Student Resources

"An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do.” Aggies are committed to upholding the academic integrity standards of the University which include understanding the rules that govern academic misconduct and holding your fellow students accountable to the same standards.

My instructor says I cheated, what happens now?

When a student is reported to the AHSO, their case could move through several processes. No matter what, a student will receive a notification from the AHSO with information about their next steps.

What Happens Next?

Define Academic Misconduct

The University has established and defined nine different types of academic misconduct.

Read the Full Definitions

Cheating
Fabrication
Falsification
Multiple Submissions
Plagiarism
Complicity
Abuse and Misuse of Access and Unauthorized Access
Violation of College, Program, Departmental or Course Rules
University Rules on Research

FAQs

Who Do I Contact with Questions?

Your first point of contact should be the Aggie Honor System Office. Call 979-458-3378 or email aggiehonor@tamu.edu.

Who Has to Prove What?

When academic misconduct is reported to the AHSO, it then navigates through one of our adjudication processes. In all AHSO processes, students have the opportunity to review the information in their case file. The burden of proof rests with the reporter of the violation, and the burden of proof used is the “preponderance of information” standard.

Student Rule 20 states that students must be able to authenticate their work, and failure to do so is grounds for initiating an academic misconduct case.

Can I Appeal the Violation?

If your case was filed through the Informal Resolution process, you can choose to agree with the charges and recommended sanction(s), or you can forward the allegation to an Administrative Conference. You will need to provide relevant information that you believe an administrator would utilize to reach a different conclusion than the faculty member. Should there be a finding of responsibilty through this process, you will have the ability to appeal the sanctions imposed.

If you already have a previous finding of responsibility for academic
misconduct on file with the Honor System Office, of if the AHSO Director or their designee determines the alleged behavior is particularly egregious and may warrants consideration of suspension or expulsion from the university, your case will go through the Honor Council proceedings.

After an Honor Council Hearing Panel, students have three bases of appeal to choose from.

For more information about appeals, please go here.

How Does an Honor Council Investigation Work?

An Honor Council investigation is a meeting to gather information from instructors and students about an alleged violation. No decisions are made regarding responsibility or sanctions during the investigation.

What Happens in an Honor Council Hearing?

An Honor Council hearing is where your case is put before a panel of three Honor Council members consisting of students, faculty, and/or staff. You are charged with a set of allegations that does not change over the course of the hearing. You and your instructor provide information about the alleged violation, and the panel decides if academic misconduct occurred. The panel uses information from the investigation to help them understand the allegation. The full range of sanctions is available to a hearing panel.

What Happens in an Administrative Conference?

When the AHSO is notified of an alleged violation, or when you choose to shift your case to this process, you and your instructor will meet with an Academic Integrity Administrator. This Administrator will use the preponderance of information standard to decide whether or not academic misconduct occured.

How Does the Remediation Course (AIDP) Work?

The Academic Integrity Development Program (AIDP or remediation) is required to remove Honor Violation Probation and is often assigned as an additional requirement with other sanctions.

AIDP is a one-month long course, completed asynchronously online every month of the year, that strives to provide students with education and resources for integrity, ethics, writing, research, and real-world implications of ethical and academic misconduct. Completion of AIDP is a requirement to be removed from Honor Violation Probation.

Students who are assigned this sanction will need to sign up on our website for the month of their choosing. All available months are listed in the sign-up form. Students who do not finish in their chosen month must sign up for and attempt to complete the program in another month, but they cannot take it in back-to-back months due to the grading cycle. There is not currently a fee or charge for the course. Extenuating circumstances, such as a documented illness or other university excused absence, should be communicated to the AHSO to determine if a make-up option is necessary.

Students in AIDP will complete learning modules that are tailored to their finding of responsibility. Students will write reflections on assigned readings and videos and may be asked to do some basic research. These assignments require students to reflect on how their finding of responsibility and sanctions affect themselves, Texas A&M University, their future profession, and other current and future stakeholders. Students also may have quizzes to complete depending on their assigned modules.

How Can I Be an Honor Council Member?

The Honor Council is made up of students, staff, and faculty members. Learn more about joining and the responsibilities here.

Tips to Avoid Being Accused of Academic Misconduct

There are several things students can do to avoid finding their academic integrity in question.

Students are responsible for taking steps to avoid committing, or appearing to commit, academic misconduct. Some foundational approaches students should consider include:

Communicate with instructors early and often about expectations for the course
Clearly understand writing expectations and expectations about working in groups
Don't wait until the last minute to start or complete an assignment
Assign portions of group assignments to specific group members and ensure that each group member keeps a copy of their contribution
Visit the definitions page for other examples of behavior that may be academic misconduct

Honor Violation Probation Modification Request

All students placed into a status of Honor Violation Probation will be informed by an Aggie Honor System Office (AHSO) employee of their right to request a modification of the individual restrictions affiliated with the “Not in Good Standing” status. This request for modification does not remove the “Not in Good Standing” status. This process is the official method for the University to modify one or more of the restrictions affiliated with “Not in Good Standing.” Specifically, these restrictions, as listed in Student Rule 20 include:

Ineligibility to hold an office in any student organization recognized by the university or to hold any elected or appointed position within the university.
Ineligibility to represent the university to anyone outside the university community in any way, including representing the university at any official function, intercollegiate athletics or any forms of intercollegiate competition or representation.
Ineligibility to receive a university-administered scholarship or fellowship when the “Honor Violation Probation” is in place for longer than one semester. Some scholarships adhere to more strict guidelines, and, therefore, ineligibility may result from a lesser length of time on Honor Violation Probation.
Ineligibility to receive an Aggie Ring, to pre-register for classes, or to receive a diploma. **
Additional restrictions or conditions also may be imposed, depending on the timing, nature and severity of the misconduct. Examples are inability to receive an official transcript and inability to participate in commencement exercises.

Once the case reaches its final disposition with the Aggie Honor System Office, students placed on Honor Violation Probation have three (3) university business days to submit a written request for restriction modification. This request is not an appeal to modify the decision of the Honor Council or faculty member. This Request for Modification of Restrictions is intended to allow the student to demonstrate why the removal of one or more restrictions affiliated with Honor Violation Probation is appropriate.

Requests for modification of restrictions will consist of a document review only. There will not be an in-person meeting or hearing of any kind. Once the student submits a request for modification of restrictions, the Director for the Aggie Honor System Office will coordinate a review of the request by the members of the Honor Violation Probation Modification Committee (HVPMC). For undergraduate students, the HVPMC will be composed of the Director for the Aggie Honor System Office, the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, and the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies. For graduate and professional students, the HVPMC will be composed of the Director for the Aggie Honor System Office, the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, and the Associate Provost for Graduate and Professional Studies.

The HVPMC may only consider restrictions affiliated with Honor Violation Probation. The HVPMC may not review or modify the outcome of any process or decision made by the Aggie Honor System Office. The AHSO Appeals process is the only method available to modify or review the outcome of a decision made by the AHSO.

** The Honor System Office Advisory Board, which created and voted on the approval of this process, specifically determined that the HVPMC may not remove the restriction affiliated with ordering an Aggie Ring. Students will need to complete the AHSO’s processes to remove the “Not in Good Standing” status from their record in order to order their Aggie Ring. A student who requests a modification to this restriction will not have their request considered by the HVPMC.