My professor is violating the ethics code, what should I do?

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pavlovb

pavlovb

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Hello all,
Last week I had a very hard and long Immunology exam. Today, I went to see my proff during office hours about a lab, and one of the students who have not taken the exam yet, came. She gave him the exam, he asked where he should take it, and she said you can go to the LIBRARY??!?!? I was shocked> As pre-meds this is unfair competition, and I feel that this is not ethical of her. For me this feels that one student got a take-home exam and the rest of us had to sweat for 50 minutes. And the most arrogant think is that she said just drop it under my door, meaning she would not be around and had no idea if the other student took 50 min or 1 hr and 10 minutes?
What should I do if anything about this? She is giving back the rest of the class exam tomorrow. Thank you all!:mad:
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Don't say anything. C'est la vie.
 
Don't say anything. It will only end up hurting you.

Next time, take the test after it's already been given and get the same type of treatment. :)
 
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Stop being a b***h! mind your own business and worry about yourself. Telling will only make the prof not like you and if you studied you should have been fine. I think you should learn to keep your nose where it belongs complaining isn't going to help you
 
The proff did not violate any ethics. She must have assumed that the student in question is honorable enough to follow honor code. In fact, its presumptuous of you to think the student is bound to cheat. Also, you got an extra half a day to prepare for a test, which the other student did not.
 
pavlovb said:
Hello all,
Last week I had a very hard and long Immunology exam. Today, I went to see my proff during office hours about a lab, and one of the students who have not taken the exam yet, came. She gave him the exam, he asked where he should take it, and she said you can go to the LIBRARY??!?!? I was shocked> As pre-meds this is unfair competition, and I feel that this is not ethical of her. For me this feels that one student got a take-home exam and the rest of us had to sweat for 50 minutes. And the most arrogant think is that she said just drop it under my door, meaning she would not be around and had no idea if the other student took 50 min or 1 hr and 10 minutes?
What should I do if anything about this? She is giving back the rest of the class exam tomorrow. Thank you all!:mad:
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What the heck?! lol... really, OP? really? This bothers you that much?!

When I started reading, I figured it was going to be something like "Last week I had a very hard and long Immunology exam. Today, I went to see my proff during office hours about a lab, and one of the students who have not taken the exam yet, came. I watched as the student took off her clothes and .... Then the student walked out with the answers to not only the quiz we all took but she had to make up but the answers for the final as well!"

But instead, you're complaining that this prof trusts a student enough to give him/her the test and not directly proctor it. To that, I say, "SO WHAT?!" Sure, the student could cheat but that may not really be a huge concern to this prof (i.e., it's only going to hurt that student in the long run to cheat through college). In addition, who cares if you feel it is "unfair competition" for your petty pre-med journey? Who really gives a rat's ***? Honestly, if you work hard and are the cream of the crop, people cheating on a couple of exams (if this student were to cheat, which is often not what happens) isn't going to hurt you significantly.

As for it being "arrogant..." maybe you should look up the meaning of that word. What IS arrogant is:
1) Saying what your prof did was wrong or unethical, and
2) Labeling this student a cheater just because the prof handed him/her the test and said to complete it on his/her own

So quit'cher whining and do something productive with your time!
 
That is pretty unfair, but meh. I wouldn't do anything about it. That kid is lucky though.
 
pavlovb said:
Hello all,
Last week I had a very hard and long Immunology exam. Today, I went to see my proff during office hours about a lab, and one of the students who have not taken the exam yet, came. She gave him the exam, he asked where he should take it, and she said you can go to the LIBRARY??!?!? I was shocked> As pre-meds this is unfair competition, and I feel that this is not ethical of her. For me this feels that one student got a take-home exam and the rest of us had to sweat for 50 minutes. And the most arrogant think is that she said just drop it under my door, meaning she would not be around and had no idea if the other student took 50 min or 1 hr and 10 minutes?
What should I do if anything about this? She is giving back the rest of the class exam tomorrow. Thank you all!:mad:
Click to expand...

Do you even know this student? Do you know why the student is taking it late? Do you know if it is even the same exam? Do you really think that one test is going to affect the curve? Do you even know if the professor is going to apply this student's grade to the curve?
 
you should stop whining, that's what you should do.
 
