School of Allied Health Professions

Administration

Policy and Procedures Related to Student Conduct

Universities have a responsibility to protect their educational purposes, the academic environment of the campus, and all members of the university community. To meet these responsibilities, a university must establish and enforce standards of conduct for its students. A university is obliged to establish reasonable standards for student conduct, for membership and continued membership in the university community, to deny membership to those applicants who do not meet these standards, and to impose reasonable disciplinary sanctions on students who are found guilty of violating these standards.

Policy

It is the prerogative of the School of Allied Health Professions (SAHP), through the faculty, administrators, and other employees, to make decisions on the correct application of general policy statements and procedures to specific students under specific sets of circumstances. In making these decisions, both the rights of the student and the needs of the School in accomplishing its mission and educational goals must be considered. To this end, acts of academic or other misconduct, e.g., cheating, plagiarism, code of professional conduct violations, commission of a crime, etc., may subject the offending student to disciplinary action. To ensure the consistent observance of due process, the following policy and procedures apply.

 

Definitions

  1. “University” refers to the Louisiana State University (LSU) system.
  2. “Health Sciences Center” refers to the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans.
  3. “School” refers to the School of Allied Health Professions, New Orleans.
  4. “Department” refers to the specific department within the School of Allied Health Professions in which a given student is enrolled.
  5. “Days” refers to official LSU Health Sciences Center working days.
  6. Any reference herein to the singular shall also include the plural.

 

General Provisions

  1. Equal treatment guaranteed to students by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America requires that the same policies, procedures, and practices be used to consider all allegations of misconduct and also requires the imposing of "like sanctions for like violations" on all students found guilty of misconduct. This obligation of the School can be fulfilled only if each instructor reports suspected misconduct to the designated office in accordance with the provisions of this document. Consistent with this obligation, no disciplinary sanction shall be imposed upon a student except in accordance with the provisions of this document. Thus, it is contrary to School policy for an instructor to assign a disciplinary grade, such as an "F" or zero on an assignment, test, examination, or course as a sanction for admitted or suspected academic dishonesty, in lieu of formally charging the student with academic misconduct under the provisions described herein.
  2. Any time limit set forth in this procedure may be extended by mutual written agreement of the dean and the student.
  3. Infractions shall be reported to the associate dean for academic affairs (ADAA).
  4. The dean may appoint someone other than the ADAA to serve in their place.

Academic and Professional Conduct

Students are expected to:

 

Students who violate any of the above when involved in any School or School-related activity/function whether on or off campus will be subject to disciplinary action as prescribed in this document.

Academic Misconduct

Academic misconduct, includes, but is not limited to, the following:

 

  1. Copying from another student's test paper.
  2. Using the course textbook or other materials such as a notebook normally brought to a class meeting but not authorized for use during a test by the person giving the test. Having such forbidden material open and in sight of the student will be considered prima facie evidence of use.
  3. Attempting to commit, or to be an accessory to the commission of, an offense listed above.
  4. Collaborating during a test with any other person by giving or receiving information without authority.
  5. Using specially prepared materials, e.g., notes, formula lists, notes written on the student's clothing or body, during a test. Bringing such forbidden material to a test will be considered prima facie evidence of use or attempted use.
  6. Stealing, buying, or otherwise obtaining all or part of an unadministered test, including answers to an unadministered test.
  7. Possession/distribution of all or part of an unadministered test.
  8. Bribing any other person to obtain an unadministered test or information about a test.
  9. Substituting for another student, or permitting any other person to substitute for oneself, to take a test.
  10. Submitting as one's own, in fulfillment of academic requirements, any theme, report, term paper, essay, other written work, drawing, or other scholastic work prepared totally or in part by another.
  11. Selling, giving, or otherwise supplying to another student for use in fulfilling academic requirements any theme, report, term paper, or other work.
  12. Changing, altering or being an accessory to the changing and/or altering a grade in a grade book, on a test, on other work for which a grade is given, on a "drop slip" or other official academic records.
  13. Proposing and/or entering into an arrangement with an instructor to receive a grade of "F" or any other reduced grade in a course, on a test or any other assigned work in lieu of being charged with academic misconduct under the provisions of this policy.
  14. Plagiarizing is the unacknowledged inclusion, in work submitted for credit, of someone else's words, ideas, or data. When a student submits work for credit that includes the words, ideas, or data of others, the source of this information must be acknowledged through complete, accurate and specific references, and, if verbatim statements are included, through quotation marks. Failure to identify any source, published or unpublished, copyrighted or uncopyrighted, from which information, terms, phrases, or concepts have been taken, constitutes plagiarism. By placing their name on work submitted for credit, the student certifies the originality of all work not otherwise identified by appropriate acknowledgments through appropriate referencing.
  15. Falsification, fabrication, or dishonesty in reporting clinical, laboratory, and research reports.
  16. Submitting substantially the same work for credit in more than one course.
  17. Violation of course rules as established by the School, department, or course instructor.
  18. Attempting to commit, or to be an accessory to, the commission of an offense listed above.
  19. Violation of any other LSU Health Sciences Center academic rules or regulations. Students who violate any of the above when involved in any School or School-related activity/function whether on or off campus will be subject to disciplinary action as prescribed in this document.

