Accused of Academic Dishonesty

[ponyo]

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lol @ those 6 kids who actually told the teacher. What is this? High school? Those 6 idiots should mind their own business and grow up.

About your problem, hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit. That will make the dean, and the department chair piss their pants. If you really didn't allow that person to cheat, you shouldn't be getting punished.

Yea wth is up with these people? Also... they realize that they have to testify at OP's hearing if OP decides to appeal right...?

1) If you didn't do anything do not admit to anything, take the 0, but insist this is an absolute outrage, that you did absolutely nothing wrong. The other student copying from you did so completely without your knowledge and cooperation. Say you want to take the rest of the tests in a separate room so this cannot happen again.

^this

This seems strange. Who are these 6 students telling the teacher this. They should mind their own business. Sounds a plot to me, these 6 students are out to get him IMO. People cheat all the time, it happens in every school. There must be some motive behind those 6 students. Not to mention they are ruining their own reputation. No one wants a rat on their team.

Secondly i don't see how you are guilty of anything. If someone sitting next to you hunches over and looks at your test how is that your fault? what are you suppose to bring binders and make a fort around you or something? I dont see anything wrong. The student who cheated is to blame, not him.

God if I were OP I would almost appeal just to see who these 6 people are. In reality I would take the zero, but take Disinence2's advice.

 

[sikhawk]

gunner's working in teams of six breaks rule # 34.

NEVER WORK IN TEAMS.

In the end your gunner "ally" will turn against you to reap the benefits.

SABOTAGE THOSE 6 IN REVENGE!!!!

 

[sirenomelia]

I do not believe this story.

Six people watching one person take an exam while they are supposed to be looking at their own papers is something the proctors would have noticed.

I would expect the proctors to be the ones in trouble in this story if it turned out that 7 people(6 witnesses+the cheater) in the class were watching one student take the exam and the proctors did nothing. The story even claims that it was students who brought it up, so somehow the proctors did not notice anything.

This. If 6 students preoccupied taking a test can notice suspicious behavior than the test proctor should have seen something. If this thread is real, its a simple question- did you cheat/ help cheat or not:

Yes- take the zero
No- Appeal. If the 6 are pals in collusion it will be discovered. Talk to the girl you alledgedly helped. If she denies it you should be OK.

Whatever you do don't get a lawyer. College admin embellish their autonomy and going outside the chain of command will get you in trouble

 

[BurntFlower]

How likely is it that your brother and raltima are in the same school?

Raltima - really? You'd make a terrible doctor with those morals. I hope your schools realized how terrible a person you are when you interviewed. Crash and burn.

He was not serious.

I'll just repeat what everyone said, but take the 0. However, if 6 people told the professor that you cheated, then you're either guilty or people really do hate your guts.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Also anyone telling op to take the 0 is a gunner. This case is easy to beat. Unreliable witnesses giving shaky testimony. The "judge" will throw this one out of court.

This is not a criminal or civil case. This is an internal thing by the school. Basically all the school has to do is "convict" him if they want. There are no real standards like a real court. It's all made up bull****. And also why would any gunner care about a zero in one test in an A&P class in some state/college that is unknown? Come on now.

 

[zma21]

Consider yourself very lucky and take the 0. At my school you would have gotten a 0...in the course. You wouldn't have the option to drop after that.

As much as they can't prove you did it, you can prove just as much that you didn't do it.

 

[Jmukhalian]

I ended up threatening to get a lawyer and pointing out all of the flaws in their theory and they have given me the option to retake the test and of the two tests I will take the lower grade.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Whatever you do don't get a lawyer. College admin embellish their autonomy and going outside the chain of command will get you in trouble

untrue. Academic institutions do not have the money to go to court. Often this will result in an easy win.

 

[Stumpyman]

If you didn't do anything wrong threaten to go to court. It could be a hassle but it's worth it in the end.

 

[sirenomelia]

untrue. Academic institutions do not have the money to go to court. Often this will result in an easy win.

I'm curious what "court" would bother with hearing a 0 on a test grade in some college? All schools I know of have specific protocols and commitees to hear and adress these issues themselves and I would expect a judge to
refer to that process.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I'm curious what "court" would bother with hearing a 0 on a test grade in some college? All schools I know of have specific protocols and commitees to hear and adress these issues themselves and I would expect a judge to
refer to that process.

This is true. The school has the legal right to do those proceedings. However, violation of rights would not be handled by these courts. It's extremely easy for a lawyer to file some kind of lawsuit arguing discrimination or some other made up excuse.

 

[kexy]

Can you get the person who cheated off of you to say you had nothing to do with it?

