Student Conduct

Jurisdiction

The institution has jurisdiction over student conduct that occurs on the institutions property, or in connection with official college/university functions whether on or off college property. Although the institution will not routinely invoke its disciplinary processes over student conduct that occurs off campus except in connection with an official college function, the college has discretion to exercise jurisdiction over conduct that occurs off campus and that would violate student conduct and discipline policies or regulations if the conduct had occurred on campus when:

• the alleged misconduct indicates the student poses a threat to the safety or security of any member(s) of the college community; or
• the alleged misconduct involves academic work or the forgery, alteration or misuse of any college/university document, record, key, electronic device, or identification.

Specifically, the college may choose to exercise jurisdiction over off-campus incidents under alternative A.1 above where the alleged misconduct involves:

• physical abuse, including, but not limited to, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, sex offenses, and other physical assault; threats of violence; or conduct that threatens the health or safety of any person;
• stalking (as defined under B.10 of this policy document)
• sexual harassment (as defined in under B.9 of this policy document)
• participation in ragging or any method of initiation or pre-initiation into the college or other activity engaged in by the college students at any time that causes or is likely to cause physical injury, or personal degradation or disgrace resulting in psychological harm to any student or other person.

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In determining whether or not to exercise off-campus jurisdiction in cases under alternative A.1 above, the college will consider the seriousness of the alleged misconduct; whether the alleged victim is a member of the campus community; the ability of the college to gather information, including the testimony of witnesses; and whether the off-campus conduct is part of a series of actions that occurred both on and off campus.
This section is intended only to provide guidance for the exercise of discretion by the college in invoking its jurisdiction over conduct that occurs off campus. It may not be relied upon by any student charged under this section to create any rights, substantive or procedural, or as a basis for a challenge to the exercise of the colleges jurisdiction.

Types of Misconduct

Students may be disciplined for violations or attempted violations (including aiding, abetting, or participating in the planning of an act that would be in violation of this Code, whether or not the individual who carries out that act is a student). Violations include the following types of misconduct.