 

Professional Misconduct

To protect the University’s educational purposes and the University community, a student may be formally charged with a violation of this policy and be subject to the sanctions herein when:

 

  1. Strong and convincing evidence that the student’s continued presence at the University is potentially dangerous to the health and safety of the University community.
  2. The student is convicted of a felony.
  3. The student is formally charged by civil authorities with the commission of a felony of such nature that the student’s continued presence at the University is potentially dangerous to the health and safety of the University community.
  4. The student is in possession of dangerous weapons/devices including but not limited to firearms, explosives, toxic substances, etc. on school property or other affiliated site property, e.g., a clinical site where a school activity/function is conducted.
  5. The student engages in acts of sexual misconduct including but not limited to sexual harassment, lewd, indecent, and/or obscene behavior.
  6. The student engages in behavior that disrupts the learning environment including but not limited to, refusing to comply with instructions, course requirements, behaving in a physically threatening manner, making oral/written threats, etc.
  7. The student violates any other LSU Health Sciences Center rules or regulations pertaining to professional conduct.

Procedure

Reporting Student Misconduct

  1. Anyone with knowledge/evidence sufficient to justify a charge of misconduct shall report the alleged misconduct to the ADAA within 5 days of having knowledge of the alleged misconduct.
  2. An allegation of misconduct must be in writing and signed by the individual making the allegation to proceed to the next step.
  3. The associate dean or dean or their designee will discuss the circumstances and evidence surrounding the alleged violation with the person reporting the misconduct.

 

Charging a Student with Misconduct

  1. After reviewing the evidence pertaining to the alleged misconduct, the ADAA will then discuss the allegation with the accused student. If the evidence is sufficient to justify such action, the student will be informed that the School of Allied Health Professions will bring formal charges against them.
  2. The student will be provided with a written statement of the formal charge against them.

 

Referral to a Hearing Panel

After being informed of the formal charge, if the student does not request that the charge be resolved administratively, or the dean does not accept jurisdiction, the ADAA will refer the charge to a hearing panel within 5 days.

 

Interim Grade

A grade of “I” (incomplete) will be assigned, if necessary, until the dean has          rendered their final decision.

 

Hearing Panel

  1. An ad hoc hearing panel, which shall be advisory to the dean and consist of three faculty members and two students, shall meet to consider the case within 10 days of referral to the hearing panel.
  2. Faculty members of the hearing panel shall be selected by the ADAA from the pool of full-time faculty members within the SAHP. The chair of the panel will be determined by the ADAA. No more than one faculty member of the panel may be a member of the accused student’s department.
  3. Student members shall be appointed by an officer of the Student Government Association of the SAHP. Students serving on the hearing panel may not be from the accused student's department. Graduate students will review allegations of misconduct against graduate students and undergraduate students will review allegations of misconduct against undergraduates.
  4. The ADAA will be responsible for setting up the hearing, informing concerned parties and the panel members of the time and place of the hearing.
  5. The accused student may be accompanied by an advisor at the hearing. The advisor may speak to their advisee during the hearing but may not speak for the accused student or question hearing panel members or those offering evidence.
  6. At the hearing, evidence of alleged misconduct will be presented. The accused student may present evidence in their defense; question those who present evidence against them; and refute evidence against themself. The panel may question all those who offer evidence. The chair will ensure that the scope of the hearing and evidence presented relate to the charge of misconduct.
  7. After all evidence has been presented the hearing panel will meet in executive session to deliberate and formulate its recommendation to the dean. If the hearing panel determines that misconduct has been committed, the panel may choose one or more sanctions listed in this document as its recommendation.
  8. The panel chair shall submit a written report to the dean including: the panel's finding; recommendation; summary of the evidence presented; and dissenting opinions within five days of the hearing.

