Trouble with studying
Two students were referred to Student Judicial Affairs for collaborating and/or copying when the professor noticed that both students had extremely similar right and wrong answers on the quiz. When the students met with an SJA officer, they explained that they had studied together using an old quiz from the class. Because the students had a credible explanation, and because they were able to establish that they did not sit together during the quiz, charges were dropped. However, due to the collaborative nature of their study methods, the students were directed not to sit together during subsequent quizzes and exams to avoid future suspicion.
Watch your language
An upperclassman was referred to SJA for plagiarism on a Japanese writing assignment. The student admitted he had copied sections of text from multiple Japanese-language websites and claimed that he had forgotten to cite his sources. Since the student is an upperclassman and had plagiarized on coursework within his major, he agreed to the disciplinary sanctions of deferred separation, a meeting with a Learning Skills Center specialist, 10 hours of community service and a plagiarism assignment.
Collaborating sanctions
A professor referred a student to SJA for collaborating and/or copying on a take-home final after finding virtually identical answers on two exams. When confronted, the student admitted that he had obtained his friend’s completed exam and had copied some of the answers. As a consequence for the severe nature of his academic dishonesty, the student agreed to deferred separation, disciplinary probation until graduation and a paper on academic integrity. While both deferred separation and disciplinary probation mean the student will most likely be removed from school if found in violation of university policy in the future, in this case the deferred separation applies only to academic misconduct whereas the probation covers social misconduct. With disciplinary probation, a student retains his right to a formal hearing; with deferred separation, he does not. This means that if the student is again referred for academic misconduct, he will not have the right to a formal hearing; however, if he is referred for a non-academic (i.e. social) violation, he does retain the right to a formal hearing.
The Campus Judicial Report is compiled by student members of the Campus Judicial Board. Additional information about SJA and the Campus Judicial Board may be found at sja.ucdavis.edu.
