|
Monash University Calendar
Regulations
Chapter 4 - Discipline
1. Interpretations 1.1 In this statute unless the contrary intention appears
-
'academic misconduct' means cheating or assisting to cheat, whether in an
examination or non - examination context;
'assisting to cheat' means assisting a student with an examination
or other written or practical work with the intention that the student
will thereby obtain an unfair advantage;
'cheating' means seeking to obtain an unfair advantage in an examination
or in other written or practical work required to be submitted or
completed by a student for assessment;
'chief examiner' means the chief examiner for the subject concerned
or, where a chief examiner has not been appointed, the member of
the teaching staff in charge of the subject;
'director' means the director or manager of the central secretariat of the university;
'examination cheating' means cheating at or in respect
of a university examination; '
'faculty', in relation to a student,
means the faculty in or through which the student is pursuing a course
of study or, in the case of a student undertaking a double degree,
the administering faculty;
'faculty manager' means the senior administrative
officer of a faculty;
'general misconduct' means any behaviour
which is contrary to a policy of the university or to generally
accepted standards of behaviour and includes the conduct specified
in subsection 3.2;
'misconduct' means academic or general misconduct;
'non - examination cheating' means cheating that is not
examination cheating;
'student' means a person who is enrolled
as a candidate for an award of the university and includes a person
- (a) who is between enrolments; or
(b) whose work for the award has been examined or
assessed but on whom the award has not been conferred;
1.2 For the purposes of this statute -
1.2.1 a student who is excluded from the university ceases
to be a student of the university;
1.2.2 a power to exclude
from the university includes a power to exclude from the university
precincts;
1.2.3 a student who is suspended from the university
remains a student but is precluded from pursuing a course of study
or any unit in a course of study in the university during the period
of suspension; and
1.2.4 a reference to the university or
to the property or precincts of the university includes a reference
to the property or precincts of a person or institution, other
than the university, occupied or used by one or more students
in the course of or in relation to academic or practical work forming
part of a course of study for an award of the university; and
a power to suspend or exclude from the university includes a like
power to suspend or exclude from the property or precincts of
any such person or institution.
1.3 The provisions of this statute apply to and in relation to a student
pursuing a course of study outside Victoria, with such adaptations as are
determined to be necessary and approved by -
1.3.1 the dean of the relevant faculty; and
1.3.2 in
the case of an appeal to the central discipline committee or the
central discipline committee (appeals), the director.
2. Regulations
2.1 The Council may make regulations for or with respect
to prescribing any matter or thing necessary or expedient to be prescribed
for the purposes of this statute; and the Council may make regulations
amending or revoking any such regulation.
2.2 Regulations made under this statute must be promulgated
on the Monash University Calendar website and after being so promulgated
must remain on the website for at least 14 days.
TOP
3. Offence of general misconduct
3.1 An act of general misconduct by a student is an offence
under this statute.
3.2 For the purposes of subsection 3.1, and without limiting
its generality, a student commits an act of general misconduct if the
student within the university precincts -
3.2.1 attacks, harasses
or threatens to attack or harass any person;
3.2.2 intimidates
or attempts to intimidate any person;
3.2.3 wilfully, recklessly
or negligently engages in conduct which causes or is calculated
to cause bodily injury to any person;
3.2.4 engages in
conduct which -
3.2.4.1 involves unauthorised or unjustified
use of or interference with;
3.2.4.2 causes or is
likely to cause injury or damage to; or
3.2.4.3 denies
or obstructs or is likely to deny or obstruct the rightful
use of -
any property of the university or of any person.
