Student Academic Conduct Officers
There is a Student Academic Conduct Officer (SACO) appointed by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Global Relations) on the recommendation of the Head of School, or relevant Director. SACOs provide teaching staff in a School with the support required to ensure transparency and consistency for both students and staff in determining key standards in academic literacy and ethics. SACOs are guided by the provisions of the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Student Academic Integrity Procedure.
When misconduct is suspected the role of the SACO is to support and maintain academic standards. Communication between the SACOs contributes to consistency in approach to academic integrity across the University.
Download a current list of SACOs now (rtf)
SACOs have access to the following resources:
SACO coordinator
Mr Greg Preston, SACO, School of Education offers induction sessions to new SACOs and ongoing support.
SACO meetings and events
Meetings for SACOs and the SACO Coordinator are arranged throughout the year. Each meeting involves a guest presenter to discuss issues specific to the SACO system.
SACO group email
An unmoderated email group (saco@newcastle.edu.au) for discussion and networking.
SACO Blackboard site
A Blackboard site that is accessible to SACOs. SACOs are encouraged to upload useful resources for sharing.
SACO manual
The revised SACO manual is available to download as a PDF.
Student Academic Misconduct Register
The SAMR is a register of academic misconduct and is only for use by staff with authorised access.
Student Academic Conduct Officer Register
The SACOR is a downloadable spreadsheet for reporting SACO related activity. SACOR reports from SACOs are consolidated by the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic). The central SACOR records do not identify individual students.
CAI: Centre for Academic Integrity, Clemson University
The University subscribes to the Centre for Academic Integrity as recommended by the 2004 Report of the St James Ethics Centre.
SACOs should also have a copy of Jude Carroll's A Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism in Higher Education, Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford Brookes University (2002).
Documents relating to the background and implementation of the SACO system can be accessed on the SACO Blackboard site.