FAQ about Penn's Integrity Policy

Yes. There are no records kept of the initial consultation and if you decide not to continue with the case, the CSA will take no action.

If you are willing to talk to the student, perhaps the student can give you an acceptable explanation that leads you to believe no violation occurred. However, if you choose to refer the case to CSA, please advise CSA of what the student said when you discussed the matter. To avoid differing accounts of what transpired when you speak with the student, it would be wise to have someone else with you and to memorialize the conversation in writing immediately after.

The student might be emotional and might try to convince you that having an academic integrity violation on his or her record will be an impediment to getting into graduate school and will “ruin their life.” It might well be the best thing you can do for the student (and for the other students in your class who did not cheat).

It depends on a number of different factors. Sometimes students avoid coming into CSA once we contact them. At the time you report, CSA may have a high caseload or your investigation might be one which takes longer for any number of reasons. In addition, getting the student to accept responsibility in a case in which CSA has found the student responsible for violating the code of academic integrity, might take longer. Expect at least a month.

Once you have reported a case, CSA will try to keep you informed about the progress of the case. If the case goes to a hearing, you will be asked to explain to the panel your reasons for referring the case to the CSA (however, very few cases go to a hearing). Once CSA’s findings are complete, and the student has signed a disciplinary agreement or asked for a hearing, you will be informed.

Once you have reported a case to CSA, you are encouraged not to assign a grade either for the assignment, test, or paper or a final grade for the course until CSA has notified you of the outcome. It is reasonable to consider the result of the disciplinary process in evaluating the merits of the work and determining the final grade. 

According to university policy, the grade assigned is not considered a “sanction,” because only CSA can sanction a student for the violation. This does not mean, however, that the faculty member is constrained in reaching his or her own judgment about the merits of the work at issue or the course as a whole.

If you have given great weight to the findings of CSA, the university’s policy “is to preserve the faculty member’s right to grade work on the basis of all its qualities.”

Sanctions can range from a letter of warning to expulsion. Because each case is different there are no “typical” sanctions. Not all sanctions in academic integrity cases create a reportable disciplinary record. Minor infractions often lead to sanctions such as a warning or a letter of reprimand. These sanctions are not part of a student’s permanent record and not reported outside of the institution. However, CSA does keep an internal record of these minor infractions and prior sanctions will impact subsequent cases.

The sanction imposed depends on the facts of the case, the student’s year, whether the student accepts responsibility, whether the student has any prior violations, among many other factors. Generally, the CSA begins by considering suspension and goes up or down from there depending on the circumstances. Expulsion is rare and is generally reserved for repeat offenders and serious infractions.

The only time a notation of discipline appears on a student’s transcript is when a hearing panel so decides. By University policy, a transcript notation is reserved for particularly egregious cases, such as repeated, serious violations of the Code of Academic Integrity.

Students whose violations merit a sanction above letter of reprimand do have a reportable disciplinary record. The record is part of the student’s academic file (but not their transcript), which is usually released only with the student’s written permission. The information, released by the dean of the student’s undergraduate school or in some cases by CSA, is very brief. It might state “X has a disciplinary record for plagiarism. He or she was found responsible and placed on academic probation.”

Very few cases actually go to a hearing — in a typical year, less than two percent.

Faculty have the authority to report suspected academic integrity violations to CSA. When you refer a case to CSA, CSA manages the process in a way that protects both you and the student. CSA ensures due process, maintains proper records, and is positioned to impose appropriate, precedent-based resolutions on findings of responsibility. If CSA finds a student responsible, that finding provides institutional and investigative support to a faculty member’s grade decision.