Committee for Student Affairs

All educational institutions subject to the Universities and University Colleges Act are required to form a Committee for Student Affairs, pursuant to § 5-1 of the Act. The committee hears matters regarding cheating, plagiarism, formal errors in the implementation of exams and other student-related individual decisions.

​​​​​​​The Committee for Student Affairs at Nord University consists of five members. The Board has an external chair, two employee representatives and two student representatives. Members with personal substitutes are appointed for four years, with the exception of the student representatives, who are appointed for one-year terms.

​The term of the present committee is 01.01.2020-31.12.2023.

​​Function
​Member
​Substitute
Chair
​Eilif Nordahl
​Lars Brekke
​​University representative
​Marthe Bjørgum
​Geir Olav Knappe
​University representative​Tone Nergård
Petter Pettersen
​Student representative
​Odin Hovland Stahlsberg
Edward Glorud Sveen
​Student representativeStine Sæthre
Katharina Fagertun​

​The secretaries of the committee are Cathrine W. Moseng and Fredrik N. Boksasp.​

All members of the committee are subject to confidentiality regarding personal matters they may acquire knowledge of through their work on the committee, pursuant to § 4-6 of the University and University Colleges Act.

Cheating and plagiarism

Why is cheating serious?
Cheating on exams shows lack of solidarity with one's fellow students and is a violation of academic integrity. When cheating on an exam, it will lead to doubts about whether the student has achieved the level of learning that is expected for the subject in question. It may lead to the university's certifying the student for a professional career without the student having the professional background required.

Nord University takes cheating most seriously and there are heavy penalties connected with this offence.

What constitutes cheating?
It is important that all kinds of assessment represent the student's own work, and that the student's own thoughts and ideas are clearly distinguishable from the work of others.

The following is considered cheating or attempting to cheat:

  • Having non-authorised aides available during the exam. If the student takes an exam with preceding control of aides, this applies accordingly, should non-authorised aides be revealed during that control.

  • Presenting other people's published or unpublished work as one's own.

  • Presenting one's own former work, including works submitted during exams or other reviews, without adequate references.

  • Quoting sources or in other ways utilizing sources in written works without adequate references.

  • Illegally fabricating data in connection with student work

  • Infringing cooperation between candidates or groups

  • Acting in violation of specific guidelines for the individual exam

  • Wrongfully gaining access to evaluation e.g. through cheating when submitting mandatory written work, internal testing or manipulation of attendance lists for mandatory attendance to lectures

Nord University runs plagiarism audits on exams, either by suspicion or as sample test controls. Plagiarism audits are run on all candidate, bachelor and master theses, in compliance with guidelines for plagiarism control at Nord University.

Consequences of cheating
Cheating may have serious consequences for students who cheat, whether on school exams, home exams, mandatory work requirements or other submissions and coursework. Suspicion of cheating is regulated by theAct's §§ 4-7 and 4-8, which permits nullifying exam results and excluding students. Students risk exclusion and may be stripped of their right to take exams at Nord University and other institutions for up to one year under this law.

Students are required to familiarize themselves with the rules that apply to students, according to Nord University's regulations and supplementary provisions. Students are required to familiarize themselves with the aides permitted for each individual exam, as well as with correct use and referencing of sources.

Lack of knowledge about the rules for referencing, permitted aides, guidelines for exams or similar does not excuse the student from his or her responsibilities.

Joint Appeals Committee
Citing and references

Complaints and formal errors

The committee considers complaints regarding individual decisions, as well as other student-related matters, pursuant to the Act's § 5-1 (1). An individual decision is a decision regarding the rights and duties of one or more individual/s.

Typical examples of complaint matters heard by the committee include:

  • Complaints about loss of the right to study
  • Complaints about loss of the right to take an exam
  • Complaints regarding crediting and exemptions
  • Complaints regarding local student admission and prior learning evaluations
  • Complaints about formal examination errors

Complaint proceedings

The proceedings are defined by the Public Administration Act, which outlines how a complaint should be managed. For a student who wants to make a formal complaint, it might be useful to bear the following in mind:

  • There is most often a 3-week deadline to submitted a complaint.
  • The complaint should state what the complaint is about and what the student wants to have changed.
  • The complaint should be supported by grounds/reasons.

The complaint should be sent to the faculty or department responsible for the initial decision. The faculty/department will reconsider the issue at hand and may change the decision should it find reason to do so. If the complaint is not successful, this decision may be appealed to committee.

Complaints regarding formal examination errors

  • Complaints regarding formal examination errors are regulated by the Act's § 5-2, which stipulates that "A candidate who has taken an examination or test may complain of procedural errors within three weeks of the date when he or she became or should have become aware of the circumstance on which the complaint is based."
  • Formal examination errors cover matters that have had an influence on the student's achievement or the assessment thereof. Examples of such errors may be errors in tasks given, the practical carrying out of the exam or other matters related to the evaluation of the student's work.
  • If a formal error has occurred, the censorship of the exam in question will be declared void. If possible, a new evaluation should take place. In other cases, a new exam or test may be set up with new examiners. In the case of a potential new assessment or re-assessment, the students will have renewed access to launching complaints regarding the assessment of their grade.

Complaints, with grounds, may be lodged using the complaints form.  (Note: the form is available in Norwegian only. Should you require assistance, please contact your study advisor or student services).​​



Published:25. June 2020 kl. 13:55
Updated:30. January 2023 kl. 11:48