Forgery of a death certificate

code | scenario | smart strategies | consequences

Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters

1. It shall be an offence for a student knowingly:

(a) to forge or in any other way alter or falsify any document or evidence required by the University, or to utter, circulate or make use of any such forged, altered or falsified document, whether the record be in print or electronic form;

Wherever in the Code an offence is described as depending on “knowing”, the offence shall likewise be deemed to have been committed if the person ought reasonably to have known.

Scenario – Forgery of a death certificate

You are extremely stressed out with school and are prone to suffer from anxiety attacks. You feel overwhelmed with the amount of workload near the end of the first term. Exams are just around the corner and you are not prepared for your upcoming exam. You are nervous and feel like you need more time to study so you decide to miss your exam. You notify your instructor that you will be absent due to the death of a loved one. Your instructor understands your difficult situation and requests that you provide supporting documentation to keep on file. You decide to submit a falsified funeral program and/or death certificate.

The Issue

Lying to the instructor or submitting falsified documents to support your absence from an exam will only make things worse. Instructors often take steps to confirm the authenticity of documents submitted to explain a student’s absence. You are committing an academic offence by forging, altering or falsifying a document that is required by the University, or by circulating such a document, and there are serious consequences for such actions.

Smart Strategies

Range of Consequences

For a discussion of consequences see Key Consequences.