Before giving me a high and mighty answer such as “what you did was wrong or stupid”, try and understand my situation. Recently I was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. I was in a near fatal car accident a few weeks before the incident had occurred. Following a whirlwind of other environmental and psychological problems before exam time.
So, I recently recieved an email from my professor stating that she had finished grading my exam and that there were some issues she wanted to talk to me about. The head of the department will be there as well. Now, yes I did look at a couple questions form others in front of me while I was taking the exam. The exam had a few fill in the blank, a few true false and short answer. No, multiple choice. During the exam I was not called upon or asked to move even though I thought one of the professors was observing me but it may have been paranoia since I have test anxiety. I handed in the test and that was the end of it.
Now the email didn’t specifically state that I was suspected of and didn’t mention the word cheating or academic misconduct. However, since I did cheat I’m expecting the worst. So, I’d like the forum’s opinion and SPECULATION, in this certain circumstance, is it likely that the professor indeed suspects me of cheating or is it something else. If it is cheating, then should I just confess to everything or should I deny it? Because I know that colleges can expel you for cheating and this would be my 2nd offense if I was charged of academic misconduct.
Thank You
Was it a small class where the professor knows everybody by name and is easily able to compare response patterns?
If this is your second offense, then expulsion is very likely.
Is it likely that the professor suspects you of cheating? Yes.
Since the head of the department is going to be there, I think you’re in trouble. I don’t think it will matter if you confess or deny it, to be frank.
This most likely means one of the fill-in-the-blank responses you copied was so breathtakingly stupid the professor couldn’t see any way for two students to independently arrive at such a conclusion. Something like "The main industry of Persia was Cats (actual exam answer by one student).
That’s the risk you run when cheating. Which is what the professor most likely suspects, or you wouldn’t be meeting with the department head. You obviously know cheating was wrong, so I won’t belabor that point. Hopefully you’re now aware not only that it’s stupid, but also that it can have serious consequences.
It was a large class of about 50-100 students. I don’t know how they would easily compare response patterns. Another reason it may not be academic misconduct was that it took me about 4 or so days to respond to the initial email. If I was a professor I would inform the student immediately I suspected academic misconduct.
They are waiting to inform you in person – that is why the department head will be there.
Presumably you weren’t sitting next to all 50 - 100 students. Especially since you noticed a professor observing you closely, it’s not hard to imagine how they could compare response patterns.
Head of Department = not a good sign. IMHO.
My dad is an engineering professor. One of his exam questions involved a type of joint used in wood construction. The answer was supposed to be “zig zag.” The first student got it right. The one next to him wrote something like, “21g 2ag.” The next one wrote, “216 2a6.” There may have even been one more cheater. Serial cheaters! He flunked all of them.
Welcome to community college.
At umich, if you were being accused of academic misconduct, the email message informing you will be very direct about the fact that there was the allegation, and it won’t be from the instructor. Usually the instructor forwards the case to the dean or honor council without consulting with the student(s) in question first. The student(s) would hear directly from the dean’s office or the honor council, and the instructor has no obligation to discuss the matter with the student(s). The department head would not have any involvement in such cases unless they are the one teaching the course.
For your first offense of academic misconduct, how was the situation handled? Did the instructor inform you of it? Or did you hear directly from the dean’s office? If the way your first offense was handled was significantly different than what is happening now, then there is a chance (but no guarantee) that the matter is not academic misconduct related.
Department heads are not the ones with the authority to determine what the sanctions are. Thus, find it strange why the department head would be present if this were an academic misconduct case. However, if you knew that being convicted of a second offense that you would receive maximum penalty, why take the risk? You should not base the decision to cheat on how likely it is for you to get caught. Getting expelled from an institution means you have mostly ruined any chances for admission into another institution. Having such a record that will follow you forever does not make the five or so extra points on that exam worth it.
It might be that they suspect you of cheating, but don’t have proof. They may ask you to “explain” some of your answers to see if you actually know the material.
Also, if you had an accident, why didn’t you get a medical withdrawal or take an incomplete or talk to the Dean of Students about the best path forward?
I hope that you didn’t get the person you cheated off of in trouble.
Different schools have different procedures. At mine, the faculty member has the right to run the whole thing (though the student retains rights of appeal no matter what, of course), so it might be handled in a meeting like what the OP has been invited to, or if the faculty member opts to report it to the Dean of Students (preferred, but not required) the investigation would be run by the Dean of Students office. I’d find out what the actual process is at your school, and look into it in some depth; the information would most like be findable through the websites for your school’s Provost, Dean of Students, or Associate Provost (or Vice Provost, or Vice President, or somesuch) for Academic Affairs.
No matter what, though, second offense is bad. Even if it’s considered a minor infraction, at some schools a second offense is a mandatory suspension anyway; even at a college like mine (which is much more lenient than IMO it should be) you’d probably be on probation no matter how minor the offense, which is a status that means one more offense (not just another academic dishonesty offense, BTW) and you’re gone.
My first offense was plagiarism( complete nonsense btw as I forgot to put quotes on 2 sentences of my final draft). I initially wanted to talk to that professor about the car accident which I recently got into. Then, during meeting with him he said he’s accusing me of plagiarism. I appealed for a hearing, and the test for this class was a couple days prior to that hearing for my first offense. I wish it it’s not serious, but if it is I hope I can pass it of as I have a psychological problem and experienced recent traumatic accident. I am not even aware that I can take a medical leave because I had talked to my adviser about the accident and she didn’t give tell me about a medical leave. Otherwise I would have.
And sorry it’s the assistant director of the department. She is also my advisor.
You’ll find out at the meeting.
If you have a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder and are not getting treated for it, something—if not this incident—would eventually do you in anyway. Perhaps your path should be to get treatment then restart college.
Stop making excuses and grow up!
You had situations but you DID know cheating was wrong. That’s all it mattered.
Does getting into a car accident give one the right to murder or steal? No. Same with cheating.
Anyways, please don’t lie when they ask you. You’ve done wrong once, don’t do it again.
Pray for the best! Next time don’t cheat. It’s okay to get a low grade, you can bring your GPA up later. But once you cheat, you can never bring back your professor’s trust to you.