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What should I expect?

Student conduct records maintained by the university may be shared internally and externally in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and under the following parameters established by the university:

  1. Internal offices at USC may ask for and be given student disciplinary history as part of evaluating student eligibility for study abroad, leadership opportunities, awards, admission to a USC program, etc. A student’s disciplinary history for purposes of internal sharing includes all incidents in which a student was found responsible for a violation of policy, and includes cases resolved through the Health and Safety Intervention Policy and Informal Resolution process. Disciplinary history may be reported internally and externally for seven years from the most recent student conduct incident, except for outcomes of suspension, expulsion, and revocation of admission/degree, which are reported indefinitely.

  2. External parties (graduate/professional schools, background checks for federal/state employment, private employers, etc.) may be given student disciplinary history, typically with a signed release by a student. A student’s disciplinary history for purposes of external sharing includes only actions taken against students that result in suspension (temporary separation from USC), expulsion (permanent separation from USC), revocation of degree or revocation of admission, or dismissal from an academic program.

  3. External reporting for student-athletes falls under additional NCAA requirements and may differ from that described above.

Note: EEO-TIX maintains records of violations of the Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation.

 

You can talk with a staff member in the Office of Academic Integrity, the Office of Ombuds Services, a school’s Academic Integrity Ambassador, or an advisor of your choice. You are also encouraged to speak with staff members in USC Counseling and Mental Health Services should you begin to feel overwhelmed while going through the process.

The assigned staff member will talk with you about the incident and any related allegation(s), as well as answer questions that you have about the Student Conduct Process. This meeting is an opportunity for you to share your perspective concerning the incident, and to provide any relevant information for consideration.

If after reviewing the allegations and discussing the incident with the OAI staff member, you accept responsibility for the alleged violation(s), the OAI staff will determine the appropriate University outcome(s) and action(s). The process may take several meetings to complete.

If after reviewing the allegations and discussing the incident with the OAI staff member, you do not believe that you have violated University policy with regard to the alleged violation(s), the OAI staff member will continue the administrative review to determine the next steps in the process. There are several resolution options available including a referral to a Review Panel.

If a student does not accept responsibility for violating the Student Conduct Code, and in reviewing the information the assigned OAI staff member concludes there is not enough information available to indicate a violation occurred, the matter may be closed by the OAI staff member with no further action taken.

Your record in this case is your student conduct file which is maintained in the Office of Academic Integrity. A file/record in this instance contains information related to the incident and the administrative review. Many students believe that a student conduct “record” is the same as a transcript. This is not the case. A transcript is one type of student record and a student conduct file is another.

Yes. You have to right to review the information in your file related to the incident. Information will be shared with you during your meeting with the assigned staff member.

Student conduct records are private and the Office of Academic Integrity works to ensure that student’s privacy is maintained. Generally speaking, information will be shared with university officials who have demonstrated an educational need-to-know, and with others whom the student has explicitly requested that the Office of Academic Integrity share conduct case information with.

Confidentiality Waiver
Guidelines for Advisors

Students may not withdraw from a course in which they have committed or have been accused of committing an academic integrity violation. Students found to have withdrawn from a course in which an academic integrity violation is alleged or determined will be re-enrolled in the course.

Additionally, Students found responsible for an act of academic dishonesty in a course in which they have participated but have not enrolled (auditing), may be retroactively enrolled and assigned an appropriate outcome.

A faculty-student resolution is an opportunity for an instructor to resolve academic dishonesty directly with a student if the student accepts responsibility for the allegation (and the instructor’s proposed resolution), and the alleged behavior is deemed appropriate by OAI for resolution between the instructor and student.

Examples include incidents of minimal plagiarism; turning in an assignment with minimal unauthorized collaboration or unauthorized access to resources; submission of the same assignment to more than one instructor without instructor approval; or indicating attendance/participation in a course on behalf of an absent student.

