WorldQuant University’s commitment is to provide high-quality education and an excellent learning experience to all students. This Group Work Policy has been designed to protect you from an environment in which your investment of time and hard work may be compromised.
Throughout the duration of this course, you are expected to:
Actively contribute to the completion of the Group Work Project with your peers
Adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity for your contribution
Communicate with your peers in a respectful and professional manner in the Group Discussion forum and/or in any other communication channel of your choice
If unusual circumstances prevent you from dedicating sufficient time to study and to effectively collaborate with your peers, consider taking a Leave of Absence before the course starts or canceling/withdrawing from the course after it begins. You can read more about the attendance policy here.
1. Non-contributors
If you are unable to make contact with a group member after multiple attempts of reaching out, please complete the following steps:
Report their non-contribution on the first page of the template provided for your report by marking them with an “X”
Give a 0 to the non-contributor as their collaboration grade in all categories. Even 1 point allows them to earn the entire content grade.
2. Academic Integrity Violations
Failure to adhere to the highest academic integrity standards and to actively communicate and collaborate with group members in a timely manner are considered serious violations of the University’s Academic Integrity Policy. Penalties for violations range from points deduction to course failure, depending on their seriousness.
Examples of violations and related penalty:
Students who intentionally choose not to collaborate with their peers who have reached out and then submit their own personal (solo) assignments, preventing the rest of the active team member(s) from submitting their contributions:
Course failure and a note on their academic records.
Students who fail to respond to group outreach in a timely fashion (approximately 7 days prior to the submission deadline) from the time of a group member's initial outreach in the Group Discussion forum post or email thread:
30 point grade penalty and potentially being marked a non-contributor for the assignment if a contribution is not made with sufficient review and revision time prior to the upcoming deadline.
Students who use unprofessional communication with their peers to cause group separation:
30 point grade penalty and a note on their academic records.
Students who commit retaliation for low scoring group collaboration grades:
30 point grade penalty if the student receiving lower scores can prove retaliation (i.e., they reduced the score for their peers with documented reasons and in return received lower scores without cause).
Excessive use of AI:
A minimum of 20 point grade penalty up to and including a 0 grade for the submission. This applies to all group members.
Plagiarism:
Course failure
Repeated violations reported to the University will be investigated and may result in probation, course failure, or program termination. For more information and best practices for group collaboration, please refer to our Help Center.
3. Student Code of Conduct Violations
WorldQuant University provides each group with an official Group Discussion forum to facilitate communication and collaboration among group members on the Learning Platform. If your group chooses to use an external communication channel (i.e., WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, etc.), all participants must continue to communicate in the same professional, respectful, and ethical manner as would be expected in the University’s official Group Discussion forum. Any unprofessional or offensive conduct reported to the University by any group members will be investigated as a possible violation of the Student Code of Conduct and can result in probation, course failure, or program termination.