3.2.5 disobeys
any reasonable order or direction given to the student
by an officer or servant of the university in relation
to the use of any property of the university where
the officer or servant concerned has reasonable cause to
believe that such order or direction is necessary -
3.2.5.1 to
ensure the safety of any person;
3.2.5.2 to
prevent damage to or destruction of the property;
3.2.5.3 for
the performance of the officer's or servant's
duties in relation to the custody, maintenance or use
of the property;
3.2.6 refuses
or fails to provide identification when requested
to do so by an officer or servant of the university
acting in the course of official duties, provided
that when making such a request the officer
or servant concerned produces identification to
the student;
3.2.7 interferes
with the orderly conduct of a teaching group
or ceremony of the university or a meeting
of the Council or of a board, committee,
sub - committee or any body constituted by or under
the Act, statutes or regulations or appointed
by any body so constituted;
3.2.8 in
an examination, is in possession of material
contrary to the instructions for the examination;
3.2.9 copies
or attempts to copy computer software
without the permission of the university and in
breach of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth);
or
3.2.10 without appropriate authority, enters a file belonging to another person, the file
being on a computer which is the property of the university.
4. Reporting of general misconduct
4.1 Subject to this section, a person in the employment of the university
who has reasonable grounds to believe that an act of general misconduct
has been committed by a student must report the matter to the associate
dean (teaching) of the relevant faculty or the associate dean's nominee
who may -
4.1.1 fine the student a sum not exceeding $300;
4.1.2 suspend
the student from the university for a period not exceeding eight
weeks; or
4.1.3 report the matter to the faculty manager.
4.2 A
person in the employment of the university who has reasonable
grounds to believe that an act of general misconduct has been committed
by a student in the library or on or in relation to the facilities
of the information technology services division or the sports and
recreation facilities of the university must report the matter to the
relevant superior officer or to a member of staff in the area concerned
authorised by the superior officer.
4.3 Where, under subsection
4.2, a matter is reported to a superior officer, that officer -
4.3.1 may
fine the student a sum not exceeding $150 and may suspend the
student from the area concerned for a period not exceeding three
weeks; or
4.3.2 may
report the matter to the director.
4.4 Where, under
subsection 4.2, a matter is reported to an authorised member
of staff, that member of staff -
4.4.1 may fine
the student a sum not exceeding $75 and may suspend the
student from the area concerned for a period not exceeding
two weeks; or
4.4.2 may report
the matter to the director.
4.5 Where,
in the case of an incident involving a number of
students from more than one faculty, a person in the employment
of the university has reasonable grounds to believe
that acts of general misconduct have been committed
by students from different faculties, that person
must report the matter to the director.
4.6 Subject
to subsections 4.2, and 4.5, where the deputy vice-chancellor
and vice-president responsible for university - wide resource management
has reasonable grounds to believe a student has committed an act of
general misconduct constituted by -
4.6.1 theft
within the university precincts;
4.6.2 damage
to property of the university; or
4.6.3 falsification
of a university parking permit -
the deputy
vice-chancellor and vice-president may
-
4.6.4 fine
the student a sum not exceeding $300.00;
or
4.6.5 report the matter to the director.
4.7 In
subsections 4.2 and 4.3 'superior officer'
means the university librarian, the
executive director of the information technology
services division or the manager of
the sports and recreation facilities of the
university, as the case requires.
5. Appeal
A person who has been penalised under section
4 may -
5.1.1 in the case of a penalty imposed under subsection 4.1,
appeal to the relevant faculty discipline committee; or
5.1.2 in
any other case, appeal to a central discipline committee.
TOP
6. Application This Part does not apply to or in relation to research
misconduct within the meaning of Part V - Research Misconduct.
7. Examination cheating and assisting to cheat A person in the employment of the university
who has reasonable grounds to believe that -
7.1.1 examination cheating has occurred; or
7.1.2 a student
has assisted another student to cheat -
must report the matter to the
relevant faculty manager.
8. Non - examination cheating 8.1 A member of the teaching staff who has reasonable grounds
to believe that non - examination cheating has occurred, must report the
matter to the chief examiner.
8.2 Where the chief examiner has reasonable grounds to believe
that non - examination cheating has occurred, the chief examiner must
-
8.2.1 disallow the work concerned by prohibiting assessment;
or
8.2.2 report the matter to the relevant faculty manager.
