Rule 3361:40-5-05.1 | Conduct, rights and responsibilities: academic misconduct.
(A) Academic integrity and honor pledge
(1) In pursuit of its teaching, learning and research goals, the university of Cincinnati aspires for its students, faculty, and administrators to reflect the highest ethical standards defined by the international center for academic integrity as "a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to six fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage."
(2) Some faculty members and academic units may ask students to sign an honor pledge before taking tests or when submitting assignments. Honor pledges serve primarily as a teaching tool. Refusal to sign an honor pledge does not constitute a violation of the S.C.O.C.
(B) Jurisdiction
(1) Each college dean appoints a college conduct administrator who is responsible for the administration of undergraduate academic misconduct procedures.
(2) The head of each graduate program or college conduct administrator (or designee) oversees the administration of academic misconduct procedures for graduate students in that graduate program.
(3) Complaints of academic misconduct shall be initiated by the instructor in whose course the alleged misconduct occurred or, in the absence of an instructor, by the academic unit head or the dean (or designee). Supervisors or authorized staff involved in the testing or evaluation process, including testing center personnel and testing proctors, may also initiate complaints of academic misconduct.
(4) When academic misconduct triggers rule 3361:10-17-05 of the Administrative Code, the academic misconduct process described herein will not commence until after the completion of the research misconduct investigation conducted pursuant to rule 3361:10-17-05 of the Administrative Code.
(C) Academic misconduct violations
(1) Aiding and abetting academic misconduct
Knowingly helping, procuring, or encouraging another person to engage in academic misconduct violations.
(2) Cheating
Any dishonesty or deception in fulfilling an academic requirement, such as:
(a) Use or possession of unauthorized material or technological devices.
(b) Obtaining unauthorized assistance or accessing, reviewing, or obtaining answers from another person or source.
(c) Furnishing unauthorized assistance or answers to another person.
(d) Possessing, using, distributing, or selling unauthorized copies of academic materials.
(e) Representing academic work by another person as one's own.
(f) Doing academic work in place of another person.
(g) Obtaining unauthorized access to the computer files of another person or agency or altering or destroying those files.
(h) Unauthorized use of artificial intelligence.
(3) Fabrication
The falsification of any information, research statistics, lab data, or citation in an academic exercise.
(4) Plagiarism
(a) Submitting another's published or unpublished work in whole, in part, or in paraphrase, as one's own without fully and properly crediting the author with footnotes, quotation marks, citations, or bibliographic references.
(b) Submitting as one's own original work, material obtained from an individual, agency, or the internet without reference to the person, agency, or webpage as the source of the material.
(c) Submitting as one's own original work material that has been produced through unacknowledged collaboration with others without release in writing from collaborators.
(d) Submitting one's own previously written, oral, or creative work without modification and instructor permission.
(5) Violating professional standards and codes
Some professions are governed by standards and codes specific to their field. Those professional standards and codes generally advance the quality of the profession by developing codes of ethics, conduct, and professional responsibility and standards by which their members are guided. An academic college may require its students to abide by these professional standards and codes as outlined in the academic college's handbook.
(D) Procedures for academic misconduct
Students notified of alleged academic misconduct, whether acknowledging involvement or not, will be allowed to continue in the course without prejudice pending completion of the academic misconduct process. If a student chooses to withdraw from a course during their academic misconduct process, the process will continue and the student is responsible for meeting all deadlines and processes set forth below. If the misconduct occurs at the end of an academic semester or break, the process will continue consistent with the timeline once classes resume. The student is responsible for honoring all deadlines and processes below. If the resolution impacts a grade or status of a course, the college conduct administrator will notify the registrar as applicable.
(1) Instructor-student resolution
(a) Notification form
(i) Within ten days of discovering the alleged misconduct, the instructor (or in the absence of an instructor, the academic unit head or the dean, or designee) will provide the student with notice via the notification form. The notification form will include the alleged academic misconduct violation(s) at issue, the allegation(s) underlying the alleged academic misconduct violation(s), and a request to meet with the instructor to discuss the allegation(s).
(ii) Review meeting. The student may have an adviser at the review meeting. This meeting must be scheduled within five days of the student receiving the notification form.
