Article (33):
- If a student commits an academic violation, the faculty member shall document the violation in the relevant form and shall include all the details related to the incident.
- In the event where a violation occurs in the exam room, the proctor shall document the violation in the relevant form and shall include all the details related to the incident and send it to the instructor of the course .
- The instructor of the course shall notify the Head of the Department within two working days, including all details and actions taken. If the faculty assigns a disciplinary penalty according to the powers entrusted to him in these Bylaws, then all the related documents shall be referred to the dean's office to take the necessary action.
- The Head of the Department shall refer the case to the responsible dean within two working days from the date of receiving the violation.
Article (34):
- In the event, the violation falls within the dean’s responsibilities as described in these Bylaws, the responsible dean shall refer the case to the Student Affairs Committee in the college to conduct the appropriate investigation into what is attributed to the student, and provides a report describing the outcomes of the investigation to the dean.
- The responsible dean shall recommend the appropriate penalty after reviewing the report of the Student Affairs Committee in the college, provided that the penalty falls within the powers entrusted to him/her in Article (19). If the penalty does not fall within his/her powers, he/she must refer the case to the responsible Vice-President within three working days from the date of receiving the report from the Student Affairs Committee in the college.
- If the responsible dean recommends disciplinary penalty in accordance with the powers entrusted to him/her by these Bylaws, all documents related to the case shall be referred to the responsible Vice-President. The responsible Vice-President may approve the recommendation of the dean or refer the report to the University Disciplinary Committee.
Article (35):
- In the event that the student commits a non-academic violation, the supervising employee shall document the violation using the appropriate form, and shall include all the details related to the incident.
- The supervising employee shall, within one working day, notify the responsible manager of the violation and its relevant details.
- In collabartation with the Office of Vice President for Student Affairs, the responsible manager shall prepare a detailed report of the violation that includes all the relavent details, the circumstances of the incident, and a student status evaluation.
- In the event that the nature of the violation requires questioning the stduent in person , the Director of Campus Security Services shall immediately notify the designated representatives of the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and ensure their presence during such process . All minutes and records of such investigation from the hearing shall be forwarded to the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs after ensuring that all the precadures and actions undertaken comply with Article (38) of these Bylaws .
- Without prejudice to the provisions of the law in the State of Qatar, in the event that a female student is referred for investigation , there must be a female member present from the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, who is authorized to do so, and as the circumstances require.
- The responsible manager shall refer the student to whom the violation is attributed, to the Vice President for Student Affairs within two working days from the date the case was presented to the responsible manager.
- The Vice President for Student Affairs has the right to reconsider any action taken, based on the powers or authority vested in him/her.
Article (36):
The responsible Vice President has the right to close the case or refer the student to whom the violation is attributed to the Disciplinary Committee within three working days from the date of the referral of the incident.
Article (37):
If the violation occurs during the fall and spring semesters, the Disciplinary Committee shall start investigating the details of the incident within five working days from the date on which it receives the violation and take the appropriate action in accordance with these Bylaws or recommend dismissal of complaint.
If the violation occurs during the final examinations of the Spring semester or during the Summer semester, the committee shall issue the necessary recommendations during the last week of the semester if possible in case it received it before the summer vacation.
However, the committee shall convene a session at the beginning of the fall semester and issue the necessary recommendations before the last day of the add and drop period. The responsible Vice president has the right to extend the investigation time limit stipulated by this Article to an additional period or as needed even till after the add and drop period, if necessary.
Article (38):
Before initiating the investigation with the student, the he or she must be notified about the accusations attributed to him/her in a written summon that includes the following information:
- Triple or quadrant name.
- Student QUID number or personal ID number.
- Student’s college
- Subject of the committed violation
- The responsible authority that decided to refer the student to investigation and the date of the decision.
- Date and place of the investigation, provided that the period for starting the investigation does not exceed ten working days from the date of receiving the decision of referral to investigation and the responsible Vice President may extend another period and beyond as required.
