Case preparation and processing in cheating cases

School exams

When there is a suspicion of cheating on the exam with supervision, the exam supervisor must contact the examiner for the exam in question. Illegal aids must be withdrawn without unnecessarily disturbing the other candidates. The student must be informed that there is a suspicion of cheating, but will have the opportunity to complete the exam.

In cases with suspected cheating on a school exam, the exam team at The Office of Studies and Academic Affairs is responsible for investigating the case. The director of studies decides whether the case shall forwarded to the appeals board or not.

Registration of attendance

In cases where there is a suspicion of cheating or attempted cheating in connection with attendance registration, it is The Office of Studies and Academic Affairs in collaboration with the course coordinator who prepares the case. After the case has been investigated, it is the head of studies who decides whether the case is to be forwarded to the appeals committee or whether the case is dropped.

Submission of written assignments

In cases where there is suspicion of cheating on written assignments, it is the relevant faculty that is responsible for investigating the case. The course coordinator, together with the examiner, investigates the case and the dean of the department decides whether the case is to be submitted to the appeals committee or dropped.

Proceedings

The procedure in all cases of cheating an plagiarism is as follows:

When there is a suspicion of cheating, the censorship result in the relevant exam / test is blocked.

1. Those responsible for investigating the case must write a report explaining the suspicion of cheating. Relevant documentation must be attached.
2. The student is then invited to a meeting where he is given the opportunity to explain himself. The student can choose to bring a friend or other to the meeting for support. The student has the right to make a statement, but is not obligated to do so. The student can also choose to make a statement in writing. Minutes from the meeting must be signed by all participants. 
3. When the case has been investigated and the meeting has been held, the case goes on to the dean of the relevant faculty or the head of studies, who decides whether the case should be submitted to The Appeals Board or dropped.

There are two possible outcomes:

1. The case is dropped, the university college does not want to proceed with the case. The student must be notified of this by letter immediately. The block on the grade in Studentweb will be removed. The case ends there.
2. The university college maintains the suspicion of cheating and forwards the case to The Appeals Board for processing. It is The Appeals Board that makes decisions in all cases on cheating and plagiarism.

Duty of confidentiality

Cases of annullment or exclusion as a result of cheating are subject to a duty of confidentiality (Fvl. § 13), and the documents are exempt from public access (Offl. § 13). This means that everyone who has been involved in a cheating case has a duty to prevent outsiders from gaining access to or knowledge of it.

Information for the student

If The University College go forward with the case to The Appeals Committee, the student must be informed immediately. The secretary of The Appeals Committee sends the student a letter stating that the case has been raised, informs about the proceedings, the student's right to be represented by a lawyer and the date of the meeting of the appeals committee. The student will be sent all the case documents in the case two weeks before the appeals board's meeting.

Read more about the student's rights

Cover letter to The Appeals Board

The university college, usually by a case officer, must write a cover letter with underlying documentation to the appeals board. The letter must inform about who the student is, which exam it applies to, course code, course name and date. The letter must contain an account of the case about how the suspicion was discovered and what the student has explained.

In the cover letter you may consider the following points:

1. Proof. What does the documentation show, what does the student explain and what else is known about the actual conditions?
2. Objective guilt - is this cheating?
3. Subjective guilt - Has the student acted with gross negligence or willful misconduct?
4. Was the student familiar with the rules?
5. Reaction choice - what speaks for a mild or severe reaction?

When it comes to subjective guilt, some relevant questions can be, has the student been thoughtless or worked in a way that gives a high risk that things can go wrong (for example not including source references), or has the student cheated deliberately?

Documentation

If the case is submitted to the Appeals Board, the following documentation must be attached:

1. The thesis text for the exam
2. The Student's written work
3. Report on the suspicion of cheating from the examiner / course coordinator / study coordinator
4. Minutes from the meeting with the student
5. Any written statement from the student
6. Any report from the plagiarism control. Possible overview of which sources have been plagiarized.

Processing in the Appeals Board

The case is then sent to the The Appeals Board, which processes it and makes a decision. The student is notified of the decision immediately. 

Right of appeal

The student has the right to appeal against decisions made in the Appeals Board. Such a complaint is processed by by Joint Appeals Committee for Student Affairs.

Template for convening a meeting with a student

Hi (student's full name),

You are invited to a conversation about the suspected cheating on the exam in (full name of the course and date of the exam), where your candidate number was (insert candidate number). The meeting takes place (insert time, date and place). Those who will attend the meeting are: (insert name and role).

In the meeting, the suspicion of cheating will be explained to you, and you get the opportunity to explain yourself about this. This is an introductory meeting where both parties are allowed to present their views and minutes will be written from the meeting, which everyone must sign. If you wish, you can bring someone with you to the meeting, for example a friend.

If the The University College maintains its suspicion of cheating after this meeting, the case will be sent to The Appeals Board which will process the case. The University College covers the costs of a lawyer if the case goes on to the appeals committee. The college does not cover legal expenses for this introductory meeting.

See information about proceedings in cheating cases here

See information about rules about cheating and the student's rights here.

Sincerely,

(insert signature)