Standards of Ethical Behavior

Code of Student Conduct

Graduate and Professional Studies (GPS) requires students to respect and uphold the standards of ethical behavior expected of all students as set forth in the Student Code of Conduct here. These standards apply to graduate students as well as to undergraduates.

In addition to upholding the standards set forth in the Code of Student Conduct, students enrolled in GPS programs are required to act in accordance with any dispositions required of students preparing to become practitioners in the profession for which their program is preparing them. Programs in GPS are committed to providing students with the requisite knowledge to understand these dispositions and with guidelines for acting in accord with them.

Adjudication of alleged instances of misconduct committed by graduate students will follow the procedures outlined below.

Misconduct other than Academic Misconduct

The Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies or their designee may temporarily suspend, withdraw, and/or modify privileges of, without notice or hearing, a student for so long as may be necessary to investigate a matter and/or conduct a hearing or complete an individualized risk assessment when in the Dean’s judgment the safety of the campus community may be impaired or property may be damaged.

For all instances of non-academic misconduct, as detailed in the Code of Student Conduct or in the professional dispositions that govern behavior of professionals in a student’s program, the following procedures will be used:

If an instructor or student suspects that a student has violated the Code of Student Conduct, the instructor or student will notify the Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies and will provide any evidence of this alleged misconduct. The dean has the option to assign the investigation to a designee.
The dean may suspend, withdraw, or modify the privileges of a student accused of violating the Code of Student Conduct while an investigation of the alleged misconduct is underway if the dean considers the safety of community members or of College property is at risk.
If the dean or their designee believes there is sufficient evidence to pursue sanctions for the alleged misconduct, they will refer the matter to the Graduate Academic Policy and Standards Committee (APS) and recommend sanctions.
In consultation with the Office of Human Resources, Campus Safety, and any other relevant campus offices, and in consultation with the dean, the chair of the APS committee will request additional evidence, investigation, etc. as the situation warrants and provide any additional evidence to the entire committee.
If the members of the APS committee believe that sanctions are in order, it will recommend appropriate sanctions and report its findings and recommendation to the dean.
If the dean is in accord with the findings and recommendations of the APS committee, they will notify the student of the proposed sanctions, and offer the student an opportunity to refute the evidence, bring forward new evidence, and speak on their own behalf.
The dean, in consultation with the APS committee, reviews any new evidence, makes a final decision on the sanction, and informs the student via a letter sent to their McDaniel email address.
The student has 30 days to appeal the sanction. The dean will hear the appeal and affirm, amend, or remove the sanction. This decision of the dean is final.

Academic Misconduct

Dishonesty in academic work, including but not limited to cheating, academic misconduct, fabrication, or plagiarism is unacceptable. All students are expected to do their own academic work and to submit original work. Students are further expected to give credit to all original sources employed using the guidelines of their program’s professional affiliation.

Additionally, unauthorized multiple submissions of one’s own academic work (projects, papers, etc.) in more than one class is considered academic misconduct. Further, we advise students not to lend or share previous course work with other students, as this could lead to work being used by others for academic advantage. In this situation, the original owner of the course work may be liable for academic action regardless of their knowledge, or lack of knowledge, of the other student’s intent to misuse shared course work.

Any form of cheating, which includes plagiarism or collusion, should be reported to the program coordinator and Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies. Students who are aware of academic dishonesty as well as instructors are expected to report their observations.

For all instances of alleged academic misconduct, the following procedures will be used:

If an instructor or student suspects that a student has been academically dishonest, the instructor or student will share those concerns with the student under suspicion. In some cases, a discussion may clarify that academic dishonesty did not occur and the process ends. However, if the discussion does not dispel all suspicion, the process continues.
The instructor or student reports the observation to the coordinator of the program, or to the dean of GPS.
The coordinator consults with the dean of GPS.
If there is insufficient evidence to pursue sanctions, the process ends.
If the coordinator and the dean believe there is sufficient evidence to pursue sanctions, the instructor and the coordinator determine the appropriate academic penalty to be applied and inform the student.
If the student wishes to appeal the decision, he/she may request a hearing from a Graduate Honor Board. The Graduate Board is an ad hoc board convened by the Chair of the Graduate Academic Policy and Standards Committee and is comprised of two graduate faculty members outside of the program in which the student is enrolled and one graduate student. The decision of the Graduate Honor Board is final.
The Graduate Honor Board chair will notify the coordinator of the decision and direct the instructor to submit a change of grade form to the Registrar’s Office, if needed.

NOTE: If the issue is not resolved before submission of course grades, the instructor will enter a grade of NR (Not Reported) as the course grade.