You chose Touro College of Dental Medicine (TCDM) because of its promise: Advanced technology, supportive professors, and the chance to train as both a clinician and a scholar. However, if you’ve recently been told you could be dismissed over academic integrity concerns, it likely feels like all that was promised is slipping away.
You’ve already invested years of effort to earn your place in dental school. To suddenly face the possibility of permanent dismissal is overwhelming and frightening. A mark like that on your record doesn’t just hurt in the moment. It can make every step after dental school, from residencies to your first job, that much harder.
You shouldn’t have to go through this process alone. The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team is here to listen, support, and fight for your right to continue the path you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Call us at 888-535-3686 or fill out our contact form to get started.
What Counts as Academic Misconduct at TCDM
The TCDM Student Handbook provides detailed examples of what is considered academic misconduct:
Plagiarism
- Using others’ words, ideas, or computer/AI-generated material without proper credit
- Copy-pasting, paraphrasing without citation, purchasing or commissioning papers, reusing your own prior work (“self-plagiarism”)
- Copying clinical notes you didn’t personally produce
Cheating
- Copying from another student, using crib sheets, phones, unauthorized notes, or AI tools during exams/assignments
- Sitting in for another student (or having someone sit in for you)
- Exceeding time limits, altering graded work for resubmission, or stealing/hiding materials needed by classmates
- Fabrication (making up data), falsification (altering data), or plagiarism in research
Other Unethical Conduct
- Lying, falsifying excuses, signing attendance for someone else, providing false info, or taking credit for someone else’s work (including AI-generated work)
- Tampering with transcripts, documents, or other students’ work
- Copyright violations (unauthorized copying/distributing materials)
Possible Sanctions for Academic Misconduct at TCDM
If you are found responsible for an academic honesty violation, you could face severe penalties¾, such as expulsion. The more serious the violation is, the more grave the penalty will be.
Sanctions are grouped into three classes:
- Class A (Severe): Expulsion, dismissal, revocation of your DDS degree (even after graduation)
- Class B (Serious): Suspension (up to 24 months), permanent notation on transcript, letters of reprimand, notification to licensing boards or other schools
- Class C (Moderate): Academic probation, failing the course, grade reductions, or being required to redo or replace an assignment
In all cases (except dismissal), you must also complete extra ethics tutorials on avoiding misconduct.
The Hidden Consequences of Academic Misconduct
The handbook spells out what formal punishments you could face if you’re found responsible for misconduct, but these penalties aren’t the only consequences you’ll face. There’s much more at stake.
- Loss of faculty trust: Professors may view you as unreliable, limiting research, mentorship, and recommendation opportunities.
- Residency applications: Dean’s Letters and faculty references can include integrity concerns, weakening your application, or ruining your chances of being accepted.
- Leadership restrictions: Misconduct may bar you from student leadership roles and honors, which help round out your experience and boost your resume.
- Mandatory disclosures: Residency programs and dental boards often require reporting of school disciplinary actions.
- Licensing risks: Boards may view academic dishonesty as a professionalism red flag, which could delay licensure or prevent you from becoming licensed at all.
- Peer reputation damage: Word spreads quickly in small programs, affecting social and professional relationships.
- Financial strain: Suspension, course repetition, or delayed graduation increases tuition costs and may trigger loan repayment before you’re done with your degree.
Even if the immediate punishment seems “manageable” (like probation or a failing grade), the shadow of academic misconduct is long. When you’re accused of misconduct, it’s crucial to take the matter seriously and call our Student Defense Team. We can start working on your defense strategy immediately
Your Rights and Responsibilities as a TCDM Student
When you enroll at TCDM, you’re expected to meet certain standards of academic, professional, and ethical behavior. Before starting as a student, you must take an honor pledge and swear to:
- Maintain honesty and integrity in all aspects of your education.
- Not cheat, plagiarize, falsify data, misrepresent work, or help others commit such acts.
- Act professionally and respectfully with patients, faculty, staff, and peers.
- Conduct yourself responsibly in public, remembering you represent TCDM and the dental profession.
Although you have certain responsibilities to fill, you also have certain due process rights if you’re accused of wrongdoing. According to the Student Handbook, you can:
- Defend yourself.
- Present evidence and call witnesses at hearings.
- Appeal if you believe the process was biased, flawed, or if new evidence arises.
You do not have the right to have an attorney represent you at a disciplinary hearing. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work with one. Even if one of our Student Defense attorneys can’t be present with you in the room, we can help you prepare prior to the hearing. Our team can conduct our own investigation, so that you don’t have to rely solely on the college’s investigators. We can negotiate with college officials and administrators in informal settings outside of hearings as well.
The LLF National Law Firm can be your advocate and ally throughout the entire disciplinary process, even if we aren’t allowed to accompany you to the formal hearing.
What Happens During the TCDM Disciplinary Process?
Allegations of academic misconduct are first reported by faculty or students to a department chair or directly to the Chief Academic Integrity (CAI) Officer.
For first-time or less serious cases, the matter may be handled through informal resolution, where faculty and the CAI Officer can impose lower-level sanctions (Class C).
More serious or repeated violations move to a formal hearing before a committee. At the hearing, you will receive written notice of the charges, and you may present evidence, make statements, and call witnesses. The committee decides if you’re responsible based on a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not).
If you disagree with the outcome, you may appeal to the Appeals Dean. However, the grounds to appeal are limited to bias, new evidence, or procedural error. You can then make a final, discretionary appeal to the Chief Academic Officer (Provost). That decision cannot be challenged further.
Academic Misconduct Defense for Touro Dental Students
If you’re accused of plagiarism, cheating, lying, or another form of academic fraud, don’t wait to see how it’ll work out¾it won’t. To have a chance at clearing your name or reducing the severity of your sanctions, you should get legal assistance from our Student Defense Team.
We understand the stress you’re going through, working toward a post-graduate degree, and the pressure you’re feeling to succeed academically. Having to deal with a disciplinary matter along with the pressure from your coursework is overwhelming. The LLF National Law Firm is here to help. We work with DDS and graduate students all over the country, helping them defend the education they worked hard for.
Call us today at 888-535-3686 or fill out our consultation form, and a member of our team will be in touch.