Case #740

DATE: February 10, 2014 

PARTIES: University of Toronto v Y.X.G.
 
Hearing Date(s): January 15, 2014 
 
Panel Members: 
Jeffrey Leon, Chair
Chris Koenig-Woodyard, Faculty Member 
Michael Dick, Student Member
 
Appearances:
Robert Centa, Assistant Discipline Counsel 
The Student
 
In Attendance: 
Kristi Gourlay, Manager, Office of Student Academic Integrity
Sinéad Cutt, Administrative Assistant, Appeals, Discipline and Faculty Grievances
 
Trial Division – s. B.i.1(a) of the Code – forged medical documents purchased online– documents requesting inappropriate academic accommodation –  Student attended hearing – Student expressed remorse and was forthright –  finding of guilt – Joint Submission on Penalty – five-year suspension; grade of zero in three courses; notation on transcript for six years - report to Provost for publication
 
Student charged with nine offences under s. B.i.1(a) and in the alternative, one offence under s. B.i.3(a) of the Code. The charges related to allegations that the student had knowingly falsified several documents, namely Petitions, Personal Statements, and a Verification of Student Illness or Injury Forms, on three occasions to request academic accommodation in three courses. These materials included forged medical notes purchased from an online service. The Student met with a University representative and admitted committing the academic offenses, that she purchased and submitted the notes, and that her Personal Statements were false. She also provided the contact information of the individual who sold her the notes and receipts from two of the transactions. The Student attended the hearing without counsel, signed the Agreement, and plead guilty to all ten charges.  The Panel accepted the Student’s guilty pleas and the University withdrew the alternative charge. The parties presented a Joint Submission on Penalty. The Panel noted that the Student had no prior findings of academic dishonesty against her, had been fulsome and forthright and demonstrated a degree of insight and remorse. The Panel accepted the joint submission and imposed a final grade of zero in the three courses, a suspension of five years to start on the date the Tribunal make its order, a notation on the Student’s transcript for six years, and ordered that the case be reported to the Provost for publication.