Case #852
DATE: July 19, 2016
PARTIES: University of Toronto v A.A.R.
Hearing Date(s): June 1, 2016 and June 29, 2016
Panel Members:
Jeffrey S. Leon, Chair
Andrea Litvack, Faculty Member
David Kleinman, Student Member
Appearances:
Lily Harmer, Assistant Discipline Counsel, Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP
Mr. A.A.R, the Student
Alex Redinger, Downtown Legal Services
In Attendance:
Emma Thacker, Associate Director, Graduate Affairs, School of Graduate Studies
Tracey Gameiro, Associate Director, Appeals, Discipline and Faculty Grievances
Krista Osbourne, Administrative Assistant, Appeals, Discipline and Faculty Grievances
Trial Division – s. B.i.1(d) of the Code – plagiarism – passages copied from internet and textbook sources without attribution or citation – Agreed Statement of Facts – guilty plea – finding on Agreed Statement of Facts – finding on guilty plea – Joint Submission on Penalty accepted – grade assignment of zero in the Course; 4-year suspension; notation on the Student’s academic record and transcript for one year following the date on which he graduates from the University or withdraws or is terminated from his program; case reported to Provost for publication
Student charged under s. B.i.1(d) and, in the alternative, s. B.i.3(b) of the Code. The charges related to allegations that the Student extensively copied passages from internet and textbook sources with some wording changes but without any citations or attribution whatsoever. The parties submitted an Agreed Statement of Facts, in which the Student admitted that he committed plagiarism. The Panel accepted the Agreed Statement of Facts and found the Student guilty of the plagiarism charge. The hearing adjourned prior to the finding on sanction to allow the Student to obtain counsel and to adduce all proper evidence. The Student and the University presented a Joint Submission on Penalty when the hearing reconvened, which reflected the same penalty sought by the University at the original hearing. The Panel took into account the Student’s stressful family circumstances at the time the paper was submitted and his remorse for the offence, but also noted that this was the Student’s second plagiarism offence, that he had been warned that he would receive a more severe punishment if he were to commit another offence, and that he submitted the paper at issue in the month immediately following this warning. The Panel also noted the high threshold for rejecting joint submissions. The Panel accepted the Joint Submission on Penalty and imposed a grade assignment of zero in the Course; a 4-year suspension; a notation on the Student’s academic record and transcript for one year following the date on which he graduates from the University or withdraws or is terminated from his program; and that the case be reported to the Provost for publication.