Appendix 1 Guidelines on determining an appropriate Student Misconduct Penalty

Application

1. These guidelines have been prepared to assist all those involved in recommending, imposing and reviewing penalties for instances of misconduct,

2. The misconduct penalties apply to instances of General, Academic, and Professional Misconduct, Gender-based Violence and Sexual Misconduct, and other Misconduct as defined in the relevant Policy and Procedures. Conduct may be considered misconduct (resulting in reprimand, fines, conditions on enrolment or access to facilities, and/or assessment and subject penalties), or serious misconduct (resulting in conditions on enrolment or access to facilities, suspension, exclusion, expulsion and/or revocation of an award of the University).

Principles

3. In determining an appropriate penalty for a proven instance of misconduct or serious misconduct, the Authorised Delegate must take into account:

3.1 the nature and context of the misconduct including:

a. the objective circumstances of the misconduct (the facts in relation to the gravity of the misconduct itself) in order to gauge an appreciation of the seriousness of the misconduct;

b. the subjective circumstances of the student (aggravating and mitigating factors relating to the student rather than to the misconduct);

3.2 whether a student has admitted the misconduct, and/or has come forward of their own accord;

3.3 whether intent can be proven (except for sexual misconduct);

3.4 the student’s expression of remorse or apology (where relevant);

3.5 the student’s past conduct (the nature and extent of a student’s previous record of misconduct should be considered in all cases);

3.6 penalties imposed for previous similar cases to ensure consistency in decision-making;

3.7 the consequences of the penalty for the individual student (refer clause 17, Differential effects of penalties).

Penalties for serious misconduct and misconduct

4. The penalties table provides a guide as to penalties for specific cases of misconduct and the circumstances in which specific penalties are appropriate.

5. Authorised Delegates may need to adjust the penalty in individual cases according to the circumstances of that particular case or where mitigating circumstances are considered.

6. The penalties are defined as either serious misconduct or misconduct and graded according to severity, although it should be noted that some penalties are only appropriate for specific types of misconduct (e.g. fines can only apply to some forms of misconduct).

7. The University is committed to the elimination of gender-based violence including domestic and family violence, sexual harassment and sexual assault. Only some forms of Sexual Harassment and Gender-based Violence may be considered misconduct. Most proven allegations of Violence and Sexual Assault would be considered serious misconduct only (Table 1), and cannot be mitigated down to misconduct.

8. Where there is a clear public interest or obligation to share information (such as a duty to disclose information to a professional accreditation board, or a duty to report under legislation), outcomes of student disciplinary processes and penalties applied may be notified to relevant professional or regulatory authorities (including but not limited to Queensland Health, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (APHRA), or Queensland Teachers College).

9. The Review of Suitability to Continue a Course Involving Placement Policy may also be triggered following a finding of serious or repeated misconduct and where placement is a requirement of the course.

Penalty Definitions

Issues specific to each type of penalty

10. Expulsion from the University

10.1 A student who is expelled from the University is permanently prohibited from enrolling in any course or subject of the University. Expulsion results in the loss of current enrolment and the inability to return in the future. Credit gained prior to expulsion will remain on the student’s transcript; however, conferral of an incomplete award will not occur.

11. Exclusion from the University

11.1 If a student is re-admitted to a course following a period of exclusion from the University, the student may be required to apply for credit recognition, i.e. for the subjects completed prior to the period of exclusion.

12. Exclusion from specified class/specified facility

12.1 A student who is excluded from specified classes or facilities may not be able to complete certain assessment tasks and this may impact on their final result for the subject. Accommodating learning requirements through alternate study location, mode or subject may be considered.

12.2 For Higher Degree by Research candidates, exclusion may also include restriction of access to research facilities, laboratories, equipment, or data sets, where such access is relevant to the conduct of their research. Accommodating research requirements through alternate supervision, facilities, or project design may be considered where feasible.

13. Suspension from the University

13.1 Students who are suspended from the University for a specified period not exceeding 12 months will retain any credit points gained prior to the period of suspension.

14. Suspension from a course of the University

14.1 Students who are suspended from a course of the University will retain any credit points gained prior to the period of suspension. They may apply for admission to another course of the University during the period of suspension, except for non-award study in subjects that could be subsequently counted as exemptions towards the course from which they have been suspended.

15. Withholding of results/academic transcript/conferral of award

15.1 When an instance of misconduct occurs in the student’s final teaching period before completion, the University may withhold academic results for the relevant teaching period, and/or official academic records, including conferral of award until the period of suspension is completed and any fines or costs are paid.

15.2 Students whose results are withheld may not be able to progress in their course and it may impact on their employment situation or applications for admission to courses at other institutions. Students whose official academic records and/or conferral are withheld may not be able to apply for admission to other courses, or may be limited in their employment opportunities.

15.3 These penalties usually apply when a student is in, or has completed, their final teaching period before completion. The penalties are usually imposed in conjunction with suspension and/or the withholding of results until fines or costs are paid.

16. Monetary penalties

16.1 The University may impose a reasonable monetary fine to be applied. Fines may be appropriate for incidents such as:

a. inappropriate and/or disruptive behaviour on campus (up to $1,000 maximum);

b. contravening prescribed standards of acceptable conduct as described in the Student Code of Conduct and other policies (up to $1,000 maximum);

c. endangering the safety and/or security of people and/or property (up to $2,000 maximum);

d. ignoring or disobeying a directive from a University Officer, i.e., someone who has authority to give that direction (up to $500 maximum);

e. refusing to identify oneself (up to $100 maximum);

f. allowing another person access to JCU email or computer account and facilities (up to $500 maximum with increase to $1,000 for repeat offences);

g. damage and destruction where the costs cannot be adequately measured for the purposes of cost recovery (e.g. destruction of intellectual property through hacking or destroying a computer which has other persons’ work on it) (up to $5,000).

