<p>Thank you for posting, I see that I have some stuff to clarify.</p>
<p>Yes, I do understand that this is a lot of work from the professor’s point of view. We do have an honor council set up that will review the case. However, because of the seeming work the professor has to go through, there is obviously favoritism towards the professor’s word. My girlfriend is just stuck in a place of how she can produce evidence that she did not cheat. Also to answer some of your points:</p>
<p>1) The exams featured a small portion of true/false and some free-response questions.</p>
<p>2) The professor will not allow her to look at her own test, not just the girl he suspects she cheated off of. She was willing to walk him over her entire thought process for each question she answered on the test.</p>
<p>3) I see your point about an exam on the spot.</p>
<p>4) I have been dating her for a while and she is not the type of person to lie or cheat, also backed by her peers. She gets very emotional easily (sign of a bad liar) and the past couple of days has not been able to study for the final for this test without crying profusely. </p>
<p>5) This is true but the professor did not state to her directly that he had seen her cheating while from what I know, that is a large part of the accusation now. Also, I want to question if he did see her cheating during the test, why did he not take up her test or even speak to her after the test (she was there the entire duration of the 3 hour test).</p>
<p>6) I understand that the girl might not have seen it. She is just lost at how she can honestly defend herself without just saying “I didn’t cheat” to the Honor Council because then we are just leaving it almost based on luck.</p>
<p>The test had a few T/F and the rest free-response questions? If the student had similar free-response answers to questions as another student, and this student has not previously demonstrated an ability to do well on tests but the other student has, I too would be mighty skeptical that the student didn’t cheat. Mighty suspicious.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine being able to copy someone’s answers on a free response question, especially surreptitiously. The likelihood of being able to read someone’s handwriting in that situation is just about nil.</p>
<p>coase, I agree that your example is suspicious, but that doesn’t shift the burden of proof from the accuser to the accused. If I walk into a bank and hold the door for the people coming in behind me who then rob the bank, that makes me naively polite not an accomplice. In your example does it seem like the couple cheated? Yes. But obviously at least one of them knew enough of the material to get the highest score. Are you saying that you automatically assume that the highest score on any of your tests was the result of cheating? I doubt it. </p>
<p>There is certainly something suspicious in the example presented by the OP, BUT, absent proof it amounts to little more than a hunch. Given that the repercussions to the OP’s girlfriend could result in expulsion and/or an entry of cheating on her academic record, most everyone would expect a professor to provide more than a “funny feeling”. The professor made the accusation, the burden of proof rests on his shoulders.</p>
<p>If he is sure she cheated the solution is simple: administer another test constructed and supervised by a third party. If the girlfriend scores poorly the professor’s suspicions are borne out; if she does well, then the prof needs to deal with the repercussions of accusations based on preconceived notions.</p>
<p>Like it or not, blind chickens do find corn and every bell curve comes with tails. But if it were me or my child, you can be assured that I would make the university and the professor come up with something more than “it doesn’t smell right”.</p>
<p>She talked to the dean of the undergraduate college part of the university and he admitted off record that the process of the honor council wasn’t necessarily fair to the students. It basically comes down to the professor’s word vs the student’s and you can see how that is in terms of appeal to authority. I just don’t understand how so much can be riding for a student and she doesn’t even have the real resources to fight for her innocence. It almost feels as if she is guilty until proven innocent but she has no way to prove that she is innocent… and this is at one of the top universities in the U.S.</p>
<p>Not sure what “one of the top universities” has to do with academic dishonesty. Some universities are more highly regarded for the quality of the faculty, research dollars, profile of undergraduates admitted, etc etc. But academic dishonesty procedures vary across the country and as far as I know there is no correlation between “top university,” however you are defining that, and an academic dishonesty code that is sound. If what you are saying is correct, then it is a problem that the professor is not presenting the information on which he based his conclusion. At some universities where judicial boards handle cases of academic dishonesty, the instructor must submit the evidence to the board. In other cases, professors are required to meet with students and explain exactly where dishonesty was discovered.</p>
<p>I agree, even with organic chemistry…you’d have to do a lot of squinting to get all the structures right.</p>
<p>Look, the professor wants your gf to cave so that he can avoid this whole honor code boondoggle. If she didn’t cheat, then she should fight it wholeheartedly. Otherwise, she’ll feel like a victim her whole life. </p>
<p>I had a mother tell me the story of her daughter when she was in the 4th grade. She wasn’t doing so well in school, but had the chance to redeem herself by really putting a lot of effort into her “State” report. And she really worked hard at it. The teacher gave her an F–accused her of not writing it. Didn’t talk to her or anything. She was devastated!</p>
<p>His evidence–nothing more than this paper was so much better than the rest of her work. Her mother testified to the effort her daughter put into that paper and gave him a piece of her mind. </p>
<p>Listen, that professor could sit down with the gf and have her go over the test with him. It would be very clear whether or not she knew her stuff. He hasn’t given her to opportunity to show her that she has the knowledge. What is he afraid of? Being wrong!</p>
<p>This reminds me of when my D was accused by a teacher of plagiarizing when she wrote a paper for middle school. The teacher (who didn’t really know D as it was early in the term) couldn’t believe that a student as young as she could write so well and have such an extensive vocabulary. My D was rightfully very indignant and the teacher backed down when she noticed that D used an extensive vocabulary in spoken conversation as well and had a broad background about the subject matter that she had written about. At open house, she siddled up to us & told us, “Oh, you’re the parents of our WRITER!”</p>
