(1) As members of the University community, students must conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the standards of behaviour set out in the Code of Conduct – Student (the Code), Academic Integrity Policy and other related policies. These standards of behaviour promote the good order and management of the University, and academic integrity. (2) Failure by a student to meet these standards of behaviour may be dealt with as either a breach of the Code or other related policy or misconduct, for which the student may be subject to disciplinary action. Disciplinary action for misconduct will be taken by QUT under this policy in accordance with the following principles: (3) The processes for the management of student misconduct set out in this policy will apply to any current or former student of QUT in relation to their conduct as a student. (4) This Policy applies to all forms of student misconduct. QUT defines student misconduct as a significant breach of any of the following University policies: (5) Reports of alleged misconduct may come from a number of sources. Any person having relevant information about suspected misconduct may report it to the responsible officer (Section 3 above). Additionally, the University undertakes routine checks on compliance in some areas, for instance, by review of logs of ICT activity or by utilising content matching and authenticity software tools. A report made to another officer must be referred to the responsible officer for action. (6) Upon receipt of a report, the responsible officer should consider the following matters: (7) If it is determined that the matter should be dealt with under procedures for misconduct, then a report of alleged misconduct, including all relevant documents and evidence, should be made by the responsible officer to the secretary of the appropriate misconduct committee. (8) Conduct defined in the Academic Integrity Policy as a breach of academic integrity when it is not (9) Conduct of a non-academic nature which breaches the University’s behavioural expectations of students and constitutes misconduct is detailed in Section 5 of the Code of Conduct – Student. (10) Because cases of misconduct, whether academic or non-academic, may, if substantiated, result in the imposition of a penalty on the student, the procedures to be followed must be consistent with requirements of natural justice. All of the following steps must be undertaken in relation to allegations of misconduct. (11) Allegations of misconduct must be forwarded to the student in writing. The allegation notice must be forwarded to the student’s email address in the student information system. A notice must contain the following information to assist the student to understand the nature of the allegation(s), the process for dealing with the allegation(s), and the student's rights: (12) The chair of the misconduct committee must ensure that an allegation notice in this form is sent to the student. Copies of all documents or written evidence to be taken into consideration by the misconduct committee should be provided to the student at the same time as the allegation notice is sent or as soon as they are received by the committee. (13) The chair will give due consideration to possible risks to the health, wellbeing and safety of others associated with the allegation which may result from disclosure of documents or written evidence and, where necessary, may determine that a redacted version of documents or evidence or a summary of the substance of the evidence be provided. (14) The misconduct committee meeting at which the allegation(s) will be considered must be held not less than 10 working days and not more than 20 working days after the date upon which the allegation notice was sent to the student. (15) Meetings of the relevant misconduct committee will be conducted in accordance with Council Procedure 1 - Committee Operations, and any operating procedures established by the misconduct committee. For cases involving allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault or discrimination, the misconduct committee must ensure that such allegations are addressed utilising a (16) The misconduct committee conducts its proceedings without undue formality and in a non-adversarial manner. If there is a requirement for the University to be represented at the meeting by an officer of the University to address the allegations, then that person must not be legally qualified (that is, the person must not hold a degree or other formal qualifications in law and/or must not be a person who has been admitted as a lawyer in any Australian jurisdiction). (17) A student may attend the meeting at which the allegations are considered, including by electronic means by prior arrangement and with the agreement of the chair. If a student is not present at the meeting within 10 minutes of the nominated time for consideration of the student's case, the misconduct committee may proceed to determine the matter in the student’s absence, though the misconduct committee must take into account any written submissions provided by the student prior to the meeting date and time. (18) If the student is present, the student must be given the opportunity to ask questions of any person interviewed by the committee, subject to the conditions outlined below, and may present any facts, evidence, documents or oral submissions relevant to the allegation(s). (19) Where the student is unable to attend a meeting, an appropriately authorised representative may attend the meeting in the student's place, and holds the same category of invitee as the student. The student is not entitled to have a legal representative (being a person who holds a degree or other formal qualifications in law and/or a person who has been admitted as a lawyer in any Australian jurisdiction) present during the meeting. (20) The student may be accompanied to the meeting by a support person, who will be categorised as an observer as defined in Council Procedure 1 - Committee Operations. A support person must not be another student involved in or associated with the allegations and must not be legally qualified. The support person’s role is confined to assisting a student during the meeting to understand the process undertaken and to help the student when the student puts their response to the misconduct committee. (21) Where the case involves allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault or discrimination, the chair may impose any one or more of the following conditions consistent with the need to ensure a (22) The responsible officer must provide sufficient evidence to support the allegation. (23) As an internal University disciplinary body, the misconduct committee is not bound by the formal rules of evidence or other legal technicalities, but must base its decisions on logical, credible and relevant evidence. Decision-making should be consistent with the requirements of the Human Rights Act 2019. In reaching a finding, the standard of proof which the misconduct committee applies is the “reasonable satisfaction” or “balance of probabilities” standard. This means that the misconduct committee must determine whether misconduct is substantiated to its reasonable satisfaction. What is necessary to establish a fact or matter on the balance of probabilities may vary according to the seriousness of the allegation and the nature and consequences of what must be proved. (24) The misconduct committee must produce a report of matters considered and its findings which is made routinely available to the student at the time that the student is notified in writing of the outcome by the Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar (or Executive Dean of faculty where delegated under Section 8, Penalties). (25) The misconduct committee makes a recommendation on penalty to the Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar (or Executive Dean where delegated). (26) The recommendation regarding penalty should take account of: (27) If the student attends the misconduct committee meeting, the committee must invite submissions from the student on any circumstances relevant to the penalty to be applied, including those noted above. (28) Penalties for substantiated misconduct (in all categories) are imposed upon students by the Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar, though the Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar may delegate imposition of certain penalties to other officers of the University in the limited circumstances set out in Section 8 below. (29) If a student against whom misconduct is alleged is admitted to study but not enrolled in the current teaching period, or if a student cancels their enrolment in the course, withdraws from enrolment in a unit in which the misconduct is alleged to have occurred, or takes an approved leave of absence, the misconduct committee may proceed to determine the matter as if the student was currently enrolled, provided that the procedures in this policy are followed. Alternatively, the chair of the misconduct committee may elect to defer consideration of the case until such time as the person resumes studies at QUT. In the latter case, the chair will notify the person of this decision. (30) If a student against whom misconduct is alleged has graduated, the procedures to be followed are set out in Section 11 below. (31) The following penalties, either individually or in combination may be imposed for substantiated student misconduct: (32) Any suspension under clause (31)a above will have the effect of prohibiting the student from exercising the privileges or using the services specified in that paragraph. (33) The effect of imposition of a penalty in clause 31(b, c, d, e, or i) above may be that a person who has graduated no longer meets the requirements for the conferred award. In this case, the procedures set out in the Revocation of an Award Policy must be followed (further details below in Section 11). (34) The Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar may impose any of the penalties specified above, upon recommendation from the relevant misconduct committee, though the Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar has discretion to impose a penalty different to the penalty recommended by the misconduct committee or to impose no penalty. (35) For substantiated cases of academic misconduct occurring wholly within one faculty, the Executive Dean may impose the penalties listed at (31)b and (31)c. No other penalties may be imposed by the Executive Dean. (36) The Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar (or Executive Dean, as appropriate) will notify the student in writing of the penalty, and the date by which any appeal must be made to the Appeals Committee. However, if the student did not attend the meeting of the misconduct committee or if the student attended but the Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar (or Executive Dean) proposes to impose a penalty different to that recommended by the misconduct committee, the penalty must not be implemented until the student has been given the opportunity to make a submission on penalty. (37) Prior to the final imposition of a penalty, the Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar (or delegate) will give consideration to the requirements of the Human Rights Act 2019 and in particular any relevant human rights of the student (or others), including freedom of expression. (38) Any penalty imposed becomes operative immediately, but implementation of the penalty may be stayed pending an appeal by the student to the Appeals Committee. Penalties for international students are enacted subject to any relevant requirement under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000. (39) An interim suspension may be imposed upon a student in circumstances where the alleged misconduct of the student raises a concern that there are serious risks associated with the student's continuing presence at a University site or the student's continuing use of the University's information and communications technology resources. (40) The Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar may impose an interim suspension on a student, but only if the Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar believes that this is reasonably necessary to avert a serious and imminent risk of any of the following: (41) The interim suspension will continue until a decision is made on the alleged misconduct including a decision on any penalty to be imposed, or until the risk has passed. An interim suspension prohibiting entry to the University's lands, buildings or property does not prevent the student from entering solely for the purposes of attending the meeting of the misconduct committee. (42) The Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar will notify the student and the misconduct committee