In-Class Academic Dishonesty

A student may call an incident to the attention of the instructor, or the instructor may take note of it. It is important to confront the student right away if there is reasonable certainty there is some cause for alarm. If a student has notes on his or her person or has access to information on the back of chairs, in or on books or notebooks, or has a cell phone during the course of a quiz or exam, these items should be confiscated as evidence. If a student sees something unusual he or she should report this to the instructor. Any other members of the class who may have been in a position to see anything amiss should be questioned.

In the past, a student who has had access to material, even if that material was not used by the student, has been considered to be at an unfair advantage.

In the case where a student seems to be copying from another student's paper, it is advisable to let that student know by standing close by, by asking him or her to move, or by watching him or her very closely. It is important not to cast suspicion on someone who may be innocently looking away from his or her own paper just to reflect on the questions at hand. If, however, there has been any questionable behavior, the papers handed in by the one suspected of cheating and the one copied from should be checked carefully. If there are sufficient similarities, these papers would need to be kept as evidence for any possible judicial proceedings.