UNDERSTANDING THE INVESTIGATION PROCESS

An Honor Council investigation has several purposes

• Gather information from the alleged violator, the reporter, and any witnesses
• Provide verification that there is a possibility that academic misconduct occurred, which is the threshold required for investigators to send the case to a hearing panel
• Present a complete picture of the situation for a subsequent hearing panel

An Honor Council Investigation Team consists of 1 student and 1 faculty member from the Honor Council, who will interview individuals involved in the case. Usually this will just be the alleged violator and the instructor. Occasionally there will be others involved with a case, such as a witness, tutor, teaching assistant, or other members of a study group. Investigation Team members are not allowed to sit on the Hearing Panel for the same case.

AHSO Case Managers coordinate the scheduling of the investigations. To protect confidentiality and provide a private setting, AHSO prefers to hold the meetings at the Aggie Honor System Office. If this presents a problem for you, notify the Case Manager when providing your availability.

During the Meeting

While meeting with participants, the Investigation Team may ask questions as they take notes. This questioning is not meant to be a criticism or suggest a finding, but are tools to reach a full understanding of the circumstances surrounding the alleged violation. If reporters have not already provided copies of the course syllabus and other evidence of the violation to the AHSO Case Manager, it should be provided at the time of the investigation.
The Investigation Team should not express opinions or a hypothesis of what might have happened. Similarly, they cannot offer any predictions of what a Hearing Panel will decide.

Follow Up Notification

The Investigation Team will submit their report and recommendation on the need for an Honor Council hearing within 5 business days. The AHSO Case Manager will notify the accused student and reporter by email of the results of the investigation.