Part A: General

Definitions

You are                                                                                                

(a) a student who is alleged to have breached one or more Statutes, Regulations (including the General Regulations for Students), Student Charter, Codes of Practice, Rules, and Procedures of the University in force during your period of registration and any regulations, rules, and procedures required by any other organisation or institution to which you have access by virtue of your status as a student at the University of East Anglia; or

(b) a former student who was a student at the time of the alleged breach(es); or

(c) a student at INTO UEA.

 

University means the University of East Anglia.

‘University Residences’ means Barton House, Britten House, Browne House, Colman House, Constable Terrace, Crome Court, Hickling House, Kett House, Nelson Court, Norfolk Terrace, Orwell Close, Paston House, Suffolk Terrace, Suffolk Walk, University Village, Village Close, Victory House, Wolfson Close, and any other building which the University uses as accommodation for students.

‘University Property’ means premises owned, controlled, or managed by the University.

‘Registration’ means initial or renewed registration.

Other than in respect of Part E, paragraph 1 (Vice-Chancellor’s Powers), all references within these Procedures to particular post holders shall be construed to include references to their deputies or nominees who may take action within these Procedures on the authority of the post holder, provided there is no conflict of interest.

The term ‘they’ is often used in the singular as a replacement for the gender-specific terms ‘he or she’ or ‘his or her’.

Working days means Monday to Friday inclusive but does not include bank holidays or University closed days.

1. Oversight of the Regulations and these Procedures and Powers

1.1 The Associate Director of Academic Services (Quality) has overall responsibility to the Senate for General Regulations 13–23 inclusive, insofar as they relate to students on taught programmes.

1.2 The Head of the Postgraduate Research Service has overall responsibility to the Senate for General Regulations 13–23 inclusive, insofar as they relate to students on research degrees.

1.3 The Director of Student Services has overall responsibility to the Senate for the welfare and discipline of students under all other General Regulations.

1.4 The Vice-Chancellor may not delegate their powers under these Procedures except as provided for by paragraph E1.11 to a Deputy-Vice-Chancellor or Pro-Vice-Chancellor

2. Confidentiality and data protection

2.1 All personal information will be processed by the University lawfully.

2.2 We will process your personal data in order for the University to fulfil its obligations under its Charter. This includes processing your personal data for the purposes of the investigations and procedures described in this document.

Guidance: Further information relating to the University’s processing of student personal data can be found in our Student Privacy Notice.

The University does not permit voice recording of any disciplinary meetings.

2.3 Subject to paragraph 2.1 above, these proceedings and their outcome, as well as any information disclosed in those proceedings, will be treated as confidential to:

2.3.1 the Participants (including any other students involved in the same proceedings) (Participants are defined in Part F)

2.3.2 those involved in the investigation, management, or administration of the proceedings or potential proceedings, or the outcome.

2.3.3 those responsible for you (such as your Head of School, adviser, and (where relevant) fitness to practise lead or supervisor)

2.3.4 your course exam board (such information to be limited only to what academic penalties have been applied and eligibility or otherwise for reassessment/deferred first sit)

2.3.5 staff in Student Services for the purposes of offering services to support you or another Participant

2.3.6 those whose reports about your conduct have been considered and/or investigated, to the extent necessary for the purposes of assuring them that their concerns have been addressed appropriately. 

2.4 However, there are exceptions to this. Confidential and personal information relating to disciplinary and investigative procedures may be disclosed:

2.4.1 to the police

2.4.2 to the University’s legal representatives

2.4.3 to government, or professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (PSRBs) (such as the General Medical Council or the Health and Care Professions Council) if required by law, or required by those relevant bodies and permitted by law

2.4.4 if you ask us to disclose it, or when you ask us to complete a reference for a role or responsibility or for further study

2.4.5 if you are enrolled on a degree apprenticeship programme, as the University will share any findings of breach with your employer in accordance with your Apprenticeship Commitment Statement

2.4.6 if you are sponsored or seconded by an employer as the University will share any findings of breach with your employer

2.4.7 to a funding body, external research ethics committee or scholarships provider, where they require this

2.4.8 as a case study for training purposes or to ensure that similar cases are treated similarly. If we do this, we will anonymise the information.

