Determining an Appropriate Sanction

A faculty member should look at three things when determining a student's sanction:

1. Premeditation: Did the evidence suggest planning and forethought, demonstrating intent to commit an act of academic misconduct?

2. Flagrancy: Was the act of misconduct glaringly obvious or egregious?

3. Truthfulness: Did the student tell the truth when confronted?

The evidence and student's response in light of these three factors should determine the severity of the sanction.

An appropriate penalty for an offense with clear premeditation and/or flagrancy is an "F*" sanction. This sanction establishes a permanent F in the course on the student's transcript and the student is placed on Honor Violation Probation. The probation can only be removed by the student successfully completing a Remediation course offered by the Aggie Honor System Office within a year of the sanction.

After taking into account the educational experience and specifics of the situation, many faculty members also choose sanctions of a "0" on the assignment, an end-of-term course grade reduction from whatever grade the student would be getting, and/or a requirement to complete the Remediation course (but without placing the student on Honor Violation Probation). If an instructor is assigning a sanction to complete remediation without placing a student on Honor Violation Probation, it is important to also provide a fallback consequence in the event the student does not complete the Remediation course within the next year. This could include a subsequent grade reduction or actually placing the student on Honor Violation Probation.

Additionally, Faculty members can require the student to complete extra work or repeat the assignment in question as part of the sanction.

Instructors are encouraged to contact the Aggie Honor System Office if they have questions about choosing an appropriate sanction.