of the interim suspension imposed. The Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar must consider whether the interim suspension should remain in force if submissions are received from the student about the imposition or duration of the interim suspension. (43) University Appeals Committee considers appeals on misconduct matters. A student, graduate or graduand upon whom a penalty has been imposed under Section 8, for misconduct is entitled to appeal to the Appeals Committee on one or more of the following grounds: (44) An appeal must be lodged with the secretary of Appeals Committee within 20 working days of receiving final written notice of the decision of the Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar or Executive Dean (as delegated). Appeals must be made on the 'Appeal against penalty for misconduct request' form as soon as practicable, and no more than twenty working days after the date of imposition of the penalty. A student may provide any written evidence, information or submissions relevant to the grounds of appeal relied upon. (45) The secretary of the Appeals Committee must confirm receipt of an appeal within five working days of its submission and confirm the meeting date the appeal has been allocated to, noting that appellants do not attend meetings of the Appeals Committee. (46) The Appeals Committee may: (47) Where the Appeals Committee concludes that the required procedures for considering allegations of misconduct have not been followed, it may refer the matter back to the relevant misconduct committee or University officer to be dealt with in accordance with the procedures set out in this policy. The student must be advised of the outcome of the appeal within 5 working days of the meeting of the Appeals Committee. (48) Within the University, the decision of Appeals Committee is final. (49) Where a student has completed studies but the degree has not been conferred, graduation must be delayed until allegations of misconduct have been dealt with. Graduation will be subject to any penalty which may be imposed in accordance with this policy. (50) In the event that a student has already graduated when an allegation of misconduct (for which a penalty under Section 8, clause 31(b, c, d, e, or i) could be imposed) is detected, the procedures set out in this policy (insofar as they are applicable) will be adopted to determine whether an allegation is substantiated. All reasonable efforts must be made to locate the person and provide them with notices and the opportunity to respond to the allegations. (51) Rights of appeal against a misconduct decision relating to a graduand or graduate are as set out in this policy. (52) Where the imposition of a penalty set out in Section 8, Penalties results in the student no longer having met the requirements for graduation from the award course, the Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar will follow the procedures for revocation of the award, as set out in the Revocation of an Award Policy. (53) Records must be maintained for cases of misconduct in the corporate records system. (54) For cases of misconduct and appeals, records must be maintained of all stages of the process and of any evidence, supporting documentation and correspondence. Records must be kept even where allegations are not substantiated. Records of misconduct cases are made available for Appeals Committee to review in determining an appeal. (55) The Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar presents a report on student misconduct management, at a summary level to Executive Leadership Team annually and, for academic and research misconduct, to University Academic Board. (56) University Appeals Committee reports annually on its activities to University Academic Board.Management of Student Misconduct Policy
Section 1 - Purpose
Top of PageSection 2 - Application
Top of PageSection 3 - Roles and Responsibilities
Top of Page
Section 4 - Detection and Reporting
Section 5 - Academic Misconduct
Section 6 - Non-Academic Misconduct
Section 7 - Dealing with Allegations of Misconduct
Allegation Notice
Time for Meeting
Meeting Procedures
Findings of Misconduct and Report
Recommendation on Penalty
Dealing with Allegations where the Student is not Currently Enrolled
Section 8 - Penalties
Section 9 - Interim Suspension
Section 10 - Appeals
Section 11 - Allegations of Misconduct against a Graduand or Graduate of QUT
Section 12 - Recordkeeping and Reporting
Section 13 - Definitions
Term
Definition
Non-academic breach of Code of Conduct – Student
A general breach of the standards of conduct set out in the Code determined to be minor in nature is defined as a non-academic breach, dealt with in an educative way.
Misconduct Committee
Means a committee having responsibility for considering cases of student misconduct, as set out in Section 3 above.
Includes the Executive Director, QUT College. For QUT Online courses, this is the Executive Dean of the faculty which is the owner of the course in which the student is enrolled.
Faculty
Includes QUT College and QUT Online.
Responsible Officer
Is the Officer responsible for receiving and acting on allegations of misconduct in each category. The responsible officer also has a general responsibility for promoting awareness of and compliance with appropriate behavioural standards and for initiating processes for detection of breaches relevant to their area of responsibility.
Student
Refers to any current or former student of QUT.
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Misconduct category
Receives reports of alleged misconduct
Reviews misconduct cases
Academic misconduct
Unit Coordinator/Examinations Coordinator (for cheating in central examinations)
Faculty Academic Misconduct Committees
Acceptable use of information and communications technology (ICT) resources misconduct
Vice-President (Digital) and Chief Digital Officer
Student Misconduct Committee
Research misconduct or academic misconduct by higher degree research students when not undertaking the coursework component of their study
Head of Research Portfolio
Student Research Misconduct Committee
General non-academic misconduct
Executive Dean of faculty/Manager, Security and Emergency Management/Head of Department
Student Misconduct Committee
Non-academic misconduct (sexual harassment, sexual assault and discrimination)
Director, Equity in conjunction with relevant Supervisors/Managers
Student Misconduct Committee