The University has authorized the use of Veriguide to detect plagiarism for text-based written assignments. Course instructors must inform students of this in introductory courses, course outlines, and informational material provided to them. After students have submitted the assignments and projects, the course instructor should examine the text-matching report from Veriguide to determine the extent and significance of any suspected plagiarism or academic misconduct.

Assessment and Investigation

Where there is a suspected case, the course instructor should assess the seriousness of the case, and refer all serious cases to the Head of Department (HoD) and/or Programme Director (PD) for further action. The criteria to determine the seriousness of the suspected plagiarism and/or academic misconduct includes:

Experience of the student
Disciplinary record of the student
Nature of plagiarism and/or academic misconduct
Weighting and importance of the assessment task
Extent of plagiarism
Intent of student

For a minor offence, the matter may be considered and determined by the course instructor. The course instructor should discuss the offence and his/her decisions on penalties with the student(s) involved. The student should be given a reasonable opportunity to respond to an allegation of academic misconduct before any determination is made or penalty imposed.

For a serious offence, after examining the case materials, course instructor and HoD/Programme Director should organize a formal investigation meeting to provide the student(s) with an opportunity to respond and answer questions regarding the suspected academic misconduct.

Decision and Penalty

After consideration of all of the evidence after the meeting, the personnel involved (depends on level of academic misconduct) will determine whether:

The case is dismissed, with no action;
There is a minor breach of academic misconduct and the course instructor can impose appropriate penalty to the student.
The case should be referred to Board of Examiners and/or Student Disciplinary Committee for consideration under the disciplinary regulations.

Where the responsible individual or body is satisfied that academic misconduct has been established, the following penalties can be imposed:

Level of academic misconduct	Punishment
Low to medium level: First offense or minor offense such as improper acknowledgement of the use of others’ work, undeclared multiple submissions, self-plagiarism.	(i) A reprimand and warning. (ii) A requirement to resubmit the work in question [no more than a minimum pass can be given for any resubmitted work]. (iii) Marks deducted or no marks given for the work in question.
Medium to high level: Repeated offense or serious offense such as using unauthorized material, impersonation during quiz/ examination, engaging in contract cheating	(iv) A fail grade entered for the course involving the work in question. (v) Suspension of the student from the University for a specified period. (vi) Expulsion of the student from the University. (vii) Non-award of the degree for which the student has been studying.

Communication the decision

The course instructor and/or HoD/PD will communicate the outcome to the candidate after the decision has been made.

Acceptance or Appeal

The student will be advised of any determination made and has a right of appeal against a finding of academic misconduct or any penalty imposed. Where a finding of academic misconduct is upheld on appeal, the penalty can be varied at the discretion of the individual or body conducting the appeal.

Filing the Case

After each case is closed, the course instructor shall report the case, together with its decision, to the Department, irrespective of whether the student concerned is found guilty or not.

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