Other then bitch about the professor on ratemyprofessor.com I can't think of what else you can do.
 
There's nothing you can do about this. Most stories that I've heard that a student talked to the dean of the department have ended with nothing happening to the professor especially if that professor has tenure.

As for people saying to do the same thing, I wouldn't recommend it. Your prof might not do the same for you and might give you a harder draft of the exam because you are taking it later.

I think a lot of the people's reactions to this are extreme. Extremely uncalled for, this person is asking what he should/could do.
 
The reality is that 1 person isn't going to affect the curve/your grade
Second, the professor may know this student and trusts him/her. There's bound to be more behind this than you may realize.

Just keep an eye out. if you see the prof doing more unfair treatment, then you can start to be more concerned.
 
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Maybe the professor trusts his students. And maybe the student didn't look at a thing, and got an A. Maybe he/she had been pulling 95's on all the previous tests, and the professor believed there'd be no reason to cheat.

Don't think/worry about what other students are doing/getting. Do your best, and worry about yourself.
 
you're assuming that humans are bad and will cheat when given the opportunity. this is not a good attitude for a doctor.

this is not an ethics issue.

most likely this person will take the exam fairly. If not they will have the punishment of eternal guilt.
 
herp derp
 
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hah haha hahha hah.. i TOTALLY thought the same thing...

apumic said:
What the heck?! lol... really, OP? really? This bothers you that much?!

When I started reading, I figured it was going to be something like "Last week I had a very hard and long Immunology exam. Today, I went to see my proff during office hours about a lab, and one of the students who have not taken the exam yet, came. I watched as the student took off her clothes and .... Then the student walked out with the answers to not only the quiz we all took but she had to make up but the answers for the final as well!
Click to expand...
 
pavlovb said:
Hello all,
Last week I had a very hard and long Immunology exam. Today, I went to see my proff during office hours about a lab, and one of the students who have not taken the exam yet, came. She gave him the exam, he asked where he should take it, and she said you can go to the LIBRARY??!?!? I was shocked> As pre-meds this is unfair competition, and I feel that this is not ethical of her. For me this feels that one student got a take-home exam and the rest of us had to sweat for 50 minutes. And the most arrogant think is that she said just drop it under my door, meaning she would not be around and had no idea if the other student took 50 min or 1 hr and 10 minutes?
What should I do if anything about this? She is giving back the rest of the class exam tomorrow. Thank you all!:mad:
Click to expand...

That's a glimmer of what my institution was like. You wouldn't believe the corruption possible in a U.S public university. Cheating and stealing exams beforehand was never punished, and actually expected to get the top grades. People like me who tried to just do their best suffered. Every single person I know that came out with a high GPA (3.7-3.8) cheated. But they didn't think of it as cheating. The medical school admissions board was under investigation, so imagine the undergrad.

Anyway, none of that matters because take this as an early lesson that not everything in life will be fair. You just have to suck it up, and believe that doing good counts for something. Welcome to the world! :/
 
spacemanxxx said:
The proff did not violate any ethics. She must have assumed that the student in question is honorable enough to follow honor code. In fact, its presumptuous of you to think the student is bound to cheat. Also, you got an extra half a day to prepare for a test, which the other student did not.
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This. It's the student's responsibility to follow the rules,
 
I expected a more lascivious story when i clicked on the thread. :laugh: :sleep:
 
Dude, this happened to me once--except I was the girl who hadn't taken the exam yet. The professor shunted me and another student into the Biochemistry study room with all the Biochemistry books/textbooks at our disposal, under the assumption that we wouldn't cheat. We didn't. (We did sigh at each other in agony a few times, however; that couldn't be helped.)

The point is, just because a student can cheat doesn't mean that s/he will. And the ones who make it a point to rely on cheating have a high likelihood of either getting caught or simply failing out spectacularly when they find it increasingly difficult to do so.
 
