Student Disciplinary Regulations
Article 1
Scope
These regulations are applicable to the students of the degree programmes of Macao Polytechnic University (hereinafter referred to as the “University”).
Article 2
Misconduct
1. The misconducts include:
(1) serious disruption of lessons, study, research, other academic activities or the University’s operation;
(2) misuse of the University’s facilities, or trespassing or using without authorisation those facilities reserved by the University;
(3) conduct prejudicial to the reputation, freedom, safety or privacy of the University’s members (students, academic and administrative staff);
(4) conduct prejudicial to the University’s reputation;
(5) theft of or intentional damage to the properties of the University or its members;
(6) conduct causing unreasonable harm to the lawful rights and interests of the units in cooperation with the University during the learning activities organised by the University, including exchange programmes, field trips and visits, and internships;
(7) falsification or misuse of the documents or records of the University;
(8) conduct of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to plagiarism and cheating in examinations;
(9) lying or misrepresentation in any applications or documents submitted to the University;
(10) failure to comply with the University’s rules and regulations, or the instructions issued by the University;
(11) conduct deemed as contravention of the laws and regulations of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
2. The University may additionally issue specific rules and regulations to further govern any of the above misconducts.
Article 3
Disciplinary Units
The disciplinary units are the academic units to which the students suspected of contravening these regulations belong, and the heads of the academic units are vested with the power to impose punishments on the students who contravened these regulations.
Article 4
Investigation Team
1. The head of the relevant disciplinary unit should, within three working days after having knowledge of its occurrence, appoint an investigation team to look into the misconduct.
2. The investigation team consists of the following three members:
(1) the programme coordinator of the degree programme to which the student suspected of committing the misconduct belongs, acting as the chairperson;
(2) one academic staff member as appointed by the head of the academic unit to which the student suspected of committing the misconduct belongs;
(3) one academic staff member of the other academic units as appointed by the Rector.
3. If the programme coordinator of the relevant degree programme cannot serve as a team member, the head of the academic unit to which the student suspected of committing the misconduct belongs should appoint an academic staff member of the relevant degree programme as the member, who should also act as the chairperson.
4. The Student Affairs Office should delegate representative(s) to attend the relevant meetings and hearings without the right to vote.
Article 5
Investigation Measures
1. On the premise that due respect is given to the laws currently applicable in the Macao Special Administrative Region, the investigation team has the power to undertake whatever investigation measures it considers appropriate in order to prepare the investigation report referred to in Article 7 Clause 1.
2. The investigation team should conduct investigation and hearings in relation to the case.
3. The absence of the student suspected of committing the misconduct in the hearings does not affect the continuation of the disciplinary process.
Article 6
Preventive Measures
1. Considering the actual situation and the circumstances of the misconduct allegedly committed by the student, the head of the disciplinary unit may implement appropriate preventive measures against the student suspected of committing the misconduct while the investigation is being undertaken, including:
(1) suspension of study on a precautionary basis;
(2) other preventive measures deemed appropriate.
2. The appeal procedure as provided for in Article 10, except Clause 2, is applicable after necessary adaptation to the preventive measures taken under this Article.
Article 7
Procedures
1. Within ten working days after its appointment, the investigation team should complete the investigation procedures and submit an investigation report to the head of the disciplinary unit.
2. The chairperson of the investigation team is responsible for writing the investigation report, which should include in particular the preliminary investigation results and, where the misconduct is found to have been committed, punishments which may be suitable to be imposed on the student, with detailed explanations respectively.
3. The investigation results should be decided by a majority of votes; the chairperson and the other members of the investigation team may indicate, when signing the investigation report, that they have lost a particular vote on any point in the investigation results, and may also make a statement of different positions in the explanation section.
4. In response to the needs of the investigation, the head of the disciplinary unit has the power to extend the submission deadline of the investigation report for another ten working days.