8.3. Where,
under paragraph 8.2.1, a student's work has been disallowed -
8.3.1 the
chief examiner must give written notice of the disallowance
to the student and to the associate dean (teaching) of the faculty
concerned; and
8.3.2 the student may appeal to the relevant
faculty discipline committee.
TOP
9. Faculty discipline committee 9.1 An appeal to a faculty discipline committee under paragraph
5.1.1 or 8.3.2 must be -
9.1.1 in writing, addressed to the faculty manager, setting
out the grounds of the appeal; and
9.1.2 lodged with the faculty
manager within 28 days after imposition of the penalty or notice
of disallowance concerned.
9.2 Where a matter is reported to
a faculty manager under paragraph 4.1.3, section 7 or paragraph 8.2.2,
or an appeal to a faculty discipline committee is lodged with a
faculty manager under subsection 9.1, subject to subsection 9.3, the
faculty manager must -
9.2.1 within 28 days or any longer period
necessary in any particular case, constitute a faculty discipline
committee to hear and determine the matter; and
9.2.2 notify
the student in writing of the time and place of the hearing.
9.3 In
a case of alleged academic misconduct, subsection 9.2 applies
only where the faculty manager is satisfied that there is a prima
facie case against the student concerned.
9.4 Where work
submitted for assessment by two or more persons is the same or
substantially the same, the work so submitted is prima facie
evidence of cheating by those persons.
9.5 Subject
to subsection 9.6, a faculty discipline committee consists
of -
9.5.1 two
members of the faculty, one being the associate dean
(teaching) or the associate dean's nominee who shall chair
the committee; and
9.5.2 one
student in the faculty -
and may, in any particular
case, include one additional faculty member co - opted
by committee.
9.6 Where
a faculty discipline committee is constituted -
9.6.1 to
hear a charge of cheating or assisting to cheat
following a report to the faculty manager under
section 7 or paragraph 8.2.2, or to hear an appeal
under paragraph 8.3.2 following the disallowance
of work, the committee must not include the chief
examiner or the person who made the report under
section 7 or subsection 8.1; or
9.6.2 to
hear an allegation of general misconduct in
relation to a unit undertaken in another faculty by a
double degree student, the committee may, at
the option of the other faculty, include a
member of that faculty.
10. Central discipline committee 10.1 An appeal to a central discipline committee under paragraph
5.1.2 must be -
10.1.1 in writing, addressed to the secretary, central discipline
committee, setting out the grounds of the appeal; and
10.1.2 lodged
with the committee secretary within 28 days after imposition of the
penalty concerned.
10.2 Where a report is made to the director
under section 4 or an appeal is lodged under subsection 10.1 the
committee secretary must -
10.2.1 within 28 days or any
longer period necessary in any particular case, constitute a
central discipline committee to hear and determine the matter concerned;
and
10.2.2 notify
the student in writing of the time and place of the hearing.
10.3 A
central discipline committee consists of three members of
the central discipline committee panel of whom -
10.3.1 one
must be a member of the teaching staff of the Faculty of
Law, who shall chair the committee; and
10.3.2 one must be
a student -
and may, in any particular case, include
a fourth member co - opted by the committee from the central discipline
committee panel.
11. Central discipline committee (appeals)
11.1 A student may appeal to a central discipline committee
(appeals) from a decision of a faculty or central discipline committee
on one or more of the following grounds -
- excessive penalty
- bias on the part of the discipline committee concerned
- significant procedural irregularity
- new evidence of a substantial nature, being evidence
not reasonably available to the student at the time of the
original hearing.
11.2 An appeal under this section is made by lodging a notice
of appeal with the secretary, central discipline committee (appeals) within
twenty eight days after receipt of the written notice of the decision concerned.
11.3 A notice of appeal must be on an approved form, which
may be obtained, on request, from the committee secretary.
