The work of the disciplinary board is to maintain academic integrity and a safe study environment. A work that is important to preserve justice and order within the university's educational activities, and at the same time ensures that communication between teachers and students is always improved.
Disciplinary matters clarify academic honesty
Elisabet Londos is professor of cognitive disorders, and in addition to her various roles and assignments for the faculty's research and education, she is also part of Lund University's disciplinary board. Matters of academic honesty are dealt with here, where students have, for example, tried to cheat or mislead during an examination or otherwise violated the university's rules.
"The most common cases concern plagiarism, unauthorized aids during tests or cooperation where it is not permitted. In the disciplinary committee, we take our work very seriously, but always treat the students with great respect and we protect everyone's legal certainty", says Elisabet Londos.
This is how it works in the disciplinary board
The disciplinary committee meets every two weeks to review around five to six cases at a time. Before the meeting, members have to go through hundreds of pages of documentation to get a fair picture of each case.
"Getting an overall picture of the situation is above all about carefully evaluating whether cheating has actually been committed and whether the teacher's instructions were clear enough. Sometimes misunderstandings between student and teacher can be the basis of the matter."
This is how you avoid the disciplinary board
As a student, it is important to be careful to check what is allowed and not allowed in tests and assignments, and also to understand what academic honesty really means and requires in practice.
"My best tip for students to avoid the disciplinary committee is to always follow the instructions carefully and be clear in stating the source of the information you use."
"And my advice to teachers is to make sure to inform students about academic honesty both in writing and orally. Written documentation can always be shown by the teacher if suspicion of cheating should arise at a later stage, and informing students orally in connection with the task also helps to prevent disciplinary cases. In the larger perspective, the most important thing for everyone is to avoid such matters arising."
Why is the disciplinary board needed?
"The disciplinary board is important for maintaining the university's credibility and quality. Cheating and dishonesty not only affect the person who cheats, but the reputation of the entire education. By setting clear boundaries and consequences, the university shows that they take the quality of education very seriously."