Is it Institutional Action if it was just between me and the professor??

[NFkappaB]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi -

Say a professor caught you cheating on an assignment, and asked you to do a make up assignment as punishment for the cheating. Is this IA?

The student never received any formal letters or e-mail, everything was just done between the professor and the student. The institution/department/faculty/committee never got involved (at least directly) with the student.

 

[LizzyM]

Hi -

Say a professor caught you cheating on an assignment, and asked you to do a make up assignment as punishment for the cheating. Is this IA?

The student never received any formal letters or e-mail, everything was just done between the professor and the student. The institution/department/faculty/committee never got involved (at least directly) with the student.

I take a very dim view of cheating but I do believe that this did not rise to the level of an institutional actionas you never recevied any "action" from the institution. Your instructor gave you a gift. Be thankful, go in peace and sin no more.

 

[Tapepsi]

Well...consider yourself lucky because this doesn't sound like IA.

Why would you even consider cheating? 😕

 

[NFkappaB]

I take a very dim view of cheating but I do believe that this did not rise to the level of an institutional actionas you never recevied any "action" from the institution. Your instructor gave you a gift. Be thankful, go in peace and sin no more.

What if the professor forwarded/consulted the department head, and the department head asked him to have me do a remedial assignment - but of course never contacted me directly.

 

[GreenRabbit]

No it wasn't institutional action.

 

[LizzyM]

Let's say you get pulled over for doing 65 in a 55 zone... country highway, beautiful weather, daytime, no traffic. The cop looks at your license, goes to the squad car and maybe consults someone by radio, gives you back your license and tells you to take it easy. Do you need to report that you were arrested? Why or why not?

Sometimes people in authority will have mercy on you and decide not to f-- up your record with an offical violation because they can make a mess of your life and your finances (traffic tickets, fines, increased insurance). They think that an admonition will be enough to get you to straighten up and fly right. It is a gift for which you should be grateful.

Likewise, faculty may decide that if something didn't go too far, an opportunity for a do-over is enough to scare you straight.

 

[apumic]

Let's say you get pulled over for doing 65 in a 55 zone... country highway, beautiful weather, daytime, no traffic. The cop looks at your license, goes to the squad car and maybe consults someone by radio, gives you back your license and tells you to take it easy. Do you need to report that you were arrested? Why or why not?

Sometimes people in authority will have mercy on you and decide not to f-- up your record with an offical violation because they can make a mess of your life and your finances (traffic tickets, fines, increased insurance). They think that an admonition will be enough to get you to straighten up and fly right. It is a gift for which you should be grateful.

Likewise, faculty may decide that if something didn't go too far, an opportunity for a do-over is enough to scare you straight.

This.

Sometimes, professors and instructors decide to give grace. That's their (our) prerogative. You don't need to report it as long as it didn't get reported to a committee. You might ask that professor whether it is on your record but I would guess it's not. When I've handled cheating in my classes, I can go to different levels. The lowest level is just between myself and the student. If I go that route, it's usually just for "accidental" cheating (e.g., student worked with another student and put both names at the top of the page and each turned in a copy -- still a 0, but for a first time offense, I'll let it go beyond the F on the assignment) and I usually speak with the course director and/or the dept chair but no names are given. At my school and in my dept., an actual cheating offense (that I am going to pursue) goes to the dept chair with your name on it. The chair keeps your assignment in his office and generally keeps it as evidence in case a second offense occurs. If a second offense occurs, BOTH offenses would be submitted and you would likely be expelled following a judiciary meeting. Every school, however, is different so you need to find out how your institution handles such cases and what constitutes an IA at your school. When a cheating offense happens (incl. a 1st offense and perhaps even one I keep to myself in the classroom, depending upon the case), I also report it to our student success program so that they can follow up with the student (and the report on the offense is CC'd out to the student's RA, major dept, academic advisor, the registrar, etc.). It's an internal, confidential document, but it goes in the student's permanent record. As for whether or not my school considers that an IA, I have no idea. I've always assumed "no" but who knows.... I've never been on the receiving end of an IA, so I have no real idea.