Faculty-Student Guide | Vice Principal Academic & Dean

When an Academic Offence is suspected, the Professor or Instructor will meet with the involved student(s) to discuss the matter.

We have also put together a Guide for Supporting Documentation and Evidence for more information on how to assemble a case.

GWR and Meeting Requests

When a student is suspected of an academic integrity offence, the instructor will submit a grade of GWR (grade withheld pending the review of an alleged academic offence) as an amendment through eMarks. With a GWR, the student is unable to drop the course until the academic integrity matter is resolved.

The Professor/ Instructor will compile all the necessary evidence related to the case.

The student(s) will have at least two opportunities to respond to a meeting invitation.

If the student does not respond nor attends the meetings, all case materials will be forwarded to the department Chair for review before being sent to the Academic Integrity Office for further follow-up.

Meeting with the Professor or Instructor

At the meeting, the Professor will start by confirming the student's information and which work the possible academic offence has occurred. The student should be shown any related evidence (submitted work, correspondences, reports etc.), and what specific academic offence is involved. The student has an opportunity to offer an explanation and share any possible mitigating factors for this situation. The Professor and the student should discuss where the issue lies and how to avoid this in their work in the future.

Some suggested campus academic resources may include: Academic Advising and Career Centre, Writing Support, English Language Development Centre, UofT Scarborough Library, AccessAbility Services, Health and Wellness Centre.

During the meeting, if evidence supports an academic offence may have occurred by the student, the student will be advised the following:

They may not drop the course – if they do, they will be reinstated
They may not CR/NCR the course
They should continue working on all course assignments to the best of their abilities
A GWR standing has been placed on their transcript for the course (in place of a grade) and will remain until the academic integrity matter is resolved
They will not be able to graduate until the academic integrity matter is resolved and the GWR is removed from their transcript.
The academic integrity case will be forwarded to the appropriate person/department (department Chair or Academic Integrity Office)
The student should check their utoronto email account regularly and not ignore emails from the department Chair or Academic Integrity Office

The student will be informed of possible next step(s):

If the assignment is worth more than 10% and/or the student has a prior academic offence, the case will be forwarded on to the Academic Integrity Office
If the assignment is worth less than 10% and this is their first offence, the department may internally handle the case

If the Professor/ Instructor comes to the conclusion that an academic offence has not occurred, the student will be informed that further action will not be taken and the GWR on their transcript will be re-instated to an actual grade.

Note: For many students, an academic integrity allegation may be directly related to personal stress. Be sure to provide students with resources should the student indicate in any way that they need additional help, such as the Health and Wellness Centre, My Telus Health, or the Peer Support Program.

To support a student in crisis, please call UTSC’s Campus Safety emergency line at 416.978.2222.

If you have any questions regarding an academic integrity matter or case, please contact the Academic Integrity Office: academic.integrity.utsc@utoronto.ca.

Guide on Supporting Documentation/ Evidence

In order for an Academic Integrity case to move forward, specific types of supporting documentation or evidence may be required. Along with the documentation or evidence listed below, each case must be accompanied by:

the course syllabus
the assignment/assessment rubric
all course grades for the student to that point
a copy of any Quercus or email communication with the student related to the academic integrity case.

Note: it is the instructor and/or department’s responsibility to provide all supporting documents/evidence to the Academic Integrity Office when submitting a case. If it is not, there may be delays in processing the case.

This guide to help determine what evidence may be required based on the type of offence. This list is not final or comprehensive.

Examples of Supporting Documents or Evidence for Types of Offences

PLAGIARISM – Using the words or ideas of another person without citing the source. Examples of evidence may include:

Submitted paper or assignment with the specific sections/passages highlighted that are plagiarized
Ouriginal or Turnitin report
Source(s) of plagiarism - either via screenshots or in PDF or Word format

*Links to source(s) of plagiarism on their own are insufficient as the information can change, links be removed, or be inaccessible due to paywalls or account registration.

UNAUTHORIZED AIDS – Using unauthorized aids, which could be considered cheating on tests and exams. Examples of evidence may include:

Copy of the unauthorized aid (e.g., screenshot of the website, report of use of aid during in-person exam, screenshot of student with unauthorized aid in online proctored exam)
Copy of student’s submission (i.e. test/exam/quiz)
Copy of Google doc or shared document (e.g. Discord chat, WeChat, etc.)
Photos of any aids (cheat sheets, electronics) used/confiscated

UNAUTHORIZED ASSISTANCE - Having someone else do the work for you or providing assistance to someone else. Examples of evidence may include:

Copy of both student’s and co-conspirator's piece of work
Similarity report (i.e., MOSS) if applicable
Screenshots of external tutoring group chat, if applicable
Screen shots of group chat conversations
Screen shots of social media platform used to facilitate collaboration (e.g., Snapchat, Facebook chat, etc.)

*Methods of communication can be the following but not limited to group chats, videos, live documents, etc.

FORGERY OR FALSIFICATION - Making a false statement, presenting a false document or signing someone else’s name on a document required by the University. Examples of evidence may include:

Copy of forged document (e.g. transcripts, medical, degrees, etc.)
Report from office of primary responsibility confirming that the document is forged
Copy of real document

PERSONATION - Having someone else write an exam for you or writing an exam for someone else. Examples of evidence may include:

Copy of Quercus log that shows someone else has accessed the student’s account, other than the student
Exam Incident Report from the Professor indicating details of the personation allegation
Copy of communication from the impersonator

CONCOCTING - Using false data or providing false references. Examples of evidence may include:

Student’s piece of work with the concocted data/reference highlighted
Source of data/reference showing the correct data/reference
Other evidence of concoction as applicable

RESUBMISSION OR "DOUBLE DIPPING" - Submitting work for credit in a course when you have submitted it in another course. Examples of evidence may include:

Copies of the assignment that was previously submitted and the most recent submission in the two (or more) courses
Receipt of any uploads or official submission for multiple courses showing the same assignment received

If you have any questions regarding an academic integrity matter or case, please contact the Academic Integrity Office: academic.integrity.utsc@utoronto.ca.