An anonymous tip about faculty allegedly providing exams to students before a test date has triggered an investigation at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

Dr. Anne Neufeld, provost and vice-president at the school, said an anonymous tip came into one of its schools a couple of weeks ago and that the institution launched an investigation into academic dishonesty.

"What we heard was that there were allegations that Saskatchewan Polytechnic faculty were providing exams to students prior to the exam date," she said Monday.

She wouldn't disclose specifics like what program, campus or classes may have been named or are now under investigation, citing confidentiality.

'Pointed in a certain direction'

Neufeld said the tipster provided enough information to point the investigation, "in a certain direction" and that interviews will be conducted to gather information.

"The interesting word 'faculty' is it could be an individual faculty member or it could be more than one member," she said.

"That is part of our investigation to figure out if this allegation is true, are we talking one individual or could we perhaps be talking about more than one individual."

Neufeld said the investigation is being led by the dean and associate dean. She said the school is looking at the conduct of both students and faculty.

'Rumour and innuendo'

The information provided in the tip was general, according to Neufeld, who said the tipster didn't name names, provide numbers or a specific date for when the alleged action may have occurred.

So far, at least one person has been interviewed as part of the investigation with "a few potential interviews on the horizon for the students," said Neufeld, explaining someone being interviewed does not mean they are implicated.

She said students and faculty are being informed of the investigation on a "need to know basis."

Neufeld said she hopes the investigation to be concluded by June 30.

"You can imagine with this type of situation in the early days there is a lot of rumour and innuendo so our job as academic leaders is to really to get to the bottom of it," she said.

"If anybody's cutting any corners here, they are going to hear from us and we are going to shine a light on this."