• Academic Dishonesty :All forms of academic misconduct, including, but not limited to, cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, multiple submissions or facilitating academic misconduct.
  • Cheating : Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the use of unauthorised materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise; or the failure to observe the expressed procedures or instructions of an academic exercise (e.g., examination instructions regarding alternate seating or conversation during an examination).
  • Fabrication :Fabrication includes, but is not limited to, falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.
  • Plagiarism :Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use of another’s words or ideas as if they were one’s own, including, but not limited to, representing, either with the intent to deceive or by the omission of the true source, part of or an entire work produced by someone other than the
    student, obtained by purchase or otherwise, as the student’s original work or representing the identifiable but altered ideas, data, or writing of another person as if those ideas, data, or writing were the student’s original work.
  • Facilitating Academic Dishonesty :Facilitating academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, knowingly helping another student commit an act of academic misconduct (e.g., cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, multiple submissions).
  • Coercion Regarding Grading or Evaluation of Coursework : Threatening personal or professional repercussions or discipline against a faculty/staff to coerce the faculty/staff to change an assessment grade or otherwise evaluate the students work by criteria not directly reflective of coursework.
• Other Forms of Dishonesty :Other forms of dishonesty, including, but not limited to, fabricating information or knowingly furnishing false information or reporting a false emergency to the college.
• Forgery :Forgery, alteration, or misuse of any college/University document, record, key, electronic device, or identification.
• Theft :Theft of, conversion of, misappropriation of, or damage to or destruction of any property of the college or property of others while on college premises or at official college/university functions; or possession of any property when the student had knowledge or reasonably should have had knowledge that it was stolen.
• Computers :Theft or abuse of college computers or other college electronic resources such as computer and electronic communications facilities, systems, and services. Abuses include, but are not limited to, unauthorised entry, use, transfer, or tampering with the communications of others; interference with the work of others or with the operation of computer or electronic communications facilities, systems, or services.
• Unauthorised Use of College Resources or Name : Unauthorised entry to, possession of, receipt of, or use of any college services, equipment, resources, or properties, including the colleges name, insignia, or seal.
• Physical Abuse :Physical abuse includes physical assault, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, sex offenses; threats of violence; or other conduct that threatens the health or safety of any person.
  • Sexual assault occurs when a person knowingly causes another person to engage in a sexual act by a) physical force, violence, threat, intimidation, and/or coercion; b) ignoring the objections of the other person; c) causing the other’s intoxication or impairment through the use of drugs or alcohol; or d) taking advantage of the other person’s incapacitation, state of intimidation, helplessness, or other inability to consent. Situations involving physical force, violence, threat, intimidation, and/or coercion fall under the definition of Sexual Assault.
    Sexual misconduct occurs when a person, having failed to take appropriate steps to gain effective consent, engages in a sexual act with another under the unreasonable belief that effective consent had been obtained.
  • Sex offenses include, but are not limited to, sexual assault upon a child, incest, and consensual sexual intercourse with an individual under the age of majority (18 years of age as per Indian law).
    NOTE: For the purpose of this conduct policy, the following apply:
    i. Effective consent referenced in the terms above means words or actions that show a voluntary agreement to engage in a mutually agreed-upon sexual activity.
    ii. Sexual act referenced in the terms above includes but is not limited to sexual intercourse, sodomy, oral-genital contact, or sexual penetration with a foreign object (including a finger), the touching of a person’s intimate parts (defined as genitalia, groin, breast or buttocks, or clothing covering them), or compelling a person to touch his or her own or another person’s intimate parts without effective consent.
    iii. Intoxication of the accused will not diminish his or her responsibility for any violations of this Section.
• Sexual Harassment : Sexual harassment is defined as:
  Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects a person’s employment or education, unreasonably interferes with a person’s work or educational performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working or learning environment. In the interest of preventing sexual harassment, the college will respond to reports of any such conduct.
• Stalking : Stalking behaviour in which a student repeatedly engages in a course of conduct directed at another person and makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear for his or her safety, or the safety of his or her family; where the threat is reasonably determined by the college to seriously alarm, torment, or terrorise the person; and where the threat is additionally determined by the college to serve no legitimate purpose.
• Harassment : For the purposes of this policy document, harassment is defined as:
  a. is the use, display, or other demonstration of words, gestures, imagery, or physical materials, or the engagement in any form of bodily conduct, on the basis of caste, religion, race, ethnicity, physical status or gender, that has the effect of creating a hostile and intimidating environment sufficiently severe or pervasive to substantially impair a reasonable persons participation in college programs or activities, or use of college facilities;
  b. must target a specific person or persons; and
  c. must be addressed directly to that person or persons.
• Ragging : For the purposes of this policy document, ragging is defined as:
  The doing of any act which causes, or is likely to cause any form of physical and/or psychological harm to a student, and includes, but is not limited to (a) teasing or abusing of playing practical joke on, or causing hurt to any student, and/or (b) asking any student to do any act, or perform anything, which he/she would not be willing to do or perform in the ordinary course.
• Obstruction or Disruption : Obstruction or disruption of teaching, research, administration, disciplinary procedures, or other college/University activities.
• Disorderly Conduct : Disorderly or lewd conduct.
• Disturbing the Peace : Participation in a disturbance of the peace or unlawful assembly.
• Failure to Comply : Failure to identify oneself to, or comply with directions of, a college/University official or other public official acting in the performance of his or her duties while on college property or at official college/University functions, or resisting or obstructing such college/University or other public officials in the performance of or the attempt to perform their duties.
• Prohibited Substances : Except as expressly permitted by law, possession, use, distribution, sale or dispensing of prohibited substances such as alcohol, destructive devices, weapons and controlled substances.
• Violation of Disciplinary Conditions : Violation of the conditions contained in the terms of a disciplinary action imposed under the SDMCDS Student Conduct & Discipline.
• Violation of Interim or Emergency Suspension Conditions Violation of the conditions contained in a notice of Interim or Emergency Suspension issued pursuant to SDMCDS Student Conduct & Discipline.
• Unauthorised Use or Sale of College Materials : Except as provided herein, no student will give, sell, or otherwise distribute to others or publish any recording made during any course presentation without the written consent of the University and the instructor/presenter. This policy is applicable to any recording in any medium, including handwritten or typed notes.
  Any distribution of a recording of a course presentation at SDMCDS that captures the actual sounds and/or images of that course presentation, in any medium, must consider not only the rights of the instructor and the College, but also those of other parties. Examples include the privacy rights of students enrolled in the course, the rights of guest lecturers, and the copyright interests in materials authored by others that are displayed or presented during the course presentation. In addition to the consent of the College and the instructor/presenter, it may be necessary to secure permission from these other parties before any recording, distribution, publication, or communication is legally permitted.

• Selling Course Notes :Selling, preparing, or distributing for any commercial purpose course lecture notes or video or audio recordings of any course unless authorised by the College in advance and explicitly permitted by the concerned faculty in writing. The unauthorised sale or commercial distribution of course notes or recordings by a student is a violation of the SDMCDS Student Conduct & Discipline whether or not it was the student or someone else who prepared the notes or recordings. This policy is applicable to any recording in any medium, including handwritten or typed notes.
• Copying Course Notes : Copying for any commercial purpose handouts, readers, or other course materials provided by an instructor as part of the college course unless authorized by the college in advance and explicitly permitted by the concerned faculty. Students currently enrolled in a course may provide a copy of their own notes or recordings to other currently enrolled students for non-commercial purposes reasonably arising from participation in the course, including individual or group study.
• College Properties : Organising or carrying out unlawful activity on college properties.
• Violations of Law : Violation of laws of the Union of India.

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