Regulation 6.1.1 - Student discipline

Part 1 - General

1. In this Regulation:

“assessment session” means any examination, essay, assignment or other work, in whole or in part, which forms part of a student’s academic assessment;

“damage” means the amount of value of any damage to, or loss of, any property including any costs and expenses of, or incidental to, the repair or replacement of any property damaged or lost;

“expel” means to terminate a student’s enrolment;

“precincts of the University” means any buildings, premises, streets, driveways, footways, and any other areas and includes the location of camps, field placements, workshops and any other study activities controlled or supervised by, or in the temporary possession whether actual or constructive of, the University;

“senior officer” means the Dean of any Faculty or the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students), the Deputy Dean of any Faculty ,the Head of any Department, the Director, Student Services, the University Librarian, the Manager/Secretary of the RMIT Union, the Director, Information Technology Services, or the Academic Registrar;

“student” means any person who is enrolled at the University or who was so enrolled at the time at which he or she is alleged to have committed misconduct;

“suspend” means to prohibit a student from attending any teaching or assessment session or enter upon the University precincts, either in whole or in such part as may be prescribed, for a specified period;

“officer” means any person employed by the University.

“Pro-Vice Chancellor (Students)” means the person who from time to time is the incumbent of this position or who is the person nominated by the Vice-Chancellor from the membership of the Vice-Chancellor’s Executive that occupies a position that is the nearest equivalent of this position.
“teaching session” means any activity carried out by the University as part of the provision of courses for students, including classes, tutorials, lectures, laboratory or workshop sessions.

“Vice-Chancellor’s Executive” means that Group of senior executives of the University that provides advice to the Vice-Chancellor and includes in its membership, the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students), Pro Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning), Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) and the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise and Community Development)

2. A student will have committed a breach of discipline or an act of general misconduct if the student:

(a) disobeys any reasonable order or direction given to the student by an officer of the University where the officer has reasonable cause to believe that the order or direction is necessary:

(i) to ensure the safety of the student or of any other person;
(ii) to prevent damage to University property or premises;
(iii) for the proper performance of the officer’s duties regarding the custody, maintenance or use of any University property or premises;

(b) obstructs or interferes with the proper use of any of the facilities of the University by any member of the University;

(c) behaves in a manner which is disorderly or detrimental to the interests and good repute of the University;

(d) harasses any person on any grounds, including ethnicity, gender, sexual preference or religious or political belief;

(e) intimidates or attempts to intimidate any person;

(f) wilfully, recklessly or negligently engages in conduct which causes, or may cause, bodily injury to any person;

(g) wilfully, recklessly or negligently causes damage to, or without authority removes or wrongfully interferes with, any property:

(i) of the University or of any member of the University or of any person, firm or corporation in the course of University activities;
(ii) of a student or officer of the University;

(h) copies or attempts to copy any copyright material including computer software, without the permission of the University and in breach of the Copyright Act;

(i) engages in improper use of any University facilities or equipment;

(j) publishes in any way whatsoever any confidential information of, or held by, the University;

(k) engages in any false representation, whether oral or written, on any matter concerning or affecting the student in his or her capacity as a student;

(l) fails by the required date, or within the required period, to pay any fine or observe any penalty imposed by this Regulation;

(m) engages in any other conduct, whether within or outside the precincts of the University, that may be prejudicial to the good order and discipline of the University or is likely to bring the University into disrepute.

3. A student will have committed academic misconduct if the student cheats or attempts to cheat by:

(a) impersonating, or allowing himself or herself to be impersonated by any person in, or for the purposes of, any assessment session;

(b) plagiarising or otherwise submitting the work of another person as the student’s own work;

(c) taking into, or using in connection with, any assessment session any material other than material specifically permitted by the instructions for that assessment;

(d) obtaining from, or giving to, another person during any assessment session any information relating to that session or any part of it without approval of the supervisor of that session;

(e) behaving in any manner that is, in the opinion of an officer, intended to provide a misleading basis for assessment.

4(a). Any person in charge of any supervised assessment session who believes that a student has committed any academic misconduct under Section 3 will immediately inform the student.

(b) Any student informed of alleged academic misconduct under sub-section (a) may complete that assessment session.

5(a). Any person in charge of any teaching or assessment session may suspend a student from that session if the student is interfering in any way with the proper conduct of the session.

(b) Any person in charge of any meeting conducted by, or for, the University may suspend a student from that meeting if the student is interfering in any way with the proper conduct of the meeting.

6. A student will be informed in writing of any charge of misconduct as soon as practicable.

Corresponding Statute

Statute 6.1 – Student Discipline

[Next: Regulation – Part 2]