Student Discipline

The University seeks to create an environment that promotes academic achievement and integrity, that is protective of free inquiry, and that serves the educational mission of the University. 

The University seeks to foster a community that is respectful of the rights, opportunities, and welfare of students, faculty, staff, and guests, that is free from violence, threats, and intimidation, and promotes health and safety of the University community. 

The University expects all students to conduct themselves as honest, responsible and law-abiding members of the academic community and to respect the rights of other students and members of the faculty and staff to use and enjoy University facilities and to participate in University programs. 

In order to preserve the spirit of community and provide a comfortable safe environment for all students enrolled in the University, the University holds each member of its community responsible for respecting the rights, privileges and opinions of other members of the community. 

Students shall conduct their activities in a manner compatible with the commitment of the University to maintain an intellectual and cultural environment conducive to personal development and critical awareness, and in compliance with the laws of the United Arab Emirates, and UAE University Policies and Procedures. 

The University is dedicated to responsible stewardship of its resources and to protecting its property and resources from theft, damage, destruction, or misuse. 

The University is dedicated to the rational and orderly resolution of conflict. 

Dishonesty in Submitted Work:  

All academic work and materials submitted for assessment must be the original work of the student or group of students. Al Falah University (AFU) has zero tolerance to Plagiarism and cheating.  

Faculty members / Instructors should take into consideration the following guidelines:

• It is the responsibility of the instructor to provide guidance to the students and reinforce the awareness about the ways where high similarity score could be problematic and plagiarism can take form in the student’s written work.
• Instructors should let the students view the similarity report of their work to provide an opportunity to the student to see where they have improperly paraphrased or inadvertently misused a source.

Each faculty member/instructor has to verify each and every similarity index.

Originality (Similarity) Report and Guidelines for Submitting Assignments:

The Originality (Similarity) Report produced by Turnitin can be used as a tool for students to improve their academic writing and as a tool for faculty to help them decide on plagiarism.

• As a guide, a returned total percentage (similarity index) of below 15% would probably indicate that similarity is acceptable. A high percentage of similarity would probably be anything over 25%.  
• Al Falah University (AFU) is to consider the percentage of 24% as a cut-off range. 

• In case that the Turnitin similarity overall score exceeds the AFU threshold of 25%, and there is no evidence of plagiarism, the faculty member/instructor is obliged to explain and justify, in writing, the reasons for accepting that particular piece of coursework from a student and/or a group of students. This justification letter written by the faculty member/instructor has to be included in the respective course file. 
• The default assignment setting should be adjusted to exclude quoted material, references/bibliography, and small matches up to 5 words in order to gain a more accurate overall percentage.
• For the students to see the report, faculty should make the Originality Report available to students once the student uploads his/her submission.
• If the student submits the assignment in good time (days) prior to the submission deadline, the instructor may ask the student to resubmit another version pointing out to the student that he/she must ensure that his/her work is authentic. This can be done through submission settings, where the instructor can revert the submission manually to the student after the submission. In that case students may access, edit, and reload their submitted file without any need for faculty intervention as it is still in Draft form.

Incidents of Academic Dishonesty/Misconduct – Ongoing Coursework and Assessments:

• Cases where a student is suspected of having engaged in academic dishonesty will be investigated, in the first instance, by the relevant Department Chair and/or Dean of the College depending on the type of offence. 
• After reviewing the charges and the evidence, the Dean of the College in consultation with the Faculty and/or Department Chair or, if the student is enrolled in GE courses, the Head of General Education Department, may either dismiss the case after recording of relevant findings and rationale, and notify the Registrar OR refer the case, along with corresponding documents, to the Student Disciplinary Committee (SDC) for further action. The terms of reference of the SDC are set out according to the Academic Honesty Procedure. 
• The SDC, will give an opportunity for hearing all parties involved in the case (faculty-student, student-student) and, based on the evidence provided, will make a decision and notify the concerned parties through a formal letter issued by the Chair within three working days from the date of the hearing. The SDC decision may be appealed to the Students Appeal Committee within a period not exceeding fifteen (15) working days form the date of receiving applicable SDC resolution. 
• Students found to have engaged in academic dishonesty may be penalized according to applicable rules and regulation consistent with the severity of the academic dishonesty. 
• A student withdrawal from a course in which an infraction has been substantiated does not affect the decision of the SDC on the case.

