I saw a question on Reddit the other day, asking what happens if someone gets caught cheating (or, by extension, for any academic offence) at McGill. Hopefully all of you have done the Academic Integrity Module, so you’re aware of what it means to do honest work. If you cheat, any allegation against you gets forwarded to a Disciplinary Officer in your Faculty. They oversee the Disciplinary Process, which can be “interview” style, or a visit to the Committee on Student Discipline. Generally speaking, if students are caught cheating they receive a failing grade on the assignment or test in question (which can sometimes result in a failure in the whole course). After a first offence, students are often placed on Conduct Probation; if they are caught again while on probation the consequences can be more serious. First-time or relatively “minor” issues often result in an Admonishment, which is a finding of responsibility but isn’t a permanent disciplinary record. More serious cases can result in a Reprimand, which is a permanent record held by the Office of the Dean of Students and can affect a students’ application to graduate school or other careers after University. People think nothing happens if you cheat or plagiarize, but that’s definitely not true. We can’t advertise individual outcomes because of our obligation to student privacy, but this doesn’t mean there aren’t serious consequences. Higher level stats can be found in the Annual Report of the Committee on Student Discipline. Study hard, stay well, and don’t cheat.troub
