Gwynedd Mercy University 2025-2026 University Catalog 14
stealing, hiding or defacing books, journals or media; misrepresentation of identity; falsification of official University records or communications; alteration or destruction of course material, including web-based.
Collusion involves the cooperation of students with faculty or staff personnel in securing any courserelated materials; cooperative efforts by students and student assistants to gain or allow access to any course-related materials for distribution; assisting in or contributing to the academic dishonesty of another individual; and seeking, obtaining, possessing, or giving to another person an examination or portions of an examination( not yet given) without permission of the instructor.
Sanctions In congruence with the mission and core values of GMercyU, faculty should teach ethical behavior, confront and report academic dishonesty, and provide sanctions based on the severity and frequency of violations of the Academic Integrity Policy. The determination of academic dishonesty and the determination of the severity of the sanction is the responsibility and purview of each faculty member. Each faculty member has a right to use his or her discretion in determining if an action is in fact a violation of the policy. However, if any sanction is taken, the violation and the sanction imposed must be reported via Maxient to the Provost. Maxient issues notifications of violation reports to the Office of Academic Affairs, the Associate Dean of Operations, the student, and the student’ s academic advisor.
Sanction Scale: 1. Written warning; 2. Sanction other than those listed( additional assignments, additional tests, etc.); 3. Zero credit for the test or assignment; 4. Failure of Course( receives an F); 5. Suspension from the University( minimum 1 semester, maximum 2 semesters); 6. Dismissal from the University.
Sanctions 1 through 4 can be enacted at the discretion of the faculty member, who should file the completed report through Maxient within 7 calendar days of discovering the violation. Sanctions 5 and 6 may be imposed by the Provost, in consultation with the Dean, when there are repeated instances of violations of the Academic Integrity Policy. Even a first violation, if severe, could move to sanctions 5 and 6.
Notification of suspension or dismissal will be sent from the Provost with a copy to the Dean of the student’ s College and the student’ s academic advisor.
Appeal Process A student may appeal a faculty member’ s report of a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy by following the procedure described in the flow chart below, beginning with the first-level appeal to the Associate Dean of Operations. A student may not appeal decisions or sanctions imposed by the Provost. NOTE: If a student is concurrently appealing an academic integrity violation and the final grade for the same course, the grade complaint process will pause until the academic integrity violation appeal process is completed. Appeals must be submitted separately; combined academic integrity violation and final grade appeals will not be considered. Students are encouraged to consult with their academic advisor, if they have questions about any appeal process.