The Academic Integrity Board is comprised of faculty, academic advisors, undergraduate students, and graduate students, who are appointed by their governing bodies to serve as board members. The main role of Academic Integrity Board members is to serve on hearing panels.
- Formal Charge Appeal Hearings, where a student is appealing a formal charge of academic dishonesty.
- University Sanction Hearings, where a student is facing additional sanctions due to repeated violations of the Academic Integrity policy
- Academic Grievance Hearings, where a student is disputing a grade they believe has been assigned in an arbitrary and capricious manner
For each type of hearing, a panel of honesty board members is selected, comprised of 3 faculty members, and 2 students of the same status as the student of the hearing (for example, if an undergraduate student is appealing a formal charge, the hearing panel will have 2 undergraduate student members of the board). One faculty member serves as chair of the hearing. An academic advisor or other Academic Affairs staff may be selected in the place of a faculty member on a hearing panel.
- Volunteer to serve on hearing panels when you are available—when we have a hearing to schedule, we will reach out and ask for your availability.
- Only participate in hearings as a neutral, disinterested party (i.e., recuse yourself in cases where you know the student or instructor)
- Before a hearing, thoughtfully review materials and write down any questions you plan to ask during the hearing
- During a hearing, listen to presentations and ask clarifying questions to understand the situation
- After a hearing, deliberate with other panel members to make an appropriate and educational finding or recommendation
- Keep all information learned or shared during a hearing process confidential
- Demonstrate your commitment to academic integrity by holding UMass community members accountable to our academic integrity standards. Many board members include this volunteer opportunity on their resumes or in application processes for other opportunities!
- Make a difference and gain valuable experience while helping to ensure justice and equity on campus. Your perspective is a critical component of panel proceedings and determining fair outcomes.
- Engage in a flexible leadership opportunity—we’ll contact you on an as-needed basis to schedule hearings, and you’ll provide your availability. There is no weekly time commitment--student and faculty members tend to spend between 2-8 hours a semester serving on hearing panels.
- Build connections with other student and faculty board members and represent your major or department—board membership should have representatives from each of the 11 schools and colleges.
- Complete our Academic Integrity Board Interest Form and we will contact you with more information!
- There is no application process—we connect interested students or faculty with their governing body for appointment to the board (SGA for undergraduate students, GSS for graduate students, and the Faculty senate for faculty members).
- Contact @email with any questions.