Academic integrity is essential to student success. Indiana University South Bend strives to uphold the quality and integrity of our students and our programs. That means we have an obligation to ensure they are learning at their fullest potential. The Office of Student Conduct will not alter the decision of the instructor or academic unit regarding the grade, but will determine what additional education is needed for the student and their status with the institution. The Office of Student Conduct retains all files at one central location to ensure confidentiality of the student, and track any prior acts of misconduct that may be considered.

A detailed Guidelines for Dealing with Disruptive Students document is your guide to working with students, your department and the Dean of Students Office.

It is important to know you have the right to ask a student to discontinue any behavior that interferes with the learning environment in your classroom. If the student refuses to comply, you may ask them to be excused from the classroom at that time. If the student does not comply with your request to leave, contact the nearest staff member to ask for assistance and call IUPD at (574) 520-4239 if the student may be of danger. Immediately after the class, contact your Department Chair to confer about the student’s behaviors prior to the next class period.

• Meet with the student to determine if the act of misconduct has occurred
  • Identify with the student the specific act of misconduct if found responsible
  • Assign an appropriate grade to the act of misconduct
  • Explain their right to appeal your decision by submitting an online appeal to the Dean of the School
• Complete the Office of Student Conduct Academic Misconduct Complaint Form

Below are the various options you may determine are appropriate for the act of academic misconduct:

• The student may receive a written reprimand by the instructor including the finding and discussion of academic misconduct;
• The student may be required to repeat or resubmit any assignment, course work, examination, or paper involved in the act of misconduct;
• The student may be given a lower or failing grade than the student would otherwise have received for any assignment, course work, examination, or paper involved in the act of misconduct;
• The student may be required to complete an additional assignment, course work, examination, or paper as a substitute for any assignment, course work, examination, or paper involved in the act of misconduct;
• The student may be required to withdraw from the course with a grade of W or F, at the faculty member's discretion;
• The student may be given a lower grade than the student would otherwise have received for the course, including a failing grade in the course.

Before you complete the complaint form, ensure you have first met with the student (or made reasonable attempts) and have collected any supporting documentation for us to keep on file. Examples of supporting documentation include, but are not limited to: paper with plagiarized materials indicated, turnitin.com result sheets, scoring verifications, email communication regarding the act of academic misconduct, etc.

Then, click here to file a complaint.

The Office of Student Conduct will assign a conduct professional to the academic misconduct case, and send a notification to the student informing them of the misconduct, and requiring them to meet with our office.

The conduct professional will meet with the student to identify any additional administrative or educational sanctions need to help them succeed at Indiana University South Bend. Also the conduct office will be prepared to address any patterns in behavior from previous personal or academic misconduct complaints.

If the conduct officer recommends a disciplinary probation, suspension or expulsion they must consult with the Dean of the School prior to doing so.