide written submissions, including the powers of the discipline committee to determine the allegation and impose a penalty on the student
(ix) the support services provided by the QUT Student Guild to assist a student in responding to allegations.
The chair of the discipline committee which deals with significant cases of misconduct in the relevant category is responsible for ensuring that an allegation notice in this form is sent to the student. Copies of all documents or written evidence to be taken into consideration by the discipline committee should be provided to the student at the same time as the allegation notice is sent.
(b) Time for meeting
The discipline committee meeting at which the allegations will be considered must be held no less than 10 working days and not more than 20 working days after the date upon which the allegation notice was sent to the student.
(c) Meeting procedures
Meetings of the relevant discipline committee will be conducted in accordance with Council Procedure 1 - Committees. If a student is not present at the meeting within 10 minutes of the starting time for the meeting, the discipline committee may proceed to determine the matter without further recourse to the student, though the discipline committee must take into account any written submissions provided by the student prior to the meeting date and time.
If the student is present, the student must be given the opportunity to ask questions of any person interviewed by the committee and may present any facts, evidence, documents or oral submissions relevant to the allegations. The student may be accompanied to the meeting by a support person.
A representative may attend the meeting in the student's place, and has the same rights of audience and debate as the student. However, neither the student nor the University is entitled to have a legal representative (being a person who has been admitted as a legal practitioner in any Australian jurisdiction) present during the meeting.
A report of discussion and the findings of the discipline committee on the student's case must be prepared.
(d) Findings of misconduct
The discipline committee must determine whether misconduct is proven to the committee's reasonable satisfaction. The discipline committee is not bound by the formal rules of evidence or other legal technicalities, but must make a finding based on logical, credible and relevant evidence. The discipline committee must produce a report of its findings which is made routinely available to the student at the time that the student is informed of the outcome of the meeting by the discipline committee chair in writing.
(e) Recommendation on penalty
It is the role of the discipline committee to make a recommendation on penalty. Once a finding of misconduct is made, the committee should invite submissions from the student (if present at the meeting) regarding the appropriate penalty to be applied.
The recommendation regarding penalty should take account of
- the seriousness and impact of the misconduct
- any mitigating circumstances
- the relevance of any proposed penalty to the nature of the misconduct
- penalties applied by the Registrar in similar proven cases
- whether the student has a history of prior proven cases of misconduct
- the imposition and duration of any interim suspension.
Penalties for significant misconduct (in all categories) are imposed upon students by the Registrar as chief administrative officer of the University, though the Registrar may delegate imposition of certain penalties to other officers of the University in the limited circumstances set out in 8.1.8.
(f) Dealing with allegations where the student ceases to be enrolled
In the event that a student against whom misconduct is alleged discontinues, withdraws their enrolment or takes an approved leave of absence, the discipline committee may at its discretion proceed to determine the matter, provided that the procedures in this policy are followed. Alternatively, the chair of the discipline committee may elect to defer consideration of the case until such time as the person resumes studies at QUT. In the latter case, the chair will notify the person of this decision.
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8.1.8 Penalties
The following penalties may be imposed for proven student misconduct
(a) suspension of the student for a specified period and/or subject to specified conditions, from any or all of the following
(i) entering on university land
(ii) using the university's information technology resources
(iii) attendance at classes
(b) allocation of a failing grade of 1 in a unit or units
(c) reduction of the student's mark in an assessment item, including reduction of the mark to zero
(d) cancellation of credit gained towards an award course
(e) withholding of examination results for a specified period and/or subject to specified conditions
(f) imposition of a period of provisional enrolment (a period of enrolment subject to specified conditions)
(g) exclusion from enrolment at the university for a specified period and/or subject to specified conditions
(h) an order to pay restitution of an amount not exceeding $1000
(i) permanent expulsion from the university.
Any suspension under paragraph (a) will have the effect of prohibiting the student from exercising the privileges or using the services specified in that paragraph.
The Registrar may impose all penalties specified above, upon recommendation from the relevant discipline committee, though the Registrar has discretion to impose a penalty different from the penalty recommended by the discipline committee. The Registrar will notify the student in writing of the penalty. However, if the student did not attend the meeting of the discipline committee, the Registrar must not implement the penalty until the student has been given the opportunity to make a submission on penalty.