If that story makes you so mad, you will hate me when I tell you this story:

I was that guy once, except it was the final exam in a molecular biology class notorious for having class averages right around 3.0, with small SDs, so it was no cakewalk in that class to get an A. 5 days before the final I got appendicitis that was partially ruptured/oozing gangrenous crap all over my abdominal cavity, which required an additional 36 hours of inpatient IV antibiotics. Needless to say I had no opportunity to do any real studying for the final between that and the heavy pain meds for several days after I got home. I emailed my prof from my hospital bed, and went to his office as soon as I was feeling decent enough (day before final). He told me he could not possible expect me to take the final and said I could either take it during the next semester or if I was happy with my grade up to that point he would just let me waive the final and give me what I had. I already was in the A range, so that's what I did. :)
 
Whenever I read one of these stories on SDN, all I hear is a cavalier "quit whining" and a hasty "just stay quiet..."

To me, the professor was wrong--or at least pretty unprofessional--to provide different testing conditions to one student and be so casual about it. Yes, the student probably won't take advantage of it. Yes, even if she did, it probably wouldn't affect the OP's grade. But just because there is likely no effect doesn't mean we can dismiss what the professor did as nothing bad.

Yeah, I probably wouldn't do anything about it too for fear of other consequences, but don't bash on the OP because he saw the professor as being unfair. Give him some real advice.
 
dansut324 said:
Whenever I read one of these stories on SDN, all I hear is a cavalier "quit whining" and a hasty "just stay quiet..."

To me, the professor was wrong--or at least pretty unprofessional--to provide different testing conditions to one student and be so casual about it. Yes, the student probably won't take advantage of it. Yes, even if she did, it probably wouldn't affect the OP's grade. But just because there is likely no effect doesn't mean we can dismiss what the professor did as nothing bad.

Yeah, I probably wouldn't do anything about it too for fear of other consequences, but don't bash on the OP because he saw the professor as being unfair. Give him some real advice.
Click to expand...

The advice is to do nothing. The professor did not act unethically.
 
OP, Here is the rule of thumb I live by, If it hurts you fight it, if it helps you keep it.
At my school it is at least once a semester I encounter Professors doing questionable things. Not grading exams, letting favorite students plagiarise, assigning different grades on the basis of gender, completely going against the syllabus, curving for student that score low, a downward curve for high scoring student, changing test weights after the exam and good old opinion of effort changes a plus grade to a minus and others. Shoot I even had a professor that could deside what grade to give me so she changed it each semester. Talk about nuts.:eek:

Anyways some of these things I fought and won and some of them I lost but I learned only to fight the things I had good evidence for, was a professor I would never have contact with again and was damaging to me.
If another student benefited, even if I feel personaly it was wrong (ei: cheating, plagiarism,ect) I said nothing to the professor. When it was a professor allowing something that didn't hurt me I also let it ride.
I find it unlikly that a person could cheat their way into med school. Think about it how many people on here post on Chances I got a 4.0 GPA and a 24 MCAT what do I do. Even if they did cheat their way into med school they couldn't cheat their way out. Med school would be their ultimate damning trap.

In other words, don't worry about what the hell other people are doing just worry about yourself. Cheating only hurts the person that cheats and it always catches up to him/her in before the end. So if the person cheated and the professor let it happen, who cares? It did hurt your score. Besides if you study hard and correctly you would have the same advantage as the cheater.
 
dansut324 said:
Whenever I read one of these stories on SDN, all I hear is a cavalier "quit whining" and a hasty "just stay quiet..."

To me, the professor was wrong--or at least pretty unprofessional--to provide different testing conditions to one student and be so casual about it. Yes, the student probably won't take advantage of it. Yes, even if she did, it probably wouldn't affect the OP's grade. But just because there is likely no effect doesn't mean we can dismiss what the professor did as nothing bad.

Yeah, I probably wouldn't do anything about it too for fear of other consequences, but don't bash on the OP because he saw the professor as being unfair. Give him some real advice.
Click to expand...

Give him some real advice? We told him quit complaining and shut up. What do you want him to do go tell the dean? Seriously it's not that big of a deal
 
dansut324 said:
Whenever I read one of these stories on SDN, all I hear is a cavalier "quit whining" and a hasty "just stay quiet..."

To me, the professor was wrong--or at least pretty unprofessional--to provide different testing conditions to one student and be so casual about it. Yes, the student probably won't take advantage of it. Yes, even if she did, it probably wouldn't affect the OP's grade. But just because there is likely no effect doesn't mean we can dismiss what the professor did as nothing bad.