Incidents of Academic Dishonesty/Misconduct - Examinations: 

• During examinations, students are responsible for complying with the Academic Honesty and conducting themselves according to the Examination procedures. 
• Academic honesty and conduct are monitored by invigilators during examinations, or by the related software in case of an online exam.
• Any instances of academic dishonesty or misconduct during a final examination, shall be reported to the CEC by the head invigilator using the Examination Incident Report Form. 
• At the end of each examination period, the CEC shall verify all incidents and recommend suitable action to the SDC. 

Procedures to be followed in cases of Academic Dishonesty:

In Al Falah University (AFU) settlement of an Academic Honesty Offenses cases resulting from alleged violations of the University’s academic honesty code are within the jurisdiction of the relevant faculty and/or Department Chair, while more serious violations or repetitive violations are brought to the Dean of the College for further action. In the case where a student wishes to bring charges against another student, he/she should do so through the Faculty member in whose course the violation occurred and/or the Head of that program. In addition to this, he/she must identify himself or herself to the faculty. 

If a faculty is convinced that an alleged offense has resulted from an error in judgment on the student’s part rather than from purposeful dishonesty, the faculty may decide to use the occasion for instructing the student on acceptable standards for academic work. In such cases, the faculty may, for example, require the student to rewrite or correct the original assignment or to submit an alternative assignment or to apply a grade penalty. When faculty jurisdiction is exercised in the case of an unintentional academic violation, the faculty shall notify the Dean or the Head of General Education (in the case of student is enrolled in GE courses) and the Registrar, in order to monitor any recurrence of such errors in judgment by the particular student.

In the case where the faculty believes that the offense made by the student is a serious breach of the university’ academic honesty code, or in the cases of repetitive occurrence of such offenses, he/she must report the violation to the Dean of the college or the Head of General Education within 1 week of the occurrence of the violation or after the day in which he/she became aware of the violation. The report submitted must be supported by appropriate documentation or evidence.

Upon receiving the Faculty report, the Dean of the college or the Head of General Education will inform the student of the charges brought against him/her and arrange to discuss the charge with the student either in person or online as appropriate. The student will be presented with the charge and the evidence and he/she will be advised of the procedures including his/her rights and will be given the opportunity to respond to the charge either immediately or by writing within 5 working days. The faculty will mark the exam, but not to submit grades for the work in question until the case has been settled. If the semester grades are due before the settlement process is complete, a temporary grade of “N” will be assigned.

After reviewing the charges and the evidence, the Dean of the college in consultation with the Department Chair or the Head of General Education (as applicable) may either:

- Dismiss the case and notify the Registrar of the decision, or

- Refer the case to the Student Disciplinary Committee (SDC). A case is referred to SDC when the issue raised cannot be resolved through informal discussion or the student chooses to bring it to the formal committee. In such a case, the Dean of the college shall notify the SDC within 5 working days. 

Procedures to be followed in cases of Exam Violations

If the student violates the examination system, or violates the instructions issued by the exam hall administrator, or deliberately disrupts the exam environment and insisted on it, the invigilator or supervisor of the examination room should write a detailed report on the incident immediately after the end of the exam and get it approved by the coordinator of the examination hall. The Head of Examination Committee at the university should forward it to the Student Discipline Committee within 24 working hours (1 working day) from the time of receipt of it, and the coordinator of the examination hall should notify the concerned Dean of the incident.

Behavioural Disciplinary Breaches

The following acts shall be considered as offenses for which the student who commits any of them shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in these regulations:

1. Breach of laws, regulations, and the legislation in force in the Emirates, or regulations applicable in the University. 
2. Disturbance of order in lecture halls, laboratories, library, or other university facilities. 
3. Committing any act that violets dignity, honour, morals or good conduct and behaviour, or any act that would offend the reputation of the university or its employees, whether inside the university or outside or in any activity or occasion in which the University participates. 
4. The use of the university building, facilities, or property for purposes other than the purposes for which they are intended for without prior permission from the relevant authority or abuse of the licenses granted.
5. Distributing leaflets, issuing newspapers, placing advertisements, collecting signatures and donations without obtaining approval from the appropriate authorities at the university, or abusing the licenses granted for activities.
6. Any insult or abuse directed by the student to the faculty members or to any of the employees or students at the university or to its visitors.
7. The destruction of the University's movable or immovable property or its disruption.
8. Fraud in university documents and the use of forged papers for any purpose.
9. Any fraud or misrepresentation in the application for admission to the university or any documents submitted by the student during his / her university admission.
10. Committing plagiarism by quoting the work of others without proper attribution.
11. Non-compliance on the campus with the instructions of modesty, dress code and the general behaviour of the university.
12. Non-compliance with the non-smoking policy on campus in the non-smoking designated areas. 

