The Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters
The Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters informs faculty and students of their shared responsibility to uphold honest and fair academic achievement. This implies conduct free of any offence and fulfillment of the university’s principles. Section B. I. 3. B: of the Code states:
“It shall be an offence for a faculty member or student alike knowingly to engage in any form of cheating, academic dishonesty or misconduct, fraud or misrepresentation not herein otherwise described in other to obtain academic credit or other academic advantage of any kind.”
Sanctions Under the Code
Sanctions are imposed on individuals found to have committed an academic offence. Sanctions are penalties that are assigned according to the specific details surrounding the offence, decided by your Chair, Dean, or the University Tribunal. Factors that can impact the type of sanction imposed include context, level of offence, number of prior offences, and admittance of the offence.
Examples of different types of sanctions include an oral and/or written reprimand, a grade reduction, a mark of 0 or a failing grade on the assignment/course, denied use of university facilities, and suspension. For the full list of sanctions, refer to page 20 of the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters.
Offences Under the Code
“B.I.1 It shall be an offence for a student knowingly…”
To represent as one’s own any idea or expression of an idea or work of another in any academic examination or term test or in connection with any other form of academic work, i.e. to commit plagiarism. Examples include:
- Using someone else’s words or ideas without citation or reference
- Poor paraphrasing or lack of quotation marks
To use or possess an unauthorized aid or aids or obtain unauthorized assistance in any academic examination or term test or in connection with any other form of academic work. Examples include:
- Using a tutoring service, friend/family to significantly edit or change your work
- Having access to a phone, group chat, or cheat sheet in an exam when not allowed
- Using a hidden camera and headphones, or other hidden devices, during an exam
- Using generative AI like ChatGPT to produce your work
To submit any academic work containing a purported statement of fact or reference to a source which has been concocted. Examples include:
- Making up data or quotations
- Making up references or sources
To submit, without the knowledge and approval of the instructor to whom it is submitted, any academic work for which credit has previously been obtained or is being sought in another course or program of study in the University of elsewhere. Examples include:
- Handing in a piece of work or part of a work that you’ve already submitted for a grade in another course
To forge or in any other way alter or falsify any document or evidence required by the University, or to utter, circulate or make use of any such forged, altered or falsified document, whether the record be in print or electronic form. Examples include:
- Submitting a fake medical note
- Altering your official academic record/transcript
- Altering your official UTSC financial record
- Submitting any falsified document to the University
To personate another person, or to have another person personate, at any academic examination or term or in connection with any other form of academic work. Examples includes:
- Someone writing a test or exam for you
- Writing someone else’s test or exam