Yeah.. seriously.. unless you were like, dangling your paper in front of her face, I don't see how her looking at your paper is your fault. That person will get in the same amount of trouble either way, whether you let her or you had no idea, so they should really try to avoid taking you down with them... See if they will talk to the professor and tell them that it wasn't arranged/you didn't know she was cheating off of you?

Anyway, yeah, if that fails, I would take the 0, and if that 0 condemns you to a C or lower, I would pursue legal action and/or withdraw.

 

[SellerAl]

if you didn't cheat then you didn't cheat. Don't take the zero if you did nothing wrong, if you did cheat, take the zero. Avoid the IA

 

[TexasPhysician]

I'm curious what "court" would bother with hearing a 0 on a test grade in some college? All schools I know of have specific protocols and commitees to hear and adress these issues themselves and I would expect a judge to
refer to that process.

Civil. You could probably twist this many different ways including discrimination, defamation, etc.

Such a punishment could cause serious harm to a student's future without just reason.

While I provide no legal advice myself, I know attorneys who have charged academic institutions for similar actions. It usually does not reach court - settled quickly.

 

[sirenomelia]

Civil. You could probably twist this many different ways including discrimination, defamation, etc.

Such a punishment could cause serious harm to a student's future without just reason.

While I provide no legal advice myself, I know attorneys who have charged academic institutions for similar actions. It usually does not reach court - settled quickly.

Im in no way a lawyer either but there's been no cause whatsoever from the OP himself to substantiate a charge of discrimination or any school wrongdoing to merit legal intervention. He/she's accused of cheating by multiple witnesses. Its a school issue. Whatever short term victory the OP thinks is gained by salvaging measly test points by some baseless legal threat will be offset by this professor meeting with his department colleagues, describing some punchy kid who shared his answers, was busted and then threatened him with a lawyer. Maybe none of them write LOR's, or even worse they write bad ones.

 

[CopaceticOne]

Im in no way a lawyer either but there's been no cause whatsoever from the OP himself to substantiate a charge of discrimination or any school wrongdoing to merit legal intervention. He/she's accused of cheating by multiple witnesses. Its a school issue. Whatever short term victory the OP thinks is gained by salvaging measly test points by some baseless legal threat will be offset by this professor meeting with his department colleagues, describing some punchy kid who shared his answers, was busted and then threatened him with a lawyer. Maybe none of them write LOR's, or even worse they write bad ones.

This.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Im in no way a lawyer either but there's been no cause whatsoever from the OP himself to substantiate a charge of discrimination or any school wrongdoing to merit legal intervention. He/she's accused of cheating by multiple witnesses. Its a school issue. Whatever short term victory the OP thinks is gained by salvaging measly test points by some baseless legal threat will be offset by this professor meeting with his department colleagues, describing some punchy kid who shared his answers, was busted and then threatened him with a lawyer. Maybe none of them write LOR's, or even worse they write bad ones.

I'm not saying the OP may not need to transfer schools after, but there is easily enough here to file charges.

The OP wouldn't even need enough to win. Threat of bad press and discrimination would bring about compromise. Without proof, the school doesn't have the evidence or money to put up a fight.

If someone can sue McDonalds because they didn't warn her that coffee is hot, you can sue over anything.

 

[TexasPhysician]

I ended up threatening to get a lawyer and pointing out all of the flaws in their theory and they have given me the option to retake the test and of the two tests I will take the lower grade.

This makes no sense to me. If the classmates claimed you were helping someone else cheat and that you earned your grade, why does the punishment involve just retaking the exam?

To me this makes me think that the school realizes that they are wrong, but they want to appear strong and give out some type of random punishment.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

This makes no sense to me. If the classmates claimed you were helping someone else cheat and that you earned your grade, why does the punishment involve just retaking the exam?

To me this makes me think that the school realizes that they are wrong, but they want to appear strong and give out some type of random punishment.

Because the schools have gone on a crusade for student integrity. I mean if the OP were at my University they would have likely been sent to honor court and have to fight against the charges.

 

[LifeTake2]

Save your money, you likely have NO legal recourse to hire an attorney.

The agreements you signed when you enrolled almost undoubtedly force you to use arbitration. Like it or not, the deck is stacked in their favor.

 

[bluecabinet]

If someone cheated off of my answer keys without my knowledge, how would that be MY fault.

My sole responsibility is taking the test fair and square.

It is wrong to ask of students, who are already under tremendous mental pressure, to frantically defend their answers from cheaters.

THIS IS WHAT PROCTORS DO! WHY ARE THEY BLAMING THE STUDENT WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ACT.

