Committee of Enquiry Guidance Notes
For students at the University of South Wales completing awards previously validated by the University of Wales, Newport[1]
Contents:
1 Introduction
1.1 The reason for a Committee of Enquiry.
1.2 What is the Committee of Enquiry asked to do?
1.3 What is meant by the term Unfair Practice?
1.4 Who are the members of a Committee of Enquiry?
2. Preparation for a Committee of Enquiry
2.1 When is a Committee of Enquiry organised and how is the candidate made aware?
2.2 Where is a Committee of Enquiry held?
2.3 How long should it take for the Committee of Enquiry to convene?
2.4 What happens if a candidate doesn’t respond to the letter telling them of the arrangements for a Committee of Enquiry?
2.5 What evidence will the Committee of Enquiry consider?
2.6 Can the candidate provide their own evidence?
2.7 What if new evidence from the School or the candidate is produced on the day of the Committee of Enquiry?
3. During the Committee of Enquiry
3.1 Who can accompany the candidate?
3.2 Who can’t accompany the candidate?
3.3 Who will be present from the School?
3.4 What happens if the candidate has informed the Committee of Enquiry they are attending but doesn’t attend on the day?
3.5 What is the procedure during the Committee of Enquiry and who may be in the room?
3.6 Can the Committee of Enquiry be adjourned?
3.7 What are the penalties which the Committee of Enquiry can implement?
3.8 What if a candidate has committed a previous offence?
3.9 What happens once the Committee of Enquiry has reached a decision?
4. Following the Committee of Enquiry
4.1 Does the candidate receive written confirmation of the decision?
4.2 Is a written report of the Committee of Enquiry made available?
5. The timescales for a Committee of Enquiry
1. Introduction
1.1 The reason for a Committee of Enquiry
The role of a Committee of Enquiry is to provide an independent examination of evidence where a School or Department has advised that possible Unfair Practice has taken place in a written assessment, examination or a formally submitted document.
1.2 What is the Committee Enquiry asked to do?
The Committee of Enquiry is asked:
(i) to consider the evidence submitted to it on the allegation of Unfair Practice;
(ii) to determine whether the allegation of Unfair Practice has been substantiated. Such a determination shall normally be made on the balance of probabilities;
(iii) to determine, if appropriate, the penalty to be imposed.
1.3 What is meant by the term Unfair Practice?
An Unfair Practice is committed if a person obtains for himself/herself or for another, an un-permitted advantage. Examples of un-permitted advantage are set out below in regulation B10.2 of the University’s Assessment Regulations.
These examples are not exhaustive and other cases may fall within the general definition of Unfair Practice.
Examples of Unfair Practice in non-examination conditions
(i) Plagiarism, which can be defined as using without acknowledgement another person’s words or ideas and submitting them for assessment as though they were one’s own work, for instance by copying, translating from one language to another or unacknowledged paraphrasing. Further examples of plagiarism include:
· use of any quotation(s) from the published or unpublished work of other persons, whether published in textbooks, articles, the internet, or in any other format, where the quotations have not been clearly identified as such by being placed in quotation marks and acknowledged;
· unacknowledged use of another person’s words or ideas that have been slightly changed or paraphrased to make them look different from the original;
· summarising another person’s ideas, judgements, diagrams, figures, computer programs, bibliography and/or list of references without reference to that person in the text and the source in the bibliography;
· use of services of essay banks and/or any other agencies;
· use of unacknowledged material downloaded from the internet;
· re-use of one’s own material except as authorised by the Faculty.
(ii) Collusion, which can be defined as when work that has been undertaken by or with others is submitted and passed off as solely the work of one person. This also applies where the work of one candidate is submitted in the name of another. Where this is done with the knowledge of the originator both parties can be considered to be at fault.
(iii) Fabrication of data, making false claims to have carried out experiments, observations, readings, interviews or other forms of data collection and analysis, or acting dishonestly in any other way.
(iv) Presentation of evidence of special circumstances which is false or falsified or which in any way misleads or could mislead Examination Boards.
Examples of Unfair Practice in examination conditions
(v) Introduction into an examination room and/or associated facilities any unauthorised form of materials such as a book, manuscript, data or loose papers, information obtained via any electronic device, or any source of unauthorised information.
(vi) Copying from or communication with any other person in the examination room and/or associated facilities except as authorised by an invigilator.
(vii) Communication electronically with any other person, except as authorised by an invigilator.
(viii) Impersonation of an examination candidate or allowing oneself to be impersonated.
(ix) Presentation of an examination script as one’s own work when the script includes material produced by unauthorised means.
(x) Presentation of evidence of special circumstances which is false or falsified or which in any way misleads or could mislead Examination Boards.
1.4 Who are the members of a Committee of Enquiry?
The academic staff members of a Committee of Enquiry are taken from a Standing Panel of members nominated by the Faculties and appointed by the University Secretary.
The Committee of Enquiry is made up of:
· A Chair who is taken from the list of members of academic staff appointed to the Standing Panel. The Chair will be from a different Academic School to that in which the candidate is enrolled.
The Chair will lead the Committee members in discussing the evidence, putting questions to the candidate, School representative and witnesses and in deciding whether the allegation is proven and the penalty to be applied.
· Two other members are taken from the Standing Panel. The Panel members will be from a different Academic School to that in which the candidate is enrolled. They will work with the Chair to consider the evidence, put questions to the candidate, School representative and witnesses and in deciding whether the allegation is proven and the penalty to be applied.
· A Committee Secretary, who will be a member from the Student Casework Unit, will provide members of the Committee of Enquiry and the candidate with the required documentation and take a written record of the event.