Incidents resolved by a Faculty-Student Resolution or when a student accepts responsibility and agrees to the outcomes issued by the OAI staff member are not eligible for appeal.

Students may submit an appeal if they disagree with the findings and/or outcomes issued. Appeals are submitted to the Appeal Manager who will collect the student’s documents on behalf of the Vice Provost for Academic Programs.

Appeals are determined solely on the merits of the documents submitted and do not include an in-person/virtual presentation. Written submissions should be as complete as possible and no longer than five single-spaced typed pages with a font no smaller than a size of 10 point.

No. Allegations of student misconduct will be addressed and resolved according to the version of the Student Handbook as of the date of the initial correspondence to the student/organization under review.

The new process will not change the findings or the outcome of your case, as it does not lower or otherwise change the expectations the University has for student behavior in the classroom and in the community. The new process only changes the types of review offered to students.

Some allegations of academic dishonesty may be resolved informally between a faculty and student through a Faculty-Student Resolution (FSR), while others will be resolved through the formal, Administrative Review process.

Criteria for an FSR includes:
  • The instructor concludes that the alleged violation can be resolved by FSR;
  • The student accepts responsibility for the allegation (and the instructor’s proposed resolution);
  • The alleged behavior is deemed appropriate by OAI for resolution between the instructor and student; and
  • The student has not previously been held accountable for academic dishonesty through an FSR or through OAI


All criteria must be met, otherwise the incident would be referred to OAI for a formal review.

It depends.  Most violations are not displayed on your academic record but are maintained in a separate disciplinary record by the Office of Community Expectations (OCE) for non-academic misconduct, and the Office of Academic Integrity (OAI) for academic misconduct for up to seven years after the most recent student conduct incident, except for records made as part of the student’s academic records (i.e., notations on a transcript of suspension, expulsion, and/or revocation of admission or degree), in which case records of student disciplinary history are kept indefinitely. See Student Records for complete details.

Please allow up to 5-7 days for your request to be reviewed and processed once all information and any required documents have been received.

Please email the form to disciplinarycheck@usc.edu. Make sure to sign the waiver release and we will send the completed form to the organization unless otherwise requested. To ensure a complete disciplinary check, please also contact the Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX (eeotix@usc.edu), as we do not have access to their records. 

Internal offices at USC may ask for and be given student disciplinary history as part of evaluating student eligibility for study abroad, leadership opportunities, awards, admission to a USC program, etc. A student’s disciplinary history for purposes of internal sharing includes all incidents in which a student was found responsible for a violation of policy, and includes cases resolved through the Health and Safety Intervention Policy and Informal Resolution process. Release of these records is permitted without prior consent.

Law Certification, Bar Examiners forms, and Dean’s Letters can be requested by email at disciplinarycheck@usc.edu. Include the nature of the request and contact person, institution, and mailing information where the letter needs to be sent. Please also make sure to include your contact information, along with your USC identification number in your request.

Please contact Pre-Health Advising, at (213) 740-4844 for assistance with completing form. Forms may also be emailed to Nathalie Zuletta/ nzuletta@dornsife.usc.edu.

You may email your request to disciplinarycheck@usc.edu. Make sure to sign the waiver so we may conduct the disciplinary check. Please allow 2 weeks for processing and state if you would like the form to be sent directly or held for pick-up.

Please email a written request to disciplinarycheck@usc.edu stating the nature of the request, the name, and the USC ID of the student.  Your request will be processed, and you will receive an email response upon completion. To ensure a complete disciplinary check, please also check the student’s name with the Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX (eeotix@usc.edu), as we do not have access to their records.

Please email a written request to disciplinarycheck@usc.edu stating the nature of the request, a list of names, including USC ID, and a general time frame of request completion.  Based on the time of year and caseload, requests involving 50 or more students may take up to 3 weeks to complete. To ensure a complete disciplinary check, please also check the student’s name with the Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX (eeotix@usc.edu), as we do not have access to their records.