Procedures to be followed in cases of Behavioural Irregularities

The Dean of the College shall refer the offenses committed within the premises of his college or in the halls or laboratories where his/her college courses are taught to the Disciplinary Committee to investigate the violation attributed to the student to issue the appropriate penalty when the violation is established. The exception to this is offense mentioned in “Any fraud or misrepresentation in the application for admission to the university or any documents submitted by the student during his / her university admission”, where the university is entitled to apply a Dismissal and depriving the student of the benefit of academic record, without conducting an investigation with the student after the verification of the occurrence of the violation.

Disciplinary Penalties for Behavioural Offenses 

The penalties that may be imposed on the student are as follows:

1. A written alert.
2. Denial of a limited period of activity or more from the student activities in which the offense is committed.
3. Warning in degrees: first and final warning.
4. The fine shall not be less than twice and shall not exceed thrice as much as the property that the student has damaged.
5. A Fail mark in one or more courses.
6. Students on scholarships/discounts will lose their scholarship if they were proven to have engaged in serious behavioural offenses.
7. Denial of registration for one semester or more.
8. Dismissal from the university with the right of the student to transfer to another institution.
9. Dismissal and depriving the student of the benefit of academic record.
10. Cancellation of the decision to grant the certificate if it turns out that there is fraud in the procedures for obtaining it.

The penalties stipulated here shall be applied to test violations that are not related to fraud or attempted fraud.

Examination Violations

1. Student violation of examination order, violation of the instructions and guidelines issued by faculty or the exam hall administrator, or deliberately disrupting the exam environment and insisting on it. 
2. Attempting to commit any kind of fraud during the performance of the examinations. 
3. Taking an exam for another person or having someone take an exam for you.
4. Recording incorrect data on the answer sheet or attendee list. 
5. Possession or use of mobile phones or electronic devices during the performance of examinations.

Disciplinary Penalties for Examination Violations

If the student is caught cheating or trying to cheat during the exam and the violation is the first attempt by the student, the following penalties apply:

• A Fail mark in the course registered during the semester in which the offense was committed.

If the student is caught cheating or trying to cheat during the exam and the violation is the second attempt, the following penalties shall apply:

• Warning
• A Fail mark in all courses registered during the semester in which the offense was committed.

If the student is caught cheating or trying to cheat during the exam and the violation is the third attempt, the following penalties shall apply:

• Dismissal from the University.

Provisions of Procedures to be followed in cases of Exam Violations shall apply to any assessment(s) in Al Falah University (AFU).

Students on scholarships/discounts will lose their scholarship if they were proven to have engaged in academic dishonesty or plagiarism.

Investigation Procedures and Guarantees:

Disciplinary Penalties for Behavioral Offenses may be imposed only after investigation of the student and hearing the statements of witnesses in the case of their presence. Based on the report of the Disciplinary Committee, this shall be proved in a record and shall be marked by the penalty at the end of the minutes. Meeting appointments of the Committee shall be communicated to the student in writing or by e-mail (Student AFU email). If he fails to attend the appointed time, with the excuse not accepted by the Disciplinary Committee, his right to hear his statements shall be dismissed.

It is not permissible for a person who was involved in catching the academic or behavioral violation to participate in the student Discipline Committee in the investigation of the student, nor for the person who initiates the investigation with the student to be part of the Appeals Committee that considers the complaint submitted by the student.

Grievance and Appeal

The student has the right to appeal the decision issued by the Student Discipline Committee within fifteen (15) days from the date of notification in writing (in writing or electronically) of the decision issued by the Student Disciplinary Committee.

Implementation of the Final Penalty

The decision to impose the penalty shall be kept in the students’ file at the Admission and Registration Unit and the Student Affairs Unit (in case of behavioural misconduct). The related side shall be informed of the decision to impose the punishment. A copy of the decision shall also be sent to the grantee of the study, if any, and to the student's guardian if s/he is a minor. If the student is mature, his/her guardian will not be notified unless, at the time of admission to the university, s/he has accepted in writing to informing his guardian about the progress of his studies.  The Registration Unit shall keep all penalties imposed against the student in its student file.

General Notes:

If the time limit for any of the Investigation Committees has expired, it shall continue to exercise its authority until new committees have been formed to replace them.

Decisions of the Student Discipline Committee shall be issued after deliberation and by a majority of the views of its participating members. The debate on the equal votes shall be considered by the Chairman.

The student shall not be punished for the same offense more than once.

The penalty decisions issued by the Student Discipline Committee shall be submitted to the President for the issuance of executive decisions.