Effective Date: August 12, 2023

Step 1. Reporting of the Accusation

If a complainant believes that a student has more likely than not violated the Graduate Honor Code, the complainant documents the evidence and sends the complaint to the GPS Academic Integrity Officer (Kate Cross, Associate Dean in Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies) via the accusation webform.  The complainant should include all known evidence at the time of the accusation, including if they believe the offense was intentional or unintentional.  Questions may be sent to gradhonor@rice.edu directly.

Any individual, including a peer, who believes a student has more likely than not violated the Graduate Honor Code may submit the webform.  If they do not have sufficient evidence to assess whether it is more likely than not a student violated the Graduate Honor Code, they may approach the instructor with their suspicions.  The instructor then may choose to investigate the accusation and submit the complaint.  In this case, the instructor may not provide feedback to the individual who raised the concern unless they have a legitimate educational interest under federal law, specifically the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Accusations of violating the Graduate Honor Code must be reported to the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) within 30 calendar days of the discovery, but in any event no later than 30 calendar days after the final grades for the course are due to the Registrar, as posted in the university’s Academic Calendar.  Accusations received after that date will generally not be investigated unless the Graduate Academic Integrity Officer finds a compelling reason to do so.  The reporting date is the date the accusation webform is officially submitted to the GPS Graduate Academic Integrity Officer.

In the interim, while the accusation is reviewed through the Graduate Academic Integrity System, the instructor of record is expected to grade the assignment as though there were no suspicion of academic misconduct.  Penalties for misconduct are assessed only after the student has been found “in violation” and are based on the consensus penalty structure.

Step 2. Determination of Course-Related Graduate Honor Code Violation made by GPS

The GPS Graduate Academic Integrity Officer determines whether the accusation is subject to the Graduate Academic Integrity System.  If it is not, it is redirected to the appropriate office (e.g., the VPR investigates research misconduct) with a notification to the complainant as appropriate.

Step 3. Notifications

The Graduate Academic Integrity Officer (GPS) will:

• Forward the webform to the Departmental Academic Integrity Contact (department) for the course. The relevant department is based on the home department (or institute/center) of the course.  If the course is taught outside of a department, the home department/institute of the course’s primary instructor will receive the webform.
• Forward the notification webform to the student, inform them of the complaint against them as well as of these procedures and their rights and responsibilities, the potential penalty information and provides the student the opportunity to respond (see step 4).
• Place a hold (HOLD: Academic Integrity) on the students’ access to their transcript, prohibit the student’s ability to drop the course, and to remove the student’s feedback from the corresponding course and instructor’s evaluation.
  • Accused students will need to contact gradhonor@rice.edu for permission to add or drop courses irrelevant to the accusation.
  • An accused student may also contact gradhonor@rice.edu to request a drop of the course relevant to the accusation, however the drop will be only be approved if the student is found “not in violation.”  The drop will be processed based on the date of the request to gradhonor@rice.edu.

Step 4. Student Response

The student will have the right to access all statements and evidence submitted by the complainant in support of the allegation.  This evidence may be redacted to protect any other student accused in a similar case.  The Graduate Academic Integrity Officer is available to clarify the procedures outlined in this document, but it is the responsibility of the student to determine the potential impact of their plea/response.

Based on what is presented, the student completes the Plea/Response Section of the form: either yes (“in violation”) or no (“not in violation”).

If no (“not in violation”), the student may provide a written explanation as to how they are not in violation of the Graduate Honor Code, additionally providing all evidence they have to support their plea. The student must submit the student response webform (sent by email within their accusation) within 14 calendar days from the date it was sent to the student. If a student fails to comply, the case will move forward to the Department Committee to be adjudicated based on the evidence provided by the complainant.

A student who has previously been found or pleaded “in violation” may plea “in violation” to stop the adjudication process, but they are not eligible for a reduced penalty for pleading “in violation.”  Second findings of “in violation” normally result in suspension or expulsion from the university at the discretion of the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, whether or not the program makes a recommendation.  Additionally, first violations that are egregious due to the nature of the offense (not the weight of the assignment) are also subject to potential suspension or expulsion from the university, again at the discretion of the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Step 5.  Adjudication

When the student pleads “in violation”, GPS adjudicates the plea based on the Penalty Structure.  The investigation ends.  The student remains ineligible to drop the course or have it removed from their transcript. Students will need to contact gradhonor@rice.edu for permission to add or drop courses irrelevant to the investigation.

When the student responds “not in violation,” GPS sends the allegation and the student response to the Departmental Academic Integrity Contact (based on the home department of the course, or instructor if the course has no department assigned).

The Departmental Academic Integrity Contact identifies the committee that will review the materials submitted.  Departments have the discretion to design these committees, but departmental committees must consist of, at minimum, two department faculty (one must be tenured) and one graduate student from the department.  These committees may be standing or ad hoc.  The Committee members must be free of any conflict of interest that would impair their ability to adjudicate the allegation impartially.

GPS will notify the complainant and student of the proposed members of the Department Committee and the parties’ right to challenge the participation of a committee member due to a conflict of interest.  If the complainant or student raises a conflict of interest, the Department Chair or the School Dean (when there may be a conflict of interest with the department chair), will decide whether a proposed committee member should not participate due to a conflict of interest.  When there is no relevant Department Chair, the Graduate Academic Integrity Officer will identify the cognizant authority to respond to a question of a conflict of interest.