Yeah, I probably wouldn't do anything about it too for fear of other consequences, but don't bash on the OP because he saw the professor as being unfair. Give him some real advice.
Click to expand...

I understand where you are coming from but the fact of the matter is that a university isn't a cattle call. Professors are people and they develop relationships and opinions of students. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if this kid was one of the top students in the class and one that the professor had a great deal of confidence in. So, yes, it may not be 100% fair but the real world does have a practice called valuing individual merit.
 
mmmcdowe said:
I understand where you are coming from but the fact of the matter is that a university isn't a cattle call. Professors are people and they develop relationships and opinions of students. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if this kid was one of the top students in the class and one that the professor had a great deal of confidence in. So, yes, it may not be 100% fair but the real world does have a practice called valuing individual merit.
Click to expand...

In other words, favoritism happens (a play on the popular idiom - **** Happens). I'm so clever.
 
mmmcdowe said:
I understand where you are coming from but the fact of the matter is that a university isn't a cattle call. Professors are people and they develop relationships and opinions of students. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if this kid was one of the top students in the class and one that the professor had a great deal of confidence in. So, yes, it may not be 100% fair but the real world does have a practice called valuing individual merit.
Click to expand...

This. Students who do well tend to get "favors" from profs.

I know I've been in that spot as a student a few times due to illness or school-sponsored activities I was required to attend/participate in. Actually, come to think of it, I've don't think I've ever had a professor ask me to make up an exam in a proctored location. They've always asked me to find a place in a room or hallway nearby and come back when I'm finished. I had one even have me take an exam in a back room during another of his classes one evening with my backpack and all. He actually forgot to get my exam before leaving for the night. I kind of freaked like your OP -- what if he thinks I cheated? What if I was supposed to have turned it in before he left and I went over time and now I'll get a zero...?! In reality, I simply placed it in an envelope, had Campus Security seal, sign and date it, and then had them drop it by the locked dept office when they did rounds. I sent him an email letting him know what I'd done with the exam. He simply got it the next day and graded it -- apparently thought nothing of it. The thing is that I've been the top student in every class where that has happened. Profs let things slide with their best students.

Recently, I gave a guy an extension on a major assignment in my class. He has done well in my class, has worked hard, and seems very amicable. He also had a good reason. (In a case like his, I probably would have given an extension on most students' assignments; however, the leniency of that extension would likely depend upon the student.) Does my "favoritism" toward him constitute unfairness? Is this "unethical behavior" on my part?
 
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apumic said:
When I started reading, I figured it was going to be something like "Last week I had a very hard and long Immunology exam. Today, I went to see my proff during office hours about a lab, and one of the students who have not taken the exam yet, came. I watched as the student took off her clothes and .... Then the student walked out with the answers to not only the quiz we all took but she had to make up but the answers for the final as well!"
Click to expand...

Why would she get answers for taking off her clothes? :confused:
 
Grom said:
Why would she get answers for taking off her clothes? :confused:
Click to expand...

Perhaps, in order to get an answer to your question you must first take off your clothes.
 
DELETED

(I much prefer the answer above this)
 
LOL, shut up. The professor isn't doing anything wrong.
 
Thank you for your advices and opinions. For the people who said this situation is wrong you respect yourself and you fight for justice. For the people who said that this situation is alright and the problem is me and my "whining" and "complaining" I think that you compare yourself to a rug on which people can step over and over again. Tomorrow you will be a doctor, if you see something wrong would you let it pass only because it's not your business. This is the same. I am talking about a principle or professionalism and respect for all students. You can't give one student different testing conditions than the rest of the class. One thing to point out, she is a new professor teaching for the first time in my institution, and she doesn't know us well. Please stop with this crap bull**** honor policy because we all know that people abuse it, and the ones who don't have studied well and don't care either way. Taking a test in a library where you are secluded from other peers or professors is very questionable indeed. I was upset not because I was at a disadvantage but more because of the way she said it without caring about it. This is not only unethical but unprofessional behavior for a professor. I will not do anything about it because since the first post I have received an A- on the test, but everything is about PRINCIPLES in life.
 