16.2 When considering fines as an effective and appropriate penalty for instances of misconduct, the following factors should be taken into account:

a. A fine can only be imposed for general misconduct.

b. A student’s financial capability must be considered in imposing a fine; and where appropriate extensions of time to pay may be granted by the Authorised Delegate.

17. Awarding of zero grade

17.1 When considering an academic misconduct penalty, it should be noted that if a student is awarded zero for any assessment item, it is unlikely that the student will be able to satisfactorily complete the subject for which the assessment task is set.

18. Cessation, suspension, or withdrawal of scholarships, bursaries, or prizes

18.1 The University may cease, suspend, or withdraw a scholarship, bursary, award, or prize where a finding of misconduct is made, and the continuation of such recognition or financial support is inconsistent with the standards of conduct expected by the University.

19. Conditions on enrolment

19.1 If conditions are imposed upon a student’s enrolment and participation in specified subjects, this may impact on the student’s ability to complete the course within a specified time period. This penalty may impose conditions on enrolment in certain subjects involving use of a laboratory, for example, or enrolment in subjects involving use of other facilities.

20. Differential effects of penalties

20.1 When imposing penalties, it is important that each student’s individual circumstances, stage of enrolment and any relevant mitigating factors are taken into account. The Office of Student Matters, Student Advocates, Student Advisors or Student Support Officers may encourage students to make representation or submit evidence on the detrimental impacts of specific penalties in individual cases.

20.2 Some examples of situations in which penalties may impact more harshly include:

a. Penalties of suspension, exclusion or expulsion for international students: A penalty of suspension or exclusion may impact more severely on an international student because of visa requirements which stipulate that a student must leave the country if not enrolled. There are also additional financial costs involved for international students who must reapply for a visa following a period of suspension or exclusion and pay additional course fees. In appropriate circumstances, an alternative may be to consider penalties where an international student can complete course requirements prior to the penalty coming into effect. As an example, a student facing a period of suspension (to take effect at a specified time in the future) would be able to complete the course requirements, but, at the end of their course, the period of suspension would take effect and the student would be prevented from graduating, unable to access any academic results and official academic records.

b. Stage of enrolment: Most penalties will have a greater impact on students in their final teaching period when they are applying for jobs or for admission to graduate courses or registration/admission to professional bodies.

c. Financial penalties: Severe monetary penalties will have a greater impact on some international students and on students from economically disadvantaged groups.

d. Professional bodies: Certain penalties will have an impact on students who may wish to apply for registration/admission to professional bodies.

21. Admissions of wrongdoing/level of contrition of student

21.1 If a student has admitted the misconduct, and/or displays a high and genuine level of contrition for the misconduct, this may be taken into account where appropriate.

a. The notice of penalty should explicitly state that the admission of wrongdoing and/or statement of contrition have been taken into account. Failure to do so would generally be taken to indicate that the admission or level of contrition was not given weight.

b. The effect of admission or level of contrition on the penalty should be stated insofar as it is appropriate to do so. This effect could encompass any or all of the matters to which the admission or level of contrition may be relevant. Where other matters are regarded as relevant in a particular case, e.g. assistance to authorities, this should be included in the notice of decision and penalty.

c. An admission of wrongdoing or statement of contrition should generally be assessed in relation to the seriousness of the misconduct. One consideration is the timing of the admission or statement of contrition. Another factor is the potential time and resources saved by University staff to undertake investigations and attend hearings. The relevance of an early admission will vary according to the circumstances of the case.

d. In some cases the admission or statement of contrition, in combination with other relevant factors, could lead to a degree of leniency in relation to the type of the penalties imposed. In some cases the weight given to the admission or statement of contrition will be significant in assessing parity between other students involved in the misconduct.

22. Intent

22.1 If a student is found to have acted with intent when committing an act of misconduct, the penalty imposed on that student should be more severe than in a case where intent cannot be proven.

23. Start/end dates of penalties

23.1 Penalties normally take effect from the date they are notified to the student and remain in force until the end of the relevant teaching period. Where possible, penalties should specify start and end dates aligned to teaching periods (e.g. from the first to the last day of the teaching period). Care should be taken in setting effective dates, as penalties expressed by calendar dates rather than teaching periods may inadvertently prevent a student from enrolling in the next teaching period.

24. Timing of decisions

24.1 It is most important that decisions regarding penalties for misconduct and subsequent appeals are handled as expeditiously as possible to prevent lengthy delays and consequent applications by students for special consideration due to potential disadvantage. Note, for Gender-based Violence and Sexual Misconduct complaints, the National Higher Education Code requires any appeals to be finalised within 20 business days.

25. Records of misconduct on transcripts

25.1 An expulsion from the University will be recorded on the official academic transcript, and for suspensions and exclusions from a course or from the University the period of suspension or exclusion will be shown.

25.2 All other penalties are recorded on the student system as internal comments and will only be shown on internal academic records.

25.3 In cases where an appeal against suspension, exclusion or zero grade is lodged, the external academic transcript will show ‘appeal pending’ under the relevant course and teaching period.

Annexures

• Table 1 – Serious Misconduct examples and penalties
• Table 2 – Misconduct examples and penalties