This document is intended to give students a general overview of cheating allegations and the jurisdiction of Dalhousie University over such discipline matters. At Dalhousie University jurisdiction over discipline matters is given to the Senate Discipline Committee (SDC), which conducts hearings to determine firstly, if an academic offence or breach of the code of conduct has occurred, and secondly, what an appropriate penalty would be if an offence or breach is deemed to have occurred.

The purview of the SDC is to examine matters alleging instances of academic dishonesty (plagiarism and/or cheating), as well as those allegedly infringing the University Code of Conduct.

The procedure for each class of allegations does differ. For more information with regard to these procedures, please refer to the terms of reference for the SDC , or the procedure for Code of Conduct allegations , as done through the VP of Student Services.

Plagiarism, and other academic offences or irregularities such as improper citation, unauthorized collaboration, cheating during an exam or writing an exam or test for someone else, among others, are taken very seriously. The range of penalties available to the SDC for these types of offences range from written warnings to expulsion.

DSAS strives to at its best and confidentially represent students who are alleged to have committed these types of offences under the particular circumstances. However, prior to allegations being forwarded, the best advice DSAS can provide is to ensure that the student is apprised of Dalhousie policies with regard to academic dishonesty and plagiarism.

This information is also contained in all Dalhousie calendars, and as such each student is expected to be familiar with the regulations and policies therein. This means that claims of ignorance of these policies will not provide a complete defence to any allegations forwarded by the Senate office.

Questions regarding a specific case or for more Information about Dalhousie University's policies and procedures contact DSAS.