NOTE: This report has been presented to and received by the Arts and Sciences Senate Executive Committee (with praise).  However, it is still subject to further discussion by the Executive Committee and will ultimately have to be approved by the Arts and Sciences Senate.

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Report of the AJC Review Committee

April 21, 2000

 

Preamble

Following the retirement of Bill Weisner, the long-time Executive Officer of the Academic Judiciary Committee, the Executive Committee (EC) of the Arts and Sciences (A&S) Senate has established this committee to review the policies and procedures of the Academic Judiciary Committee (AJC).

The AJC is a standing committee of the Arts and Sciences Senate. The AJC "... shall adjudicate and take appropriate action in cases originating in areas in the Senate Constituencies and which involve charges of academic dishonesty by a student, or unfair treatment of a student by a faculty member¹." Responsibilities of the AJC are not specified further.

The AJC works with the Executive Officer, an employee of the Dean of CAS, in hearing appeals of accusations of academic dishonesty. In addition, the hearing board rules are used in common with the College of Engineering. In this matter, there should be no conflict between the interests of faculty governance and the university administration: the fight against academic dishonesty is in everybody's self-interest.

Based on our review of the current operating procedures and policies of the AJC, this committee makes the following recommendation to the A&S Senate.

 

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• Guidelines
• Membership of the AJC
• Duties of the AJC
• Duties of the Chair of the AJC
• Scheduling of AJC hearings
• Role of the Executive Officer
• Role of the Hearing Officer
• Hearings
• Conflicts of Interest

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1. Guidelines

   The A&S Senate shall direct the AJC to establish a set of Guidelines for the AJC. The recommendations included in this report may serve as a basis for those Guidelines. (click here for explanatory comments)

2. Membership of the AJC

   The voting membership of the AJC shall consist of 9 members of the teaching faculty, two professional employees (including the Executive Officer), three undergraduate students, and one graduate student, as specified in the CAS Senate Constitution. In addition, there shall be a pool of at least 3 other undergraduate students and 2 other graduate students (9 students total) to serve on hearing boards. These students shall be selected as specified in the Constitution of the A&S Senate. (click here for explanatory comments)

3. Duties of the AJC

   The responsibilities of the elected members of the AJC shall include the following:

   • To elect a chair who will serve as liaison between the AJC and the EC, and between the AJC and the Executive Officer. The chair will serve a one year term.
   • To review and, if necessary, recommend changes in the Guidelines to the CAS Senate on an annual basis.
   • To review and, if necessary, recommend to the A&S Senate modifications to the "Policies and Procedures Governing Undergraduate Academic Dishonesty" pamphlet, on an annual basis.
   • To maintain a web page under the web page of the College Of Arts and Sciences, detailing the responsibilities of the teaching faculty when confronted with a case of academic dishonesty, and the rights of the students when so accused.
   • To construct and maintain a web page under the web page of the  of the Arts and Sciences Senate, detailing the policies, procedures, and Guidelines of the AJC, and the responsibilities of the elected members of the AJC.
   • To serve on a regular basis on hearing boards.

   (click here for explanatory comments)

4. Duties of the Chair of the AJC

   The duties of the chair of the AJC shall include the following:

   • To call meetings of the AJC.
   • To present an annual written report to the A&S Senate.
   • To serve as a member of the Executive Committee of the A&S Senate, or to designate another member of the AJC to serve in his/her stead, in accordance with the Constitution of the A&S Senate, article E.1.
   • To serve as Hearing Officer, or to designate a Hearing Officer from among the elected faculty and professional members of the AJC, when the Executive Officer is unable to do so.
   • To inform all parties of the decisions of the Hearing Boards.

   (click here for explanatory comments)

5. Scheduling of AJC hearings

   This committee recommends the following:

   • That the number of student members of the AJC be increased, as stated in section 1.
   • That each semester the Executive Officer, in consultation with the elected members of the AJC, set aside times of the week for hearings and assign elected members of the AJC to those times. When an appeal is made, the hearing will be scheduled for one of these pre-assigned times.
   • If the accuser is a member of the teaching faculty, the hearing time should be set so as not to conflict with the the accuser's teaching schedule.
   • No member of the AJC should be scheduled to attend more than one hearing per week.
   • That the supplementary faculty pool be abolished.

   (click here for explanatory comments)

6. Role of the Executive Officer

   The Executive Officer is appointed by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and so is not subject to the decisions of the A&S Senate. Nonetheless, in the interests of the clarifying the roles of all parties, this committee recommends that the responsibilities of the Executive Officer be formally established to include:

   • Setting up hearing times at the start of each semester, in consultation with the elected members of the AJC
   • Receiving appeals.
   • Scheduling hearings.
   • Making supplementary materials available to the Hearing Board in advance of the Hearing.
   • Presiding at hearings as Hearing Officer.
   • Reporting the decision of the Hearing Board the chair of the AJC, who will then relay the decision to all parties in a timely manner.

   (click here for explanatory comments)

7. Role of the Hearing Officer
   • The Hearing Officer presides over the Hearing.
   • The Hearing Officer will adjudicate all procedural issues, and ensure that the hearing follows proper procedures.
   • The Hearing Officer will tally the votes of the Hearing Board.
   • If the Hearing Officer is not the Executive Officer, the Hearing Officer will report the outcome of the Hearing Board to the Executive Officer.
8. Hearings The hearings shall proceed in accordance with the "Policies and Procedures Governing Undergraduate Academic Dishonesty" pamphlet, except where superceded by the Guidelines of the AJC.

   We recommend the following changes in the operating procedures of the Hearing Boards:

   • A hearing board shall consist of the Hearing Officer, two university employees (teaching faculty and professional staff) and two students. All hearing board members shall be elected members of the AJC.
   • The Hearing Officer presides over the hearings, but shall not have a vote.
   • A minimum of three votes are required to find the accused guilty.

   (click here for explanatory comments)

9. Conflicts of Interest

   This committee recommends the following:

   • That after a hearing board is established, the Executive Officer shall inform the members of the hearing board of the names of the accused and accusing parties, so as to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
   • No one shall sit on a hearing board when either the accused or accuser is in the same academic department or program as the potential hearer.

 

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Respectfully submitted this 21^st day of April, 2000, by the ad-hoc AJC review committee,
A. Fedi
P. Gratton
A. Lokshina
E. Waters
F. Walter (chair)