11.4 In
relation to any misconduct that a student has admitted at an earlier
hearing, the student may appeal only on the ground of excessive penalty.
11.5 Within
28 days after an appeal is lodged under subsection 11.2 or any
longer period necessary in any particular case, the committee secretary
must -
11.5.1 constitute a central discipline committee
(appeals) to hear and determine the matter; and
11.5.2 notify
the student in writing of the time and place of the hearing.
11.6 Subject
to this section, a central discipline committee (appeals)
consists of six members of the central discipline committee panel being
-
11.6.1 a
member of the teaching staff of the Faculty of Law who
shall chair the committee;
11.6.2 three other members of
the teaching staff; and
11.6.3 two students.
11.7 A
central discipline committee (appeals) constituted
under this section may hear or continue to hear an appeal despite
the absence of up to three of its members, provided
the chair, one other member of the teaching staff and one
student are present.
11.8 Where
a central discipline committee (appeals) is constituted
to hear and determine an appeal on the grounds of
excessive penalty, the committee may consist of three members
only of the central discipline committee panel being -
11.8.1 a
member of the teaching staff of the Faculty of
Law who shall chair the committee;
11.8.2 one
other member of the teaching staff; and
11.8.3 one
student.
11.9 The decision of a central discipline committee
(appeals) is final
.
12. Representation
12.1 At a hearing before -
12.1.1 a faculty or central discipline committee, a student
may be accompanied, but not represented, by one other person;
12.1.2 a
central discipline committee (appeals), a student may be represented
by a person who may be legally qualified.
12.2 Where, at a
hearing before a central discipline committee (appeals), a student
is represented by a legally qualified person, the university may
also be so represented.
13. Central discipline committee panel
13.1 The central discipline committee panel consists of the
following members appointed by the Academic Board -
13.1.1 members of the teaching staff of the rank of lecturer
or above, being two from each of the faculties other than the Faculty
of Law and four from the Faculty of Law; and
13.1.2 members
of the university student organisations, being -
13.1.2.1 four
nominated by the Monash Student Association Inc;
13.1.2.2 three
nominated by the Monash University Student Union Inc;
13.1.2.3 three
nominated by the Monash University Gippsland Student Union
Inc;
13.1.2.4 one
nominated by the Victorian Pharmacy Students Association;
13.1.2.5 one
nominated by the Monash Union of Berwick Students; and
13.1.2.6 two
nominated by the Monash Postgraduate Association.
13.2 Members
of the panel must be appointed for a period of two
years and are eligible for re - appointment.
13.3 The
panel must, as nearly as possible, have an equal
a balance of both sexes.
14. Powers and duties of faculty and central discipline committees
14.1 In this section, 'discipline committee' means a faculty
discipline committee or a central discipline committee.
14.2 Where a discipline committee determines that an act of
general misconduct has occurred, or that a student has assisted another
student to cheat, the committee must impose one or more of the following
penalties -
14.2.1 a reprimand;
14.2.2 a fine not exceeding
$500;
14.2.3 suspension from the university for a specified
period;
14.2.4 exclusion from the university;
14.2.5 payment
to the university of a sum sufficient to make good any damage
caused by the student.
14.3 Where a discipline committee
determines that cheating has occurred the committee must
impose one or more of the following penalties -
14.3.1 a
reprimand;
14.3.2 disallowance
of the work concerned by prohibiting assessment or,
where the work has been assessed, annulling the result in the
assessed work;
14.3.3 failure
in the unit of which the work concerned forms the
whole or a part;
14.3.4 suspension
from the university for a specified period;
14.3.5 exclusion
from the university.
14.3A Where, under
subsection 14.2 or 14.3, a discipline committee
imposes a reprimand, a fine or suspension from
the university, the committee may also impose
specified conditions on the continuing candidature
of the student concerned.
