How to Talk to a Student Suspected of Cheating (2024)

Act on these situations as soon as possible despite any reservations. This means interrupting cheating if it is occuring during an exam (but in that case, allow the student to finish the exam and speak with them later) or notifying the student as soon as you are otherwise aware of a possible violation.

We know from the research that if students see cheating happening and do not see faculty responding, this can greatly increase their own likelihood of violating academic integrity.

If you choose to meet with the student, it may be helpful to think of three C's in addressing academic misconduct with a suspected offender:

Clarity, Compassion, and Candor

• Be clear about the behavior you find questionable.
• Be compassionate to the student who may experience significant distress but also great learning from this incident.
• Be candid about your interpretations of the behavior and your feelings about the incident.

If you simply want to talk to the student before you report them to the AI Office to get more information or to give them notice that they are being reported, follow the above guidelines and then document the conversation.

If you want to conduct an official Instructor-Student Resolution Meeting, prepare by reading through the Guide for Conducting Instructor-Student Resolution Meetings (PDF). Make sure you use the email template in that guide for notifying the student that you'd like to meet.

1. Begin the conversation with a statement that informs them of your concerns. For example, "I have some concerns about your recent [paper or exam], specifically it appears that you may have [copied from a neighbor; plagiarized; used GenAI; etc]"
2. Then give the student an opportunity to share their point of view as a way to open up the conversation. For example: "Why don't we start by you telling meyour process for studying/ completing the assignment".
3. After listening to the student's answer, follow up with additional questions that make sense to you given the suspected violation and the assessment in question.
4. Tell the student what you're planning to do next. This could include:
   1. Considering his or her answers and thinking further about your next step (if you are undecided about the occurrence of a violation); OR
   2. Reporting the incident to the Academic Integrity Office

If you are holding an Instructor-Student Resolution meeting, follow the Guide (PDF), fill out the form (Word file)after the conversation and send to the student if they indicated they would accept responsibility.