(iii) After the review meeting, the instructor has five days to:
(a) Provide written notice to the student that the allegation(s) has been dismissed and the case will be considered resolved; or
(b) Move forward with the allegation(s) and provide a resolution form to the student outlining the alleged misconduct violation(s) and proposed sanction(s).
(b) Student's response to the resolution form
(i) The student has five days to return the completed resolution form to the instructor. The student may choose one of the following three options:
(a) Option 1. Accept responsibility for the misconduct violation(s) and agree to the sanction(s).
(i) The instructor will notify the college conduct administrator of the college in which the misconduct occurred and the agreed-upon sanction(s) will be imposed.
(ii) The college conduct administrator will record the resolution form and provide a copy to the director of the office of student conduct and community standards and the college conduct administrator of the student's home college.
(b) Option 2. Accept responsibility but challenge a sanction and request a college hearing panel. The instructor will ask the college conduct administrator of the college in which the misconduct occurred to convene a college hearing panel.
(c) Option 3. Deny responsibility and request a college hearing panel. The instructor will ask the college conduct administrator of the college in which the misconduct occurred to convene a college hearing panel.
(ii) If the student fails to respond to the resolution form, and the proposed sanction is less than a college or university suspension or expulsion, the allegations and misconduct violation(s) are accepted as true, and the finding(s) and sanction(s) are final, but may be appealed as set forth in rule 3361:40-5-05.3 of the Administrative Code. For proposed sanctions that result in a college or university suspension or expulsion, a college hearing panel will be scheduled.
(2) Resolution by college hearing panel
(a) College hearing panel members
(i) When an instructor-student resolution is not achieved, the college conduct administrator, as soon as reasonably possible, convenes a college hearing panel of the college in which the alleged misconduct occurred. The college hearing panel will conduct a hearing on the alleged misconduct, issue a factual determination, and determine appropriate sanctions, if applicable. The hearing date, time, and location will be set by the college conduct administrator. The college conduct administrator will notify the parties of the hearing date, time, location, and the names of the college hearing panel members.
(ii) The college hearing panel consists of: the hearing chair, one representative selected by the college faculty, and one representative selected by the college tribunal or undergraduate student government or graduate student government. The hearing is chaired by the college conduct administrator (or designee). The hearing chair only votes in the event of a tie.
(iii) A party may challenge participation of any panel member on the grounds of conflict of interest. Challenges must be submitted in writing to the hearing chair within three days after the party receives the notice of hearing letter. The challenge must specify reasons that would prevent the panel member from being unbiased with respect to the hearing proceedings. The hearing chair decides whether the challenge has merit. If the challenge is granted, a substitute panel member will be appointed and the same option to challenge exists. If the hearing chair is challenged, the dean of the college (or designee) determines the validity of the challenge and either replaces or retains the hearing chair.
(b) Hearing participants
(i) Hearings are closed to the public.
(ii) Presence at hearings is restricted to the parties involved, except as otherwise noted.
(iii) Complainant must participate in the hearing in-person or via video conference. If the respondent chooses not to attend the hearing, the respondent's written statements will be reviewed and evaluated based on the information available.
(iv) The parties may elect to have an adviser of their choice with them at the hearing.
(v) The parties will be afforded the opportunity to have witnesses testify in the hearing. Witnesses must testify in-person or via video conference. No later than five days after receiving a notice of hearing letter, the parties must disclose to the hearing chair the identity of the witnesses, a summary of what each witness will speak to, and submit any other evidence. The hearing chair will provide a list of the witnesses and any other submitted evidence to the parties five days prior to the hearing. The hearing chair, in consultation with the college hearing panel, reserves the right to limit the number of witnesses. During the hearing, witnesses are present only when giving their own testimony.
(c) Hearing procedures
(i) The hearing chair reserves the right to make appropriate and/or reasonable accommodations as required under law, and/or for the safety of the parties and witnesses, during a college hearing panel hearing.
(ii) Only relevant information will be considered during the hearing. The hearing chair, in consultation with the college hearing panel, determines if testimony and other evidence is relevant, and may place time limitations on testimony and opening and closing statements.
(iii) The parties have the right to submit written questions to be asked of each party and all witnesses who participate in the hearing. The hearing chair, in consultation with the college hearing panel, has the right to review and determine which written questions will be asked.
(iv) The parties will be given an opportunity to present an opening and a closing statement.