3. Students who leave the University

3.1 These University Disciplinary and Investigative Procedures and Powers apply to you even if you withdraw from the University, or are withdrawn, or your registration end date is reached, provided that the alleged breach of the Regulations relates to your time as a student. In this situation, the Chair of Senate Student Discipline Committee will decide whether the case against you should proceed, or not proceed, or be suspended. In making this decision, the Chair will usually consider that the case should proceed where:

3.1.1 there is a need to safeguard University students, staff, officers, visitors, and University Property; and/or

3.1.2 there is a need to safeguard members of the public, especially those who are vulnerable such as children, patients and vulnerable adults who may be affected by he alleged breach(es); and/or

3.1.3 to do so would reflect the requirements or spirit of the Codes of Practice and standards established by the relevant professional, statutory and regulatory body (PSRB); and/or

3.1.4 it is in the interests of academic integrity, for example because it is alleged that you have obtained a qualification from the University by fraud.

3.2       Where you have a pending appeal to the Senate Student Discipline Appeals Committee, the Chair of Senate Student Discipline Appeals Committee will make the decision referred to at 3.1 instead.

3.3       In the event that the Chair decides that the case should proceed, the Chair can at their discretion keep the proceedings suspended until such time as you engage with them, although in most situations the cases will proceed in your absence. Where the proceedings are suspended, you are not eligible for admission to any programme of study or any other service until conclusion of the proceedings.

3.4       As stated in General Regulation 1.3, disciplinary procedures must normally be concluded before any degree or award can be conferred, and this may mean that conferment may be delayed pending conclusion of the procedures.

4. Interrelationship with criminal investigations and similar proceedings 

4.1. If an allegation of a breach of the General Regulations might also constitute a criminal offence or where a police, criminal, or other legal investigations or legal proceedings are contemplated or underway, the University can at its discretion decide to postpone its own investigative or disciplinary processes until the investigation and/or proceedings have been concluded.

4.2 However, there may be circumstances in which the processes run concurrently or consecutively, particularly where there is an immediate issue of risk to you or others, or if the offence under the criminal law would be considered to be not serious and no criminal proceedings are being, or in the opinion of the decision-maker named in paragraph 4.3 below, are likely to be, brought against you in respect of that offence

4.3 The decision as to whether to take or postpone investigation and/or proceedings will be made by:

4.3.1  the Associate Director of Academic Services (Quality) for alleged breaches of General Regulations 13–23 inclusive (‘Academic and Professional Integrity’), insofar as they relate to students on taught programmes.

4.3.2 the Head of the Postgraduate Research Service for alleged breaches of General Regulations 13–23 inclusive (‘Academic and Professional Integrity’), insofar as they relate to students on research degrees.

4.3.3 the Director of Student Services in relation to all other General Regulations.

4.4 If, after proceedings against you have been commenced under these Disciplinary Procedures, any criminal proceedings are started against you in respect of the same incident, the disciplinary proceedings will normally be suspended to await their outcome (including any appeal).

4.5 Where you have been acquitted of an offence before a criminal court, action under these Procedures and Powers may still be taken. That is because the University has a different (lower) standard of proof than the criminal courts, and we consider whether you have breached the Regulations rather than whether you have committed a crime.

4.6 It is not necessary for any party to prove again any fact already established in the criminal or civil proceedings.

4.7 If you are unable to participate in person or by live video link in any SSDC hearing in a timely manner because you are in prison, the Senate Student Discipline Committee may proceed in your absence on the basis of written representations

Guidance: The reasons for deferring action pending criminal proceedings are:

(a)          Any immediate risk to the University community should be addressed through precautionary action under Part E of these Procedures and Powers. That Part contains the powers of the University to temporarily exclude and/or suspend you pending the progression or outcome of any police, criminal or other legal investigations or proceedings. There are safeguards within that Part.

(b)          There is a substantial risk that an internal investigation could interfere with or prejudice a criminal investigation (for example, in relation to witness evidence an internal investigation may involve an element of ‘rehearsal’ of evidence prior to a criminal trial with the potential for memories to be tainted, or the alteration of accounts because of what has been said, heard or disclosed during the process).

(c)           A student’s engagement with an internal investigation could impact upon their defence in the criminal proceedings, and therefore a student’s lawyer is likely to advise them not to engage with internal proceedings.

 (d)         An internal investigation may also risk jeopardising a successful prosecution on the part of the reporting student.