Faculty Asked Questions

The Judicial Procedures for Academic Misconduct outline the four principle types of misconduct, though other types of misconduct may be reported. Incidents should be reported when documentation offers "a preponderance of evidence;" a ‘hunch’ or ‘strong suspicion’ is likely insufficient for officially reporting the incident to the Office of the APVAA.When in doubt, instructors should consult with the AVPAA.

While faculty are obliged to report any cases of misconduct, there is considerable leeway in addressing the incident. An in-course penalty may range from a verbal warning to failing the course. For more complex matters (multiple students involved in cheating, a strongly-contested incident for which the instructor feels certain the student is responsible), the instructor may opt to request a hearing by the Academic Judicial Board (AJB). The decision to call the hearing is at the discretion of the AVPAA.

As of Fall 2025, reports are submitted directly to the Maxient portal. The questions at the Maxient portal directly mirror what has previously been used on the paper form.

Attachments up to 5GB can be included in the submission, though it may take a while to fully upload. IMPORTANT: At the bottom of the form, BEFORE YOU CLICK SUBMIT, check the small box "Email me a copy of this form" to receive the copy of your answers to then share with the student (this becomes the "copy" of the original submission form instructors gave in the manual method). Any materials used to document the misconduct can also be given to the student electronically.

It’s the instructor's prerogative to initially decide the following, to be noted on the incident report:

• whether this constitutes minor or major academic misconduct (note this is a fairly subjective discernment, and does not have a direct bearing on how possible sanctions will be applied);
• whether to treat the incident as an "in-course penalty" (sanctions determined by the instructor and only applicable within the course) or to request an AJB hearing (finding of "responsible/not responsible" determined by AJB)
  • NB: regardless of the instructor's request to apply an in-course penalty, if the student is found to have previous academic misconduct on file, the incident will automatically be forwarded to the AJB for a hearing.
• a *recommended* sanction.  The AJB or the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs may opt to diverge from the faculty member's recommended sanction for the following reasons:
  • if the student is found not responsible by the AJB, all records of the incident will automatically be deleted from college records.
  • if the proposed sanction is deemed to be out of alignment with the violation, the AJB may recommend a more suitable penalty. The Associate Vice President will discuss this with the instructor to find an appropriate compromise.
  • if the student has been found responsible in previous incidents of academic misconduct. If, in the present case, the AJB finds the student responsible, the Office of the Associate Vice President will inform the AJB of any previous sanctions for misconduct in incidents for which they have been held responsible.  In those situations, the AJB may suggest more stringent sanctions than what had been suggested by the instructor.

IMPORTANT: this is a rare incident in which FERPA does *not* cover our internal college rules of "Legitimate Educational Interest." That is, information regarding the names of those involved in cases of academic misconduct may not be divulged to other instructors, to the student's academic advisor or coach, to the department chair, or anyone not immediately involved in the incident OTHER THAN the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and, via the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, the members of the AJB. Colleagues are free to discuss the circumstances of a possible violation for the purposes of seeking advice as long as no identifying information is exchanged.

Course evaluations are open for a two week period, usually in weeks 13-14 of the semester.  The course evaluation period closes before final exams begin.

Once the Registrar has verified that all course grades have been submitted for a term, the course evaluation results are released as of midnight the next day.

Course evaluations from Fall 2024 onward are posted in HelioCampus.

SMCM is transitioning away from IOTA Solutions, the vendor which previously managed course evaluations. Faculty who have course evaluation results in that software are encouraged to download their own copies of the various reports/results for their own records/use by December 31, 2025.  Username/password information should be in the faculty member’s email inbox.

Email the Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Academic Affairs from your SMCM email (or provide her with your new SMCM email address) and let her know you need to be added to the Faculty Calendar. She will add you to the calendar and reply to the email to confirm you have been added. Please remember to add the Faculty Calendar to your calendar list.

1. Course Goals and Learning Objectives
2. Engaged Learning statement
3. Instructor contact information
4. Assignment overview
5. Grading scale and values of assignments
6. Course Attendance policy (as it relates to the official attendance policy)
7. Late work policy
8. Information on the course Learning Management System (Blackboard, Google Classroom), if any
9. If your course is cleared by Academic Affairs for remote instruction, your rules for remote attendance (e.g. camera on/off, expectations of location while attending class)

For more information, please refer to the Faculty Handbook.