<p>I hope that your GF can work this out and that the Honor Council does its job to be sure that the student & faculty member are heard. It sounds like a very mess situation. Your GF needs to get a grip & study VERY HARD & do well on the final, no matter what to prove that she knows the material & it will strengthen her case. Folding and doing poorly will strengthen the prof’s case–get tutoring and/or counseling if necessary. No matter how hard it is for GF to concentrate, please impress upon her that she really needs to buckle down & do well on this upcoming final – much rides on it.</p>
<p>vinceh, in Coase’s case of the cheating boyfriend and girlfriend, it’s not that one of them had almost a perfect score. Rather, 96% of their answers were the same; they had the same right answers and the same wrong answers. That wouldn’t be very suspicious if they both happened to get one question wrong the same way and all the rest correct, but a lot of the same wrong answers suggests collusion.</p>
<p>Agree with those proclaiming that the best defense is a GREAT offense. If your GF busts the exam wide open then she makes a STRONG case for herself. When she takes the exam, please be sure she takes a seat directly in front of the professor! </p>
<p>I find it hard to believe that an honor court could convict someone without very solid evidence. While the professor may sway them some, you would have to believe that knowledgeable honor court members will need serious proof before taking steps that will have such a negative impact to a student.</p>
<p>Thank you CardinalFang, I misunderstood coase’s example. That said, my basic point remains - the fact that an unsubstantiated accusation can result in a student being expelled is preposterous. The rules of fair play do not stop at the ivy covered gates of Flagship U.</p>
<p>If the woman did cheat she deserves all the penalties and repercussions that come with academic fraud. But what happens if the young lady accepts the 0 on the mid-term (effectively admitting guilt) and then goes on to ace the final? Will the professor go back and reinstate the old score or will he accuse her once again of cheating? While I still feel we don’t have the full story, the professor seems to have decided what this student is capable of and refuses to even consider the possibility of improvement. </p>
<p>The young lady stands to fail the course, lose her scholarship and quite probably lose any chance at medical school all because of this professor’s as yet unsubstantiated accusations. He refuses to share his “evidence” or entertain the idea of other methods to prove the woman’s competency. Yet acting on his suspicions could irreparably change this woman’s life. He is not judge, jury and executioner and these aren’t the Salem Witch Trials.</p>
<p>Would I sue? If I were innocent, you bet, and I would make it loud and messy. At this point it appears that the woman has very little left to lose and it strikes me that the professor and the university need to be reminded that in a peeing contest everyone gets wet.</p>
<p>You’re not accounting for personal animus/bias due to various factors (i.e. Prejudice against certain majors, race, etc) and the associated human irrationality which always comes into play.</p>
<p>Though this anecdote is not about cheating, it was about professorial animus which could have easily resulted in an unfounded accusation of cheating. </p>
<p>Had one high school friend who graduated from a Top 10 university whose calculus Prof gave him an F freshman year despite the fact his average on all problem sets and exams should have averaged out to an -A according to that Prof’s own syllabus. </p>
<p>Got to see all the evidence as I was one of his friends counseling him through this b<em>&</em>&^t case and urging him to fight it even when he seemed reluctant because he wasn’t sure he was up to challenging a highly positioned senior Prof. </p>
<p>When he finally went to the chair of the math department and the deans of the Engineering and College, they all immediately realized the Prof’s F grade was 100% garbage. Despite that support, it took 2 full years before that Prof was finally forced to change the grade to the -A he merited on the basis of his exams and problem sets. What came out of the investigation was that this calc Prof had a strong animus against Engineering majors and though it wasn’t mentioned…a possibility of racial and class bias as my friend is a URM from a working-class background. </p>
<p>Though my friend was ultimately successful in his case and ultimately graduated with honors, it was a bit hollow as not much could be done against the Prof because he had long-time tenure and was planning to retire by the time the case was resolved. The case also provides one illustrative example of how Profs have the same propensity of being unduly influenced by their biases and prejudices as the rest of humanity.</p>
<p>At least your friend had something tangible like problem set grades and test grades. Think about classes whose grades are based on papers, the grading of which are very subjective and wholely within the professor’s purview.</p>
<p>Her parents made her take the 0 because they said the chances of her losing her scholarship were too much. She was able to see her test now and she would’ve had a higher score than the girl she supposedly cheated off of. Also, the only things that were the same on the two tests were the true/false section and 3 out of the 15 free response questions. Although the 3 that were the same were basic questions that were worth 1-2 points, all the complex free response questions were totally different.</p>
<p>If what you are saying is true, her parents are morons who are complete and utter disappointments and failures as parents. Some day in the future, I am sure your girlfriend will come to resent them for this. They had her choose money over honor.</p>
<p>I hope she shields her children from these miserable excuses for human beings should she have children in the future. To expose children to people like this would be incredibly damaging to them on both emotional and moral levels.</p>
<p>Also, if what you are saying is true, I think your girlfriend needs to seek therapy at her school’s mental health services. She is going to have a hard time dealing with this in life and I think she needs therapy to help her understand why she is so weak and cannot stand up for herself and do what is the right thing to do.</p>
<p>Lots of kids go to school on loans, not scholarships and work during college, too. So on some level, she chose money over honor, too.</p>
<p>She needs to seek counseling for herself as I am sure this incident has damaged her mentally and emotionally.</p>
<p>Yeah, I was pretty surprised that her parents came to that conclusion as well. I just know if it was my mom, there would be hell at the school. BTW, if you guys were interested, we attend Emory University.</p>