Disciplinary matters

In the event of well-founded suspicions of an offence as specified in Chapter 1, Section 1 of the Higher Education Ordinance, the Vice-Chancellor must swiftly be notified and the matter must be sent to the Registrars’ Office for record-keeping.

The digital report form below is to be used for reports. Reporters have access to checklists which act as support and contribute to the completeness of the report, which in turn leads to faster handling of cases.

Report of an offence 

Checklist offence examination (does not apply to written examinations held on campus).pdf

Checklist offence written examination held on campus.pdf

The Higher Education Ordinance does not explicitly state who is to make reports. It is not only certain decision-makers such as Deans of Faculty and Heads of Department who are obliged to/can make such reports to the Vice-Chancellor. The obligation/possibility to report a disciplinary matter applies to all employees at the university and is explained more closely in the university's Procedure for Disciplinary Matters, Section 5.2.

The processing of disciplinary matters takes place in accordance with the university's current procedures. These procedures contain information about the assessment of disciplinary matters and other important information for you who, as an employee at the University of Borås, comes into contact with questions related to student disciplinary matters.

Procedure for Disciplinary Matters at the University of Borås

In this document, you can find the following information:

• Definitions
• Information for students
• Some typical examples of attempted deception in examinations
• When does a case of deception arise
• Specifics regarding plagiarism
• Suspicion of disruptive and harassing behaviour
• Administrative procedure prior to report to the Vice-Chancellor
• Grounded suspicions
• What a report should contain
• Examinations during an ongoing case/following the decision of the Vice-Chancellor/Disciplinary Board
• Administrative procedure of cases before the Vice-Chancellor
• Administrative procedure of cases before the Disciplinary Board
• Appealable decisions

As appendices to the university's procedure, there are quick references available in the form of procedural descriptions. They relate to the administrative processing of a disciplinary case as well as appeal referrals with information about the appeal procedure in a disciplinary case.

• From suspicion of an offence to reporting (written examination held on campus) .pdf
• From suspicion of an offence to reporting (plagiarism) .pdf
• From report to decision.pdf

Examination of decisions and appeals in disciplinary cases.pdf

The main rule is that the report of a disciplinary offence should be written in Swedish. Where the report is related to a course with English-language teaching and the student in question does not speak Swedish, the recommendation is that the report be written in both English and Swedish.

One report per student must be prepared. As a reporter, it is important that you determine which offence is suspected. Is it a case of a student who has plagiarised another's work or may it be the case that several students have collaborated in an unauthorised manner? It is important to remember that even a student who helps another student to deceive may have committed a disciplinary offence and should be reported. Attempts at deception need not, therefore, have been made for their own gain.

If there are uncertainties, for example about which of two or more students plagiarised whom, all should be reported for plagiarism or unauthorised collaboration. It is then up to the Vice-Chancellor or the Disciplinary Board to: assess whether one or more of the students concerned is guilty of attempts at deception.

Suspicions of plagiarism can be aroused in different ways, one of which may be similarities found in a digital plagiarism check (e.g. Urkund/Ouriginal). It is of great importance that you as a teacher do a personal and manual review of the similarities between the texts concerned as the similarities highlighted can have an explanation other than plagiarism. For such reviews it is important that you as a reporter state how much of the student's text is suspected of being plagiarised (the similarities should, if possible, be indicated as a percentage).

In cases of suspicion of impermissible collaboration, or plagiarism, due to similarities between two or more students' answers given in an examination, it is important to you as a reporter describe where the similarities between the answers are and what about the similarities has aroused suspicions of cheating. For example, it may be the case that: the answers contain the same errors, that they are unique or unusual in compared to other students' answers, or that it is not the answers themselves that stands out, rather the number of similarities between them.

You as a reporter must notify the student concerned that the matter has been submitted to the Vice-Chancellor for processing. We recommend that, before making a report, you contact the relevant student to inform them about these suspicions.

It is possible that, after you as a reporting teacher have made a report of a disciplinary case, situations may occur where you conclude that your suspicions of deception can no longer be considered to be justified. It is important, then, that
the Vice-Chancellor be informed accordingly. The Vice-Chancellor or the Disciplinary Board alone have a mandate write off a disciplinary case. As a reporter, you cannot withdraw such a case.

We encourage you as a reporter to follow our advice and recommendations. The more complete a report is from the beginning, the more effective continued processing will be. Support can be found in the university’s procedures and multi-document checklists, all of which are published on this part of the university's website. If you are still uncertain about making a report regarding a disciplinary case, or if you have questions, please contact Administrative Officers Nermina Aljic or Petra Gustafsson at the Academic Affairs Office.