For proven cases of academic misconduct occurring wholly within one faculty, the Registrar may delegate at their discretion the imposition of the following penalties only
reduction of the student's mark in an assessment item, including a reduction of the mark to zero
allocation of a failing grade of 1 in the unit in which the academic misconduct occurred.
Any penalty imposed becomes operative immediately.
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8.1.9 Interim suspension
An interim suspension may be imposed upon a student in circumstances where the alleged misconduct raises a concern that there are serious risks associated with the student's continuing presence at a University site or the student's continuing use of the University's information technology resources.
The Registrar may impose an interim suspension on a student, but only if the Registrar believes that this is reasonably necessary to avert a serious and urgent risk of any of the following
(a) physical or psychological harm to a person
(b) damage to University land, building or facility or to the University's information technology resources
(c) disruption of a legitimate University activity
(d) the student continuing to act in a manner which may amount to misconduct.
The interim suspension will continue until a decision is made on the alleged misconduct, or until the risk has passed.
The Registrar will notify the student and the discipline committee of the interim suspension imposed. The Registrar must consider whether the interim suspension should remain in force if submissions are received from the student about the imposition or duration of the interim suspension.
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8.1.10 Appeals
University Appeals Committee considers appeals on disciplinary matters. A student upon whom a penalty has been imposed under 8.1.8 is entitled to appeal to the Appeals Committee on one or more of the following grounds
- that the decision is manifestly unreasonable taking into account all the circumstances of the case or cannot be supported by the evidence that was available at the time the decision was made
- that procedural requirements specified in this policy were not followed and resulted in a decision which was manifestly unfair
- that relevant evidence was not considered in reaching the decision or that irrelevant evidence was relied upon in reaching the decision
- that fresh evidence has become available to the student which was not available or not known to the student at the time that the allegation was heard or decided
- that a penalty imposed under 8.1.8 was manifestly excessive or inappropriate, taking into account all the circumstances of the case.
An appeal must be in writing and must be submitted to the secretary of the Appeals Committee within 10 working days of receiving final written notice of the decision of the Registrar. A student may provide any written evidence, information or submissions relevant to the grounds of appeal relied upon. An appeal does not affect the implementation or imposition of any penalty imposed, unless the penalty is varied or revoked by a decision of the Appeals Committee after consideration of the student's appeal.
The Appeals Committee may
- dismiss the appeal by confirming the decision initially made
- uphold the appeal by revoking the finding of misconduct
- confirm, vary or revoke any penalty imposed.
Where the Appeals Committee concludes that the required procedures for considering allegations of misconduct have not been followed, it may refer the matter back to the relevant discipline committee or officer to be dealt with in accordance with the procedures set out in this policy. The student must be advised of the outcome of the appeal within 5 working days of the meeting of the Appeals Committee.
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8.1.11 Recordkeeping and reporting
Records must be maintained for minor and major cases of misconduct.
Records of minor breaches must be maintained in the corporate records system. For major cases of misconduct and appeals, records must be maintained in the corporate records system of all stages of the disciplinary process and of any evidence, supporting documentation and correspondence. Records must be kept even where allegations are not proven. The relevant discipline committee chair is responsible for providing records to Appeals Committee upon request. The Registrar is responsible for maintaining a register of penalties for the purposes of ensuring penalties are applied consistently and to identify repeat misconduct.
A report on student misconduct management, at a summary level, is prepared and presented to Vice-Chancellor's Advisory Committee annually and, for academic and research misconduct, to University Academic Board.
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Related Documents
MOPP E/2.1 QUT Student Code of Conduct
MOPP C/5.3 Procedures for academic dishonesty
MOPP D/2.6 QUT Code of Conduct for Research
MOPP F/1.11 Acceptable use of information technology resources
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Modification History
|
Date |
Sections |
Source |
Details |
| 29.11.10 |
All |
Governance Services |
Revised policy - minor editorial changes only |
| 25.08.10
|
All |
Council
|
New policy (replaces lapsed Statute No 2 (Student Discipline) 1999 and former E/8.1 Student Discipline) |
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