The Administrative Board for Continuing Education ordinarily meets monthly during the academic year to consider student requests for exceptions to degree program policies and cases involving alleged breaches of student conduct policies and expectations. This includes academic integrity violations, submission of fraudulent information, misuse of university resources, and inappropriate student conduct.
If a suspected violation of academic integrity or student conduct is referred to the Administrative Board, the student will receive an email detailing the issues and the evidence the Board will consider. The student will be asked to provide a statement in response to the charge. The Board will review both the evidence presented and the student’s written statement to make its determination, and the student will be notified of the outcome. While the case is pending, the student may remain in the course and continue submitting work and participating as usual.
The Administrative Board may, after considering the seriousness of a case, take any action it deems appropriate. The range of sanctions includes formal admonishment, probation, revocation of a student’s right to access University facilities or buildings, suspension of a student’s registration privileges for a specific or indefinite period, and mandatory withdrawal from a course or courses, or a degree, certificate, or premedical program. Sanctioned students may become ineligible for admission or re-admission to a degree program or degree program option, scholarships, and induction into honor societies. Students required to withdraw from courses are not issued tuition refunds. Cases of students formally sanctioned by the Summer School Administrative Board may be referred to the Administrative Board for Continuing Education for further review and action.
The Board may determine any of the following possible outcomes:
Scratch/Take No Action. No disciplinary sanction is given. The Board found no grounds for action.
Admonish. Admonishment is a formal warning that a student has violated the expectations of student conduct. It becomes part of the student’s education record but is not considered a reportable disciplinary action and does not affect standing. Nevertheless, admonishment serves as an official notice to the student that subsequent violations may result in disciplinary action.
Probation. Probation is a disciplinary sanction in response to a violation of the expectations of student conduct that puts the student on notice that this conduct gives considerable cause for concern. During the probation period (typically one year), a student may continue to enroll in courses but is not considered in good standing. While on probation, a student may lose privileges or access to certain university resources. Probation becomes part of the student’s education record and is reportable to third parties under the rules of FERPA, but it is not recorded on the transcript. It is expected that the Board will respond with higher-level sanctions if there are any further violations during or after the probation period.
Requirement to Withdraw. For serious violations of student conduct policies, or academic misconduct, such as plagiarism, fabrication, or cheating on an exam, a grade of RQ “required to withdraw” may be assigned to the respective course. This formal disciplinary action is recorded on the transcript and is equivalent to a failing grade. For the most serious violations, a student may be required to withdraw from all courses. The requirement to withdraw may be accompanied by suspension of registration or other privileges.
Suspension of Registration or Other Privileges. For serious violations of the expectations for student conduct, the student may lose the privilege to register for courses in Harvard Extension School and Harvard Summer School, or the permission to use certain University resources. A suspension of registration privileges is recorded on the transcript and may last for any specified length of time, but is typically for one year. During the suspension period, the student may not enroll in courses and is not considered to be in good standing. Students cannot transfer credit to the Extension School for courses taken elsewhere during the suspension period without explicit permission. For very severe violations of student conduct, or in the case of a second offense, the suspension period may be indefinite. In this case, the student may not enroll in courses without a formal reinstatement from the Board.
Return After Suspension. In most cases, registration privileges are automatically reinstated after the designated suspension period ends. In some situations, the Board may require that students present evidence that they are ready to resume their studies and to rejoin the community, including completing certain courses or meeting other requirements set by the Administrative Board. In these cases, students must petition the Board for reinstatement.
Reconsideration of an Administrative Board Decision. Decisions of the Administrative Board are ordinarily considered final. However, a student may request reconsideration of an Administrative Board decision provided one of the following conditions are met:
- New materially relevant information becomes available that could not reasonably have been discovered and/or presented by the student at the time of the review, that may change the outcome of the decision; or
- There is reasonable evidence of a procedural error by the Board that may change the outcome of the decision. This is not a vehicle for rearguing a case before the Board on the same evidence, or for submitting evidence that the requester could have provided in the earlier case.
