I don’t know the answer to that. Bumping this as someone else may know. Hang in there. We have all done stupid, impulsive things, and sometimes the price is heavy.
Thanks for the clarification; I thought that you did your first 2 years of college in conjunction with high school. My bad.
Would be transferring as a junior since you started freshman year at 16.
If you were applying to go some where you would fill out your application based on your status right now. Today, you have not been dismissed or suspended because no action has been taken against you yet. Today, there is no documentation on your transcript. Hopefully @Hanna will chime in regarding the application and if you should be disclosing something that has not happened yet (and there could be a chance it may not happen)
I like transparency.
Applying to transfer today- before your case has been adjudicated- seems to be skating on thin ice. At some point you will either be disciplined or not, be in the clear or not, be forced to lie on an application or opt to tell the truth.
Telling the truth seems the best way forward.
1- Find out who your college’s ombudsman is. You need this person to advocate on your behalf- even if only to help you figure out if you need to/should/can retain a lawyer.
2- Do you have any religious affiliation and have you had any relationship with someone in the Chaplain’s office? These are often good resources because they are typically on the college’s payroll but don’t always stick to the script when dealing with shady areas. And even if you aren’t allowed to bring a lawyer to a disciplinary hearing, nobody is likely going to object to you showing up with a pastor/similar. Even just for moral support.
3- You need to find out quickly- from the Bursar re: the finances, from the Registrar re: the transcript, and from a Dean re: everything else, what happens if you withdraw tomorrow. Just withdraw- take whatever refund you can get and go home. If this nets you a chunk of cash from your tuition AND a clean transcript- this might be your best option right now.
What exactly do you want to study??? And why is your college phasing out your department??? How hard is it to replicate this discipline somewhere else that’s not phasing it out???
Now I’m puzzled. Your meandering OP left the impression you were a naive 16 year old who didn’t know better about forging someone’s signature. Now it’s clear you have a number of years under your belt and are an adult…
You seem to have a good grasp of the process, except in your second post (#4) you thought you should be entitled to use the Peer review board. I disagree with that.
Your infraction was not small. It is major and should not be handled by your peers.
I also do not think the professor should have any say in what type of punishment should be levied. The teacher is a fact witness. Is that her signature? No. That’s the only think she can testify to. Professors do not decide university policy. Many of them do not care if you smoke in their classrooms or pop open a beer. Some would think it fine to have an affair with a student, to give extra credit for washing their cars, to have you do research for free. It’s not. Schools set policies to comply with the law and the school’s policies.
If you don’t want to wait a week for the dean to get back to you, you could see what would happen if you withdraw. There has to be an adviser who would know that answer today as some other student will be contemplating withdrawing today. Will the discipline action be added to your record? (I think it will be). Can you just walk away? Does the student handbook have any appeal rights after expulsion? Do you have a right to sue in a state court? Suing may be the option, and it doesn’t mean that the school has taken your rights away.
It doesn’t matter whether you yourself have federal loans. If the school used them, I believe it is bound by federal laws.
Get an education lawyer. Tomorrow morning. PM me if you want the names of the best people in the business. They aren’t cheap, but if you want to stay at this school, it’s your best chance.
Whatever happens, I can help you continue your education and eventually get into graduate school. But it would be a whole lot better if you could just stay where you are and want to be. That’s what the lawyer is for.
Had you spoken about this form with the prof, and had she aleeady agreed to sign it? I believe that if you sign someone’s name with their permission and knowledge, you may be considered to be signing as their agent, and it’s not considered forgery. You may even have had implicit permission, depending on the circumstances. Secretaries sign things for their bosses like this, all the time. Just a thought. I second (third, or whatever) the advice to get an experienced lawyer ASAP.