Article (39):
In the case the violation falls with the responsibility of the dean, no penalty, beyond the course instructor’s authority, shall be imposed on a student unless the student has been questioned by the responsible college Student Affairs Committee, or the Disciplinary Committee in case the violation was referred to the Vice President for Student Affairs.
In the event that the student refuses to receive the summon request or declines to respond to it, the summons request is documented and included in the investigation file.
Article (40):
The University Disciplinary Committee has the right to take the necessary measures to ensure the integrity of the investigation including the following steps:
- Examining the records and documents, confirming this in the proceedings, providing commentary on every page it examines while confirming the date of the case review.
- Requesting copies of any evidence as long as neither the investigation nor the public interest require the preservation of the original copies of such evidence.
Article (41):
The investigation must be documented in formal minutes and filed by a serial number that shall include date, time, place, investigator’s name; referral decision and its issuing authority; referred student’s name, age, place of residence and college; summary of the incident under investigation; statements of witnesses; viewed documents; date and time at which the session completed. Furthermore, all pages of the investigation shall be recorded and documented by a signature of the committee members and all involved individuals.
Article (42):
The responsible Vice President Office shall notify the referred student with a copy of the referral decision and the date and time of the investigation via the student email account assigned by Qatar University , or by text message to the student's registered phone at the university, at least one working day before the investigation scheduled date. The notification may be provided to the student at his college in person, if needed.
In the event of violations that are referred to the Disciplinary Committee at the end of the semester without enough time to process them before the academic vacation, the student may be summoned to appear before the Disciplinary Committee at the start of academic semester for faculty members.
Article (43):
Any student summoned to deliver his or her testimony in the investigation and refrains from appearing or refrains from providing any information he/she has, without an acceptable excuse, he/she will be subject to disciplinary action if his/her testimony is substantial to the completion of the investigation. Relatives of the accused student up to the fourth degree are excluded from testifying.
Article (44):
If, through the investigation, it was found that there is a suspicion of committing a crime, the matter must be brought to the President to inform the Public Prosecution. Notifying the Public Prosecution does not jeopardize the University’s right to impose disciplinary penalty for what has been proven against the student to whom the violation is attributed, unless the disciplinary penalty is pending on the outcome of the criminal case.
Article (45):
The investigation period begins from the date of the student's referral to the investigation and ends with the preparation of a final report on the results of the investigation, which includes the recommendations of the University Disciplinary Committee to the responsible authority to either close the case or take the appropriate disciplinary action.
The investigation period shall not exceed 30 working days, but it may be extended for another period with the approval of the responsible Vice President.
Article (46):
The decision to take disciplinary action against the student must be legally justified.
Article (47):
No more than one penalty shall be imposed for a single violation.
Article (48):
The responsible Vice-President shall notify the student and the responsible departments for implementation of the penalty decision signed in writing, within three working days from the date of its issuance.
Article (49):
Investigation documents and penalties shall be kept in the students’ files, and a record of penalties shall be kept in the same file including all details of all the violations and penalties imposed on them and the dates and reference numbers of decisions effecting those penalties.
If the investigation resulted in the participation of more than one student in committing the violation, it is sufficient to keep the investigation papers in the file of the first violator, and a copy of the original thereof in the files of the other students.
Article (50):
All concerned parties are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of investigations and interrogation procedures.
Article (51):
The right to disciplinary investigation shall expire in two years from the date the student commits the violation; however, such a statute of limitation shall be interrupted by investigation procedures or referral of the student to disciplinary investigation. In such case, the period shall be re-calculated from the date of the last action taken regarding the violation. If there are multiple persons referred to disciplinary investigation, interruption of the period applicable to one of them shall also be applicable to the others, even if no measures have been taken against them during the period in question.
Nevertheless, if the act constitutes a crime, the right to disciplinary investigation shall not be forfeited unless the criminal case is dropped. Disciplinary measures shall cease upon the death of the student.