14.4 Where,
under paragraph 14.3.2, a discipline committee
disallows a student's work, the committee
must either -
14.4.1 permit
the student to submit, within a specified
period, a substitute piece of work for assessment;
or
14.4.2 deem
the disallowance to be a failure on the
part of the student in the examination
or work.
14.5 Where,
after hearing a charge of cheating,
a discipline committee -
14.5.1 determines
that cheating has not been established;
or
14.5.2 imposes
only a reprimand under paragraph
14.3.1 - the committee must instruct
the chief examiner to make an assessment
of the work concerned.
14.6 Where,
on appeal, a discipline committee
determines that -
14.6.1 an
act of misconduct has not occurred,
it must set aside the decision
appealed and any penalty imposed;
or
14.6.2 that
an act of misconduct has
occurred, it must uphold the decision
appealed and confirm or vary
any penalty imposed.
15. Power of chair of central discipline committee (appeals) to dismiss appeal
15.1 In any case where, after a central discipline committee
(appeals) has been constituted but before the hearing of the appeal concerned,
the chair of the committee, after consideration of the notice of appeal
and any other relevant papers, determines that the appeal is frivolous,
vexatious, misconceived or lacking in substance, the chair may dismiss
the appeal.
15.2 Where an appeal is dismissed under subsection 15.1 -
15.2.1 the
chair of the committee must in writing notify the student concerned
of the dismissal; and
15.2.2 the dismissal by the chair is
final.
16. Power and duties of central discipline committee (appeals)
16.1 At a hearing before a central discipline committee (appeals),
where the committee determines that the particular ground of appeal -
16.1.1 has not been established, it must dismiss the appeal;
or
16.1.2 has been established -
16.1.2.1 where the
appeal is on the ground of excessive penalty, the committee may
vary the penalty; and
16.1.2.2 in any other case, the committee
must re - hear the matter, in whole or in part as the case requires.
16.2 A
central discipline committee (appeals) has all the relevant
powers and duties of a faculty or central discipline committee under
section 14.
17. Duties of faculty board and director
A faculty board in relation to a faculty
discipline committee, and the director in relation to a central discipline
committee or a central discipline committee (appeals), must -
17.1.1 after a matter has been heard and determined by the
committee, cause written notice of the decision to be given to the
student concerned; and
17.1.2 annually cause a confidential
report on the proceedings of the committee to be made to the Academic
Board.
TOP
18. Interpretations
In this Part, unless the contrary intention
appears -
'academic staff' means teaching or research staff of the university;
'research misconduct' -
(a) means negligent or intentional -
(i) fabrication or falsification of data;
(ii) plagiarism;
(iii) misleading or inadequate ascription of authorship, including
the listing of authors without their permission;
(iv) breaches of the Monash University Code of Conduct for
the Responsible Practice of Research; and
(b) includes any other negligent or intentional practices
that seriously deviate from those commonly accepted within the relevant
research community for proposing, conducting or reporting research
-
in the course of or in relation to research work;
'research work' -
(a) means work towards -
(i) a thesis for a graduate or postgraduate degree;
or
(ii) a research paper or report intended for publication
or communication to a person or body outside the university;
and
(b) includes work of a student towards a thesis, research
paper or report of another person;
'student' means a candidate for a degree
of the university and includes a person -
(a) whose candidature has lapsed; or
(b) who has completed the study program
for, but not graduated with, a degree.
19. Report of research misconduct Where a person in the employment of the university
has reasonable grounds to believe that a student may have committed an
act of research misconduct, that person must send a written report on the
matter to the chair of the Research Graduate School Committee.
20. Preliminary review panel 20.1 In paragraph 20.2.2 'head' has the meaning assigned
to it by section 2 of the Doctorate regulations
20.2 After receipt of a report under section 19 the chair of
the Research Graduate School Committee must constitute a preliminary
review panel comprising -
20.2.1 a senior research member of
the academic staff in a discipline other than the discipline or disciplines
concerned, nominated by the committee, who shall be the chair of
the panel;
20.2.2 a representative of the relevant faculty,
not being the head or any person who has been involved with the student's
academic work and, except as otherwise provided in subsection 20.3,
nominated by the faculty board of the faculty; and
20.2.3 two
experts in the relevant area of study and research from another
faculty or another educational institution, nominated by the
committee.
