Cheating
Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic
integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are
expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and
responsibility.
Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some
aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable
may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read
Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When
in doubt please be certain to contact the department's
administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.
Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes
academic integrity to avoid committing academic offenses and to
take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure
whether an action constitutes an offense, or who needs help in
learning how to avoid offenses (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or
about "rules" for group work/collaboration should seek guidance
from the course professor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate
associate dean. For information on categories of offenses and
types of penalties, students should refer to
Policy 71, Student Discipline.
For typical penalties check
Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.
Avoiding Academic Offenses: Most students are unaware of the line between acceptable and unacceptable academic
behaviour, especially when discussing assignments with classmates and using the work of other students. For information on
commonly misunderstood academic offenses and how to avoid them, students should refer to the
Faculty of Mathematics Cheating
and Student Academic Discipline Policy.
Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70,
Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy
71, Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A
student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should
refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals.
For absences due to illness, the standard Verification of Illness form should be used. A link to this form is available on the following web page:
General information concerning University policies on illnesses may be
found at