Advice needed: Moving forward with student who made false accusations

[foralurker]

The other student was a librarian, so I found that especially egregious.

Holy crap! That's bad. :-(

If it's a "fun summer elective," can your department really compel you to teach it?

No, probably not. I tried to get around it by proposing a new summer course offering, and got nowhere, but I'm contracted to teach one class in the summer. There are two classes in the accelerated summer format, and another prof teaches the other option as overload (and enjoys the extra money). I don't think this is the favor I'm ready to call in (or the hill I'm ready to die on) because I'm still new here and new to faculty life.

Just be sure he is not trying to set you up.  Have someone on the faculty read his assignments also to back up your decisions. 

This itchy, conspiratorial place in the back of my brain keeps telling me