The Secretary is responsible for the following:
- Keeping accurate records for all academic misconduct cases and outcomes.
- Arranging Academic Misconduct Committee hearings.
- Managing Referral Case Lists
- Preparing and sending letters to students at the necessary stages of each case.
- Ensuring cases are processed within the required timeframe (40 working days in total).
Secretaries who are new to Academic Misconduct procedures may wish to use the AMC Secretary Checklist as a guide for ensuring that all steps in the process have been completed.
Document list
Processing a Referral
In general it is good practice to inform students when their work has been referred for an alleged breach of academic integrity, and provide them with information about the next steps in the process.
A Notice of Academic Misconduct Referral email template has been provided for this purpose in the list of Annex 10 appendices, in addition to other relevant template documents.
Referral Outcomes
If the Committee Chair determines that there is not enough evidence to support the referral or prove that academic misconduct has occurred, the student will receive no penalty, and no record of the referral will be kept on KentVision. The AMC Secretary should send the student a letter informing them of this outcome (see Appendix H).
The Academic Misconduct Referral Form should be updated to reflect this decision, and the case can then be closed.
If the Committee Chair determines that a penalty should be applied from categories A-C for a first/Minor or Significant offence, then the following actions would need to take place:
- Write to the student informing them of the proposed penalty by the Chair (see Appendix D, E or F, as applicable).
Students will have 10 days to inform the Division if they wish to contest the case. If they fail to reply within the given time period then the following actions should be followed:
- A second letter issued to the student (Appendix I).
- The Academic Misconduct Referral Form updated to include confirmed penalty.
- The Chair of the relevant Board of Examiners informed of the decision.
Should the student opt to contest either the allegation and/or the proposed penalty within the timeframe, then the case should be put forward for consideration by the Academic Misconduct Committee.
If the Committee Chair determines that a penalty should be applied from categories C-E for a repeated Significant or Serious offence, then the following actions would need to take place:
- Write to the student informing them that the case has been deemed as Significant/Serious and a meeting of the Academic Misconduct Committee will be convened (Appendix G).
- Arrange the Committee, ensuring that an accurate record is kept of Committee proceedings.
- The Academic Misconduct Referral Form updated to include confirmed penalty.
- A second letter issued to the student informing them of the Committee outcome (Appendix K).
- The Chair of the relevant Board of Examiners informed of the decision.
Organising a Committee Meeting
The full procedures for Academic Misconduct Committees are laid out in section 7 of Annex 10 of the Credit Framework.
If the need for an Academic Misconduct Committee should arise, then the Secretary should liaise with the other members of the committee to organise a meeting date and time. Once this is confirmed the student shall be informed and provided with the opportunity to either submit evidence in writing or (at the Chair’s consideration) attend the hearing in person.
During the meeting itself, a confidential record should be kept of all cases by the Secretary and then kept on file in accordance with the University’s Documentation Retention and Archiving Policy.
Once a decision has been reached by the Committee, the Secretary will inform the Chair of the relevant Board of Examiners as well as the respective student.
In receiving the outcome of the Academic Misconduct Committee, the student will be informed of their right to appeal which will be handled by the Quality Assurance and Compliance Office.
Document list
Items to Note
- Hearings are not legal proceedings and a student may not normally be accompanied by a legal representative. Further guidance should the student be liable for legal representation can be found in section 7.1.6 of Annex 10.
- Academic Misconduct Committee minutes may be required for both internal and external review should the student appeal the outcome.