This is like saying a thief with a gun pointed at you is forcing you to take the cash at the register and "the act of taking the cash" will get you punished! NO you won't be..that wasn't your INTENTION.

90% of the fault would be on the cheaters themselves, but 10% of the blame should be on the proctor for NOT catching them in action!

WTF....what is wrong with the university system of today.....they are so paranoid in regards to dishonesty that they don't care about the future of one innocent student (if he is indeed innocent..that's a different matter).

 

[Neurosis]

If someone cheated off of my answer keys without my knowledge, how would that be MY fault.

My sole responsibility is taking the test fair and square.

It is wrong to ask of students, who are already under tremendous mental pressure, to frantically defend their answers from cheaters.

THIS IS WHAT PROCTORS DO! WHY ARE THEY BLAMING THE STUDENT WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ACT.

This is like saying a thief with a gun pointed at you is forcing you to take the cash at the register and "the act of taking the cash" will get you punished! NO you won't be..that wasn't your INTENTION.

90% of the fault would be on the cheaters themselves, but 10% of the blame should be on the proctor for NOT catching them in action!

WTF....what is wrong with the university system of today.....they are so paranoid in regards to dishonesty that they don't care about the future of one innocent student (if he is indeed innocent..that's a different matter).

Ikr?

 

[Xiao]

Don't take this kind of crap if you are innocent.

Like many people said before me. If you really did not cheat, dish out the $$ for a good lawyer. The lawyer will know how to best advocate your position. A few k's now will save you a lot of money and headaches later.

Think about the situation for a minute: how likely is it for 6 students to report you even if you had cheated? if you did not cheat, what proof, other than verbal testimony, is there? how strong-minded is the professor in accusing you of academic dishonesty?

Also, find yourself other good advocates. Do you have any other professors or respected professionals who can comment on your character? Call in those connections.

BOTTOM line: if you didn't cheat, there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON for you to take the 0 or the mark on your transcript. (but make sure you have the right allies going forward in this matter.)

 

[Xiao]

Don't take this kind of crap if you are innocent.

Like many people said before me. If you really did not cheat, dish out the $$ for a good lawyer. The lawyer will know how to best advocate your position. A few k's now will save you a lot of money and headaches later.

Think about the situation for a minute: how likely is it for 6 students to report you even if you had cheated? if you did not cheat, what proof, other than verbal testimony, is there? how strong-minded is the professor in accusing you of academic dishonesty?

Also, find yourself other good advocates. Do you have any other professors or respected professionals who can comment on your character? Call in those connections.

BOTTOM line: if you didn't cheat, there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON for you to take the 0 or the mark on your transcript. (but make sure you have the right allies going forward in this matter.)

also, if you have been falsely accused. after the matter is settled, hit those kids back legally for slander. take them to civil court and win your $$ back. (this actually happened at some1 at my school.)

 

[Laboratorian]

Damn snitches.

 

[Will2Survive]

Either those 6 people were gunners secretly working to take out kids 1 by 1, or you really did let the girl cheat and you are trying to figure out what to do.

 

[goodspeller]

I got kicked out of our apartments lol. Well my roommates are kind of loud and throw parties on weekends (they were seniors at the time). Anyways this was like in April, so they let us stay till the end of semester since there was only 3 weeks left. I obviously planned on moving since my other two roommates were seniors. So it didn't really matter for me. And this wasn't school based housing. And to be honest, I am not sure if they made a written record of it. They just gave us written warnings twice, and the third time she came to our apartment and told us we had to leave by May.

Anyways, I didn't mention it on my application.

But watch it be brought it during interviews.

 

[Snuke]

He was not serious.

Nor was I.

So, is everything resolved, OP?

 

[Jmukhalian]

Yes I explained to them how idiotic their theory of me cheating was and told them if they were going to proceed with any punishment that would effect my future in any negative manner that I would get a lawyer so they dropped it.

 

[zabalex]

How about pleading with your professor, try getting extra credit and boost your overall score? There's still time left.
Go for office hours, talk one on one, explain yourself again like you did in this forum. If you still can makeup for the potential loss, figure out if you can negotiate from 0 to something more reasonable.

Either way, I'd stay away from lawsuit. This is a can of warms nobody wants to get into.

Goodluck, and let us know which route you took.

 

[Tim Armstrong]

Accusing someone of academic dishonesty isn't a joke. This affected his entire life. He had a spot at a top school, and his acceptance was pulled. But whatever.

oh, btw, i'm an only child. TROLLCEPTION.

hahahahahaha TROLLCEPTION!