(v) At the close of the hearing, the college hearing panel will deliberate privately to determine if the respondent violated the S.C.O.C.
(vi) When more than one respondent is involved in the same allegation of misconduct, they have the right to have separate hearings. Respondents may have their cases consolidated and heard at the same time. Such requests must be made to the hearing chair no less than five days prior to the scheduled hearing. The college hearing panel has the right to maintain separate hearings. If the college hearing panel wishes to consolidate the hearings, the college hearing panel must ask each respondent if they are comfortable consolidating the hearing or if they wish to be heard separately. All parties and the college conduct administrator (or designee) must agree to the hearing consolidation and the hearing consolidation form must be completed.
(vii) The college hearing panel hearing, but not deliberations, are recorded by the university. Any record of the hearing will be subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. All parties may have post-hearing access to inspect the recorded hearing.
(d) Post-hearing procedures
(i) The college hearing panel will seek to reach a consensus in adjudicating cases. In the event there is no consensus, a majority vote will determine the outcome. In the event of a tie vote, the hearing chair will vote.
(ii) Within three days of the conclusion of the college hearing panel hearing, the hearing chair of the college hearing panel will notify the respondent and complainant of the college hearing panel's decision and appeal procedures.
(E) Appeal procedures
Appeals are subject to the procedures set forth in rule 3361:40-5-05.3 of the Administrative Code.
(F) Final decision
If the respondent does not appeal within the specified appeal time, the decision is final and the sanctions imposed take immediate effect. The college conduct administrator will forward a copy of the final resolution to the respondent and the office of student conduct and community standards after the resolution. When a respondent is involved in an academic misconduct case outside their home college, the college conduct administrator will forward a copy of the final resolution to the student's home college's college conduct administrator after the resolution. If a respondent has no home college, the college conduct administrator will forward a copy of the final resolution to the vice provost for undergraduate studies (or designee) for undergraduate students, or the vice provost for graduate studies and dean of the graduate school (or designee) for graduate students after the resolution.
(G) Sanctions for academic misconduct
A respondent found responsible for academic misconduct will be subject to sanctions, up to and including university expulsion. A single act may constitute more than one violation of the S.C.O.C. Sanctions will be determined based on the severity of the misconduct and other relevant information. Multiple sanctions may be imposed should the misconduct warrant it. The regular refund schedule outlined in university publications will apply in the event of a suspension or expulsion from the university.
Examples of sanctions for academic misconduct include the following:
(1) Academic action
Includes altering a grade or assigning a failing grade for the assignment, examination, or course.
(2) Academic reprimand
Written notification to students informing them that their conduct is unacceptable and that this incident may be taken into consideration if misconduct reoccurs.
(3) Academic probation
Imposes specific restrictions or places extra requirements on the student for a specified period. Conduct action should be consistent with the philosophy of providing constructive learning experiences as a part of the probation. A student may be required to meet periodically with designated persons. Any further misconduct on the student's part during the period of probation may result in additional sanctions, including suspension or expulsion.
(4) College suspension
Prohibits the student from attending and/or enrolling in courses within a particular academic college for a specified period of time. The student may enroll in courses offered by other academic colleges.
(5) University suspension
Prohibits the student from attending the university and from being present without permission of the director of the office of student conduct and community standards (or designee) on specified university owned, leased, or controlled property, and prohibits the student from enrolling or participating in remote or online classes or other remote or online university events or activities, for a specified period of time. University suspensions shall have effective beginning and ending dates. Students placed on university suspension must comply with all suspension requirements. A student seeking to attend the university after the conclusion of the suspension shall first request permission to re-enroll, or reregister, from the office of student conduct and community standards and then apply for readmission to their college.
(6) College expulsion
Permanently prohibits the student from attending and/or enrolling in classes in a particular academic college. The student may continue attending classes in other academic colleges.
(7) University expulsion
Permanently prohibits the student from enrolling, attending, or being recognized by the university and from being present, without permission, at any university event or on any university owned, leased, or controlled property.
(8) Educational sanctions
Sanctions designed to develop the student by incorporating values of the university community and allowing an opportunity for students to grow as responsible members of the university community. Examples include, but are not limited to: conferences, discussions, reflection papers, service, and workshops.
Last updated August 17, 2026 at 10:16 AM
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