Article 8
Investigation Results and Final Report
1. After the head of the disciplinary unit has received the report as referred to in Article 7 Clause 1, if the investigation team found that there was indeed a misconduct, the disciplinary unit should notify the student in writing within three working days. The student can submit a written statement to the investigation team within ten working days from the date of receiving the notification. If the student submits or fails to submit a written statement after the deadline, the report as referred to in Article 7 Clause 1 should be considered as the final report.
2. If the investigation team found there was no misconduct, the investigation team should suggest in the report that the case be closed.
3. After receiving the notification mentioned in Clause 1, the student suspected of committing the misconduct can consult their case file at the disciplinary unit during the office hours after making an appointment.
4. The student suspected of committing the misconduct can request additional investigation measures to be taken in the written statement.
5. After receiving the written statement, the investigation team may decide on the basis of necessity whether to conduct any additional investigation measures.
6. Within ten working days after receiving the written statement, the investigation team should prepare a final report, indicating in particular the final investigation result with detailed explanation, and the applicable punishments in the event that the misconduct was found to have been committed, and submit the above report to the head of the disciplinary unit for making the final decision.
7. The head of the disciplinary unit should notify the student of the result in writing.
8. The provisions of Article 7 Clauses 2 – 4 are applicable to the procedures prescribed in this Article after necessary adaptation.
Article 9
Punishments
1. When imposing punishments, the head of the disciplinary unit should consider all the circumstances of the case, including the nature of the misconduct, the contexts in which the misconduct took place, the consequences of the misconduct, whether the student committing the misconduct has repented, whether there were any previous misconducts committed by the same student, and the impact on the victim(s) if any, as well as the punishments adopted in cases of similar nature in the past.
2. The punishments include:
(1) verbal warning;
(2) written warning;
(3) suspension of study for a specified period of time, which should not exceed three years in any event;
(4) expulsion.
3. The maximum period of study shall include any periods of suspension of study.
4. Considering the actual situation and the circumstances of the misconduct committed by the offending student, when imposing punishments, the head of the disciplinary unit may simultaneously suspend or forfeit the student’s rights to scholarships, prizes, other academic rights and benefits.
5. The imposition of the punishment of expulsion should be sanctioned by the Senate.
Article 10
Appeal
1. Within ten working days after being notified of the final decision, the offending student may submit a written appeal to the Senate through the Student Affairs Office.
2. The lodging of an appeal gives rise to a temporary suspension of the implementation of the punishments until the end of the appeal procedure.
3. The Senate may request the investigation team to undertake supplementary investigation measures as it deems necessary.
4. The decision made by the Senate in this appeal procedure is final.
5. The Student Affairs Office should inform the student of the appeal result in writing.
Article 11
Notification
1. The disciplinary unit should inform the Student Affairs Office and the Registry of the punishments imposed on the student. That information will be taken into account when considering whether the student in question should be given any scholarship, award or privilege, and should be recorded in the file of that student.
2. Depending on the nature of the case and the actual situation of the offending student, the student’s parent(s) or guardian(s) may be informed of the imposition of the punishments when the punishments are being imposed.
3. Considering the specific circumstances of the case, particularly where the misconduct was of criminal or severe nature, the initiation of the disciplinary process and the imposition of the punishments are without prejudice to the University’s obligation to lawfully provide any information to the judicial authorities of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
Article 12
Limitation Period
From the date when the misconduct was committed, the related disciplinary process must be initiated within a year.
Article 13
Confidentiality
1. The academic units and the relevant academic support services should keep confidential all misconduct cases which have not yet been established.
2. Those who have acquired knowledge of the misconduct cases because of their positions or participation in the disciplinary process are obliged to keep that knowledge confidential. However, this does not affect the application of the relevant regulations on notification to the different departments of the University or to the judicial authorities.
Article 14
Other Regulations
These regulations are inapplicable to those situations specifically governed by other rules and regulations, except as otherwise stipulated.
Article 15
Questions and Omissions
Any questions and omissions arising out of the application of these Regulations should be resolved by the Senate.
This English version is a translation of the original regulations in Chinese. Should there be any discrepancies between the two versions, the Chinese version shall prevail.