pavlovb said:
Thank you for your advices and opinions. For the people who said this situation is wrong you respect yourself and you fight for justice. For the people who said that this situation is alright and the problem is me and my "whining" and "complaining" I think that you compare yourself to a rug on which people can step over and over again. Tomorrow you will be a doctor, if you see something wrong would you let it pass only because it's not your business. This is the same. I am talking about a principle or professionalism and respect for all students. You can't give one student different testing conditions than the rest of the class. One thing to point out, she is a new professor teaching for the first time in my institution, and she doesn't know us well. Please stop with this crap bull**** honor policy because we all know that people abuse it, and the ones who don't have studied well and don't care either way. Taking a test in a library where you are secluded from other peers or professors is very questionable indeed. I was upset not because I was at a disadvantage but more because of the way she said it without caring about it. This is not only unethical but unprofessional behavior for a professor. I will not do anything about it because since the first post I have received an A- on the test, but everything is about PRINCIPLES in life.
Click to expand...

Wait, so let me get this this straight, "because [you] got an A-" you "will not do anything about it" BUT everything (incl. this) is about principles....so, is this about your grade or the principles?! :laugh:


Nevertheless, I think you're full of it. Learn to pick your battles or medicine is going to run you ragged! Just because you don't think it's appropriate for a hospital to suddenly change protocols just in time for CMS or JCAHO to visit doesn't mean every hospital's not going to do it (and you'd be stupid to try and fix that; heck, half the time, CMS and JCAHO tell the same unit to do 2 mutually exclusive things, so the hospital makes a "change" for each agency and then does whatever it pleases after they each leave). Additionally, you're not always going to like how your nurses or techs do things. I'd encourage you to let things go. Nobody wants to work with a doc that is on his high horse all day long. What you proposed isn't even a case of actual ethics. If it were, I probably would respond differently, but in this case...it's not really ethics at all. It's simply professional judgment.

What it comes down to is that you don't know the student who was allowed to take the exam unproctored. Usually, an instructor can tell within a couple of assignments which students to trust and which not to. The honor policy stuff is legit. Maybe you should work on your relationships w/ profs so you won't feel so left out and bitter....
 
apumic said:
Wait, so let me get this this straight, "because [you] got an A-" you "will not do anything about it" BUT everything (incl. this) is about principles....so, is this about your grade or the principles?! :laugh:


Nevertheless, I think you're full of it. Learn to pick your battles or medicine is going to run you ragged! Just because you don't think it's appropriate for a hospital to suddenly change protocols just in time for CMS or JCAHO to visit doesn't mean every hospital's not going to do it (and you'd be stupid to try and fix that; heck, half the time, CMS and JCAHO tell the same unit to do 2 mutually exclusive things, so the hospital makes a "change" for each agency and then does whatever it pleases after they each leave). Additionally, you're not always going to like how your nurses or techs do things. I'd encourage you to let things go. Nobody wants to work with a doc that is on his high horse all day long. What you proposed isn't even a case of actual ethics. If it were, I probably would respond differently, but in this case...it's not really ethics at all. It's simply professional judgment.

What it comes down to is that you don't know the student who was allowed to take the exam unproctored. Usually, an instructor can tell within a couple of assignments which students to trust and which not to. The honor policy stuff is legit. Maybe you should work on your relationships w/ profs so you won't feel so left out and bitter....
Click to expand...


Well, I care only about my personal success, if I benefit from it then great, if I am at a disadvantage then I will fight about it. it's that simple.
 
tomh98 said:
you're assuming that humans are bad and will cheat when given the opportunity. this is not a good attitude for a doctor.

this is not an ethics issue.

most likely this person will take the exam fairly. If not they will have the punishment of eternal guilt.
Click to expand...

I'm more of a fan of the attitde the military has at boot camp: when you leave a locker unlocked you're making people steal.

In my experience when professors trusted students half the class cheated and my grades tanked.


everything is about principles, but you should never put yourself at a disadvantage.
Click to expand...
And THIS is everything that I hate about (pre)medical students in a sentence.
 
pavlovb said:
everything is about principles, but you should never put yourself at a disadvantage.
Click to expand...

I think this quote belongs in the thread about pre-med club T-shirts.
 
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