Student Handbook
The Office of Student Conduct and Community Engagement (SCCE) publishes the Student Handbook. It is available from the Office of the SCCE website at https://www.tamiu.edu/scce/studenthandbook.shtml. The Student Conduct Code and student rights and responsibilities are defined in the Student Handbook.
Sponsorship / Organizations
A complete list of chartered organizations may be found on the Internet at https://www.tamiu.edu/sole. The Office of Student Orientation, Leadership and Engagement (SOLE) maintains regulations and procedures for the establishment of student organizations.
Student Violations of Academic Integrity (Cheating, Plagiarism)
Students are expected to maintain high ethical standards in their academic work, and faculty members are expected to maintain the fairness and integrity of course grades. Students who are caught claiming credit for work that they did not do – whether the dishonest consists of cheating on exams, intentionally plagiarizing papers or course projects, or other forms of academic misrepresentation and dishonesty – can expect to receive failing grades in the course in question. Faculty members are required to report such serious breaches of academic honesty to their chair, their Dean, the Provost, the Office of SCCE and University Registrars.
In addition to grade penalties, students found responsible of academic dishonesty may be placed on probation, temporarily suspended, or permanently expelled from the University by the Provost, as specified in the Student Handbook. The Honor Council reviews each case reported to the Provost and makes recommendations. (See the Honor Code in Appendix E.)
Student Leave of Absence and Pregnant/Parenting Students
Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, harassment based on sex, including harassment because of pregnancy or related conditions, is prohibited. A pregnant/parenting student must be granted an absence for as long as the student’s physician deems the absence medically necessary. It is a violation of Title IX to ask for documentation relative to the pregnant/parenting student’s status beyond what would be required for other medical conditions. Parenting accommodations are available to both parents of a newborn, however, the cause for the reasonable accommodation must be related to the pregnancy or postpartum.
The University advises a pregnant or parenting student to notify their professor once they are aware that accommodations for such will be necessary. It is recommended that the student and professor attempt to work out the reasonable accommodations with each other. The Director of Student Conduct and Community Engagement (Mayra Hernandez, mghernandez@tamiu.edu) can assist the student and professor in working out the reasonable accommodations. In the event that a student will need a leave of absence from the University for a substantial period of time, the University encourages the student to consider a Leave of Absence (LOA) as outlined herein. As part of our efforts to assist and encourage all students towards graduation, TAMIU provides LOA’s for students, including pregnant/parenting students, in accordance with the Attendance Rule and the Student LOA Rule.
Students may file complaints of discrimination due to pregnant or parenting status with the TAMIU Title IX Coordinator (Lorissa Cortez, 5201 University Boulevard, KL 159B, Laredo, TX 78045, TitleIX@tamiu.edu, 956.326.2857) and/or the Office of Civil Rights (Dallas Office, U.S. Department of Education, 1999 Bryan Street, Suite 1620, Dallas, TX 75201-6810, 214.661.9600).