The severity of the sanction depends on the nature of the Policy violation and your disciplinary history. You can receive consequences even if you didn't know you were violating the Policy (i.e., ignorance is no excuse). You can see a detailed overview of the sanctions by category of violation in our Administrative Sanctioning Guidelines (PDF).
Briefly, however, administrative sanctions (those imposed by the Council of Deans of student affairs for undergraduates, or the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies) can include:
See the table showing how many students have received particular sanctions for different types of integrity violations between 2006–2009.
According to the Policy, a course instructor has full discretion over the grade in the class and how you will be academically sanctioned for academic misconduct. The academic sanction can range from a failing grade on the assignment, quiz, or exam in question, to a failing grade in the class.
No, you cannot. When a Policy violation occurs, the assigned grade remains on your transcript and is calculated into your GPA even if the course is retaken. Thus, an F honestly earned is easier to overcome than an F earned from cheating!
Generally, no. BUT, here are some important things for you to understand:
When you violate academic integrity standards, you will have a disciplinary record with your college (if an undergraduate) or with Graduate Studies (if a graduate student) for 7 years from the quarter of the incident. This record is internal, but it can be checked by outside parties (e.g., law schools, medical schools, some federal goverment employers) if you apply for admission or employment with them.
There will be a mark on your academic record that you can see online (i.e., an A1, A2, A3, or A4 next to the grade received in the class). However, this record is known as your "unofficial academic record" and will not be seen by external parties unless you print it out and give it to them. So, don't do that! If you have to submit your academic record or transcript to another party, order an "official transcript" which will not show these markings.
There will be a mark on your official transcript if you are suspended or dismissed from UCSD for an academic integrity violation. It will say something like "suspended (or dismissed) for academic dishonesty." The notation will be there forever if you are dismissed, but only for the duration of the suspension if you are suspended.
Absolutely! Educate yourself and your friends and always, always do your academic work with integrity!