2. Preparation for a Committee of Enquiry
2.1 When is a Committee of Enquiry set up and how is the candidate made aware?
If a member of staff considers or suspects that unfair practice has occurred in relation to work submitted as a piece of coursework, or any work completed under non-examination conditions, he/she shall stop marking the work and shall report the matter in writing to the Chair of the relevant Examination Board, normally within five working days. The Chair shall seek and retain any relevant evidence and shall immediately report the matter in writing to the Head of Student Casework or his/her nominee.
On receipt of a report concerning an allegation of unfair practice in work completed under non-examination conditions, the Head of Student Casework or his/her nominee shall discuss the matter with the Chair of the relevant Examination Board to determine whether, in light of all the circumstances, a prima facie case has been established. The determination may be informed by consultation with the relevant external examiner(s) and other appropriate means, for instance through the use of plagiarism detection software.
The Head of Student Casework or his/her nominee shall inform the candidate in writing of the allegation and that a Committee of Enquiry will be constituted to consider the case. The candidate will be informed of the date, place and time when the Committee of Enquiry intends to meet and that he/she has the right to be represented or accompanied, to hear all the evidence, to call and question witnesses and to submit other evidence, including evidence of mitigating circumstances. The candidate will also be informed how to access Assessment and Award Regulation B10: Unfair Practice.
2.2 Where is a Committee of Enquiry held?
Meetings of Committees of Enquiry are normally held at one of Newport’s campuses.
2.3 How long should it take for the Committee of Enquiry to convene?
The Committee of Enquiry should meet as soon as reasonably practicable after the members of the Committee have been confirmed and normally within six working weeks of the first letter to the candidate, which would be provided following receipt of the full range of available evidence from the School (a table of timescales which would apply in normal circumstances is provided at the end of these guidance notes).
The reason for the normal six working weeks is that during busy periods of the academic year or during holiday periods it may take longer to find the panel members especially as a panel member cannot be a member of the School in which the candidate studies. Sometimes the date may be much shorter, especially at the end of the academic year when efforts are made to provide sufficient time for a candidate to undertake retrieval work in time for the relevant examination boards, if that is the decision of the Committee of Enquiry. A normal period of notice to a candidate would be fifteen working days (a table of timescales which would apply in normal circumstances is provided at the end of these guidance notes).
2.4 What happens if a candidate doesn’t respond to the letter detailing the arrangements for a Committee of Enquiry?
Where no response is received from the candidate, the Secretary may postpone the meeting on one occasion where he/she is of the opinion that further investigation may be warranted (e.g. to establish whether the candidate has received the communications), but such a postponement would not be the norm or a requirement.
2.5 What evidence will the Committee of Enquiry look consider?
Schools/ Departments are asked to provide the following range of evidence:
Report by the Chair of the Examination Board. This would typically be a memo to request the Head of Student Casework or his/her nominee to review the evidence provided and determine if a prima facie case has been established (in liaison with the Chair).
Report by the Module Tutor, Programme Leader or member of staff within a Department. This should be a short but detailed summary of events outlining the case, the discovery of Unfair Practice (with key dates) and any other facts or observations the Panel should be aware of e.g. any previous discussions with the student regarding the student’s referencing etc.
Report by the Invigilator (for examination cases) or, other members of staff (falsification of evidence etc). This should be a short but detailed summary of events outlining the case, the discovery of Unfair Practice (with key times/dates) and any other facts or observations the Panel should be aware of.
Module Specification. This should be the current validated version.
Assessment Brief/ Paper. As issued to the student for the assessment concerned and should include the scheduled submission date.
Student’s Submission (assignment/ examination etc). This should include mark up and/or comments identifying areas of alleged Unfair Practice.
TURNITIN Report (if applicable).
Source Material used by Student. This would typically include copies of internet/ paper sources, previously submitted work or another student’s assessment.
Confirmation that the student provided with information and/ or guidance regarding Unfair Practice and Referencing.
All the above will also be sent to the candidate.
2.6 Can the candidate provide their own evidence?
The candidate can provide documentary evidence to support their response to the allegation. They can also provide a written response to the allegation.
The documentary evidence and written response should be sent to the Secretary prior to the date of the meeting so that it can be circulated to members of the Committee (a table of timescales which would apply in normal circumstances is provided at the end of these guidance notes).
2.7 What if new evidence from the School or the candidate is produced on the day of the Committee of Enquiry?
Additional documentary evidence in support of, or in defence of, the case against the candidate (including evidence of mitigating circumstances) may only be presented to the Committee on the day of the hearing with the express permission of the Chair and copies should be provided for all parties.
3. During the Committee of Enquiry
3.1 Who can accompany the candidate?
A candidate can be accompanied by a friend, a member of their family, the Students’ Union or a member of academic staff. The person accompanying the candidate will be there to give moral support and will not normally speak unless the Chair invites them to make comment.
If the candidate feels unable to represent themselves they can nominate the person accompanying them to act as their representative, in which case the accompanying person will be invited to speak on behalf of the candidate or they may bring an additional person with them to act as their representative.
The candidate may also invite witnesses to corroborate their evidence and/or their written response. Witnesses will be asked specific questions by the Panel related to the candidate’s explanation and to the written evidence.
The candidate must let the Secretary know in writing in advance of the meeting whether they will be accompanied and whether that person or another person will be representing them. They must also let the Secretary know in writing of any witnesses they wish to call (a table of timescales which would apply in normal circumstances is provided at the end of these guidance notes).
3.2 Who can’t accompany the candidate?
Neither the person accompanying the candidate nor the person representing the candidate can attend the meeting in a legal capacity.