20.3 For
the purposes of subparagraph 20.2.2, where a faculty is divided
into departments or schools or there is a centre acting in
conjunction with the faculty, the faculty representative must be from
and nominated by the relevant department, school or centre.
20.4 After
a preliminary review panel has been constituted, the chair
of the panel must send the student concerned a copy of the report
under section 19 and by notice in writing advise the student -
20.4.1 that
the matter is to be referred to a preliminary review panel
for investigation; and
20.4.2 of the membership
of the panel and of any subsequent change in that membership.
20.5 A
student has the right to veto up to two members of
a preliminary review panel and this right must be exercised
in writing to the chair within 14 days after receipt
of the membership advice.
20.6 The
final membership of a preliminary review panel is
as ratified by the Research Graduate School Committee.
21. Powers and duties of preliminary review panel
21.1 A preliminary review panel must make such inquiries
as it thinks necessary to determine whether or not there is a prima facie
case of research misconduct, and for this purpose -
21.1.1 may require persons to attend and give evidence;
21.1.2 must
give the student the right to be heard personally or through a representative,
not being a legally qualified person, or by way of a written submission;
and
21.1.3 may require the production of documents and other
materials.
21.2 A preliminary review panel, after deciding
a matter, must send both the chair of the Research Graduate School
Committee and the student a report of its decision and, where it
has determined that a prima facie case has been established, the
reasons for the decision.
22. Research graduate discipline committee 22.1 In this section "deputy vice -chancellor and vice-president" means
the deputy vice - chancellor and vice - president responsible for university
research development.
22.2 Where a preliminary review panel determines that a prima
facie case of research misconduct has been established, the deputy
vice - chancellor and vice - president, in consultation with the chair
of the Research Graduate School Committee, must constitute a research
graduate discipline committee to hear and determine the matter.
22.3 A
research graduate discipline committee must include -
22.3.1 the
deputy vice-chancellor and vice - president or nominee, who shall
be the convenor and chair of the committee;
22.3.2 two members
of the academic staff with research supervision experience; and
22.3.3 a
representative of the Monash Postgraduate Association nominated
by the association.
22.4 After a discipline committee
has been constituted under subsection 22.2, the chair of
the committee must advise the student concerned -
22.4.1 that
the matter is to be determined by the committee; and
22.4.2 that
the student is entitled to be heard personally or through
a representative who may be legally qualified, or by
way of a written submission.
22.5 At
any hearing before a research graduate discipline committee,
the university may be represented by a nominee of the
Research Graduate School Committee who may be legally qualified.
23. Penalties 23.1 Where a research graduate discipline committee determines
that a student is guilty of research misconduct, the committee must impose
one or more of the following penalties -
23.1.1 a reprimand;
23.1.2 a fine not exceeding $500;
23.1.3 disallowance
of the work concerned by prohibiting assessment or, where the work
has been assessed, by annulling the results in the assessed work;
23.1.4 suspension
from the university for a specified period;
23.1.5 exclusion
from the university.
23.2 Where under paragraph 23.1.3
a discipline committee disallows a student's work, the committee
must either -
23.2.1 permit
the student to submit, within a specified period, a substitute
piece of work for assessment; or
23.2.2 deem the
disallowance to be a failure on the part of the student
in the examination or work.
23.3 A
person who under this section is -
23.3.1 excluded
from the university, ceases to be a student of the
university; or
23.3.2 suspended
from the university, remains a student but is precluded
from pursuing candidature in the university during
the period of suspension.
24. Decision final
The decision of a research graduate discipline
committee is final.
TOP
|