 

The Administrative Hearing

  1. As noted earlier under the section titled "Charging a Student with Misconduct", after the student is formally charged with academic misconduct, a request for an administrative hearing before the dean can be made. This request must be made within two days of receipt of the formal charge.
  2. The following specific conditions must be met before the dean can accept jurisdiction.
  3. The student must:
  4. Request in writing that the dean take jurisdiction; and the dean must be willing to accept the case as being appropriate for administrative resolution.
  5. Officially plead guilty in writing to the specific charge as prepared by the ADAA.
  6. Waive their right in writing to have the charge considered by a hearing panel.

 

Action by the Dean

  1. Independent of the method used, i.e., hearing panel or administrative hearing, the dean will render a final decision consistent with the following schedule: 1) within five days of receipt of the hearing panel's report, or 2) within 10 days of accepting administrative jurisdiction.
  2. The dean has the authority to impose sanctions other than those recommended by the hearing panel, and determine when sanctions will be imposed, e.g., immediately, at the end of the semester, etc.
  3. The dean’s final decision, including, if applicable, a copy of the panel's report, shall be distributed to the student involved, the associate dean for academic affairs, and other appropriate administrators.

 

Appeal

As a matter of right a student may appeal the decision of the dean. An appeal must be made to the vice chancellor for academic affairs (VCAA) of the LSU Health Sciences Center at New Orleans within 15 days of the decision of the dean. The written appeal must include:

 

  1. A justification for the appeal, e.g., evidence of abuse of process, evidence of procedural error, etc.
  2. The dean’s final decision plus a copy of the committee’s report.

 

The VCAA shall decide within two weeks after receipt of appeal whether further action should be taken. In reaching this decision, this official may ask other parties to the appeal to make written reply to the request for a review or these parties, on their own, may make a written reply. If the decision is reached that a review is not justified, the student and all other parties will be so notified. If the VCAA decides to respond favorably to the petition for review, this official will hold a formal meeting with all parties and their advisors, if desired, and reach a decision based on discussions at this meeting, as well as on all written materials furnished. Once a decision is reached, the VCAA will notify all parties, plus the dean, of the decision. The decision of the VCAA shall conclude the matter, subject to the right of the chancellor to review the case. The chancellor will consider the case only based on a petition for review following the procedure outlined above.

 

Sanctions for Academic Misconduct

Sanctions imposed on the student may include one or more of the following disciplinary actions:

  1. Be required to show active participation in the work of counseling.
  2. Retake test or repeat work in question.
  3. Lower letter grade by one letter, e.g., A to B.
  4. Lower letter grade by two letters, e.g., A to C.
  5. Complete given activities/assignments consistent with the dean’s decision.
  6. Receive a failing grade for the course in which the infraction occurred. If this sanction is imposed and the policy of the Department stipulates that when “a student receives a less than satisfactory grade in a course he or she may not continue in the program sequence”, then the Department policy shall also apply.
  7. Suspension from the SAHP. Period of suspension to be determined by the dean.
  8. Dismissal from the SAHP.

 

Sanctions for Professional Misconduct

Sanctions imposed on the student may include one or more of the following disciplinary actions:

  1. Be required to show active participation in the work of counseling.
  2. Disciplinary warning: verbal or written notification that the student has not met the School’s standards of conduct, and that a repeat offense will result in more serious disciplinary action. It is not the case that first offenses automatically receive a warning; most first offenses receive a stricter response, with warnings reserved for cases with unusual mitigating circumstances.
  3. Reprimand: a written statement censuring a student for violating School regulations and stating that another offense will result in more serious action.  This is normally considered a lenient response, even for first offenses.
  4. Restitution: requirement that the student compensate the School or other persons for damages, injuries, or losses. Failure to comply results in canceled registration and a hold on future registration.
  5. Disciplinary probation: an action that places conditions on the student’s continued enrollment in the School, including the statement that further violation of School policies will likely result in dismissal. The hearing panel fixes the term and conditions of academic probation. First offenses often result in probation.
  6. Suspension from the SAHP. Period of suspension to be determined by the dean.
  7. Dismissal from the SAHP.

Student Conduct printable PDF

 

Location

Office of Academic Affairs
1900 Gravier Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
Phone: (504) 568-4246