The Department Committee reviews the allegation and student response forms.  The Department Committee can:

• dismiss the case without further review because the preponderance of evidence standard has not been met by materials provided by the complainant and/or student. If this happens, the Department Committee records its decision as “not in violation” and returns the decision to GPS.
• decide that the preponderance of evidence standard has very likely been established or definitely established.
• proceed with further investigation, which may include interviewing the student to review the evidence and discuss the matter. The Committee may also, at its discretion, interview the complainant (and the instructor if those are different people) and/or witnesses.  All interviews must be recorded (via Zoom or other means).  Interviews should last no longer than one hour.

Generally, the interview with a student follows this structure:

1. 1. Optional opening statement by student (no more than 10 minutes in length unless specifically extended by the Department Committee Chair)
   2. Questions of the student by the Department Committee.
   3. Optional closing statement by the student (no more than 5 minutes in length unless specifically extended by the Department Committee Chair)

After any interviews, the Department Committee records its final decision as “in violation” or “not in violation” and returns it to GPS.  Department Committee decisions must be unanimous, or the finding is treated as “not in violation”

For findings of “in violation”, the committee will also assess if the offense was intentional or not intentional.  Department decisions must be unanimous to have effect; a split decision about whether the offense was intentional is treated as unintentional.

If the student does not appear at the interview and does not give notice of non-appearance at least 48 hours in advance of its scheduled day and time, the hearing may continue or be rescheduled, at the discretion of the Department Committee Chair.

The department adjudication process should be completed within 30 calendar days.

Step 6. Notification

The Graduate Academic Integrity Officer reviews the feedback from the departmental committee and reviews the record with the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. In the event that a student is found “in violation”, the Graduate Academic Integrity Officer implements the relevant penalty according to the Penalty Structure.

For egregious offenses, the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies has the authority to invoke a penalty of suspension or expulsion from the university, in addition to any penalties from the consensus penalty structure.

The student is informed of their right to appeal.

A separate notice goes to the instructor of the course in which the violation occurred and to the Department Academic Integrity Contact.

In the event that a student is found “not in violation,” the student, instructor, and Departmental Academic Integrity Contact contact are also informed of the decision.

Appeal

Students may appeal findings of “in violation” to the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.  Appeals must be made in writing and sent by email to the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (with a copy to the GPS Graduate Academic Integrity Officer at gradhonor@rice.edu) within 30 calendar days of the notice to the student that they were found in violation. Acceptable grounds for an appeal are procedural errors by academic or administrative personnel.  The student must provide evidence that the process was not appropriately followed or provide new evidence that was not available to the student at the time of adjudication.  Disagreement over evaluation of academic misconduct will not be considered as an appropriate basis for appeals, since the scholars in the discipline have the clearest understanding of the subject matter and the expectations in that field. Penalties for infractions are defined by the consensus penalty structure and are not subject to appeal if the decision on the infraction stands.  The decision of this appeal is final.

The Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies has authority to invoke a penalty of suspension or expulsion from the university, in addition to any penalties from the consensus penalty structure for findings of “in violation with intent”.  Any appeals of penalties that the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies has added beyond the consensus penalty structure are directed to the Provost, and sent by email to the Provost (with a copy to the GPS Graduate Academic Integrity Officer at gradhonor@rice.edu) within 30 calendar days of the notice to the student that they were found in violation.

Adjustments to Procedures

These procedures may be updated to maintain the integrity of the Graduate Honor Code or for clarity, fairness, or efficiency prior to each semester by the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, consulting Graduate Council for substantial changes.

Penalty Structure

The Penalty Structure is applied without consideration for any mitigating factors or the impact on the student.

Assignment Weight	Standard Penalty	Penalty if the Student Pleas “In Violation” *(see below)
0 – 10%	2 letter grade reduction in course (i.e., grade of A becomes C)	1 letter grade reduction in course (i.e., grade of A becomes B)
> 10-20%	3 letter grade reduction in course (i.e., grade of A becomes D)	2 letter grade reduction in course (i.e., grade of A becomes C)
> 20-40%	F in course	3 letter grade reduction in course (i.e., grade of A becomes D)
> 40-50%	F in course and 1 semester academic suspension from university	F in course
> 50%	F in course and 2 semester academic suspension from university	F in course

* Reduced plea penalty is only available if the student has not previously been found or pled in violation as a graduate student at Rice.

Assignment weight is the weight within the course.  Portions of assignments (e.g., one question of a ten-question examination) where an allegation has been made is an allegation for the entire assignment and should be weighted for the entire assignment.

Findings of “in violation” in more than two accusations normally result in suspension or expulsion from the university at the discretion of the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies with or without a program recommendation.  Additionally, findings that are egregious due to the nature of the offense or the intent (not the weight of the assignment) are also subject to potential suspension or expulsion from the university, again at the discretion of the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Suspensions for Graduate Honor Code violations occur in the next semester of expected enrollment following the term in which the case is concluded.  Expulsions have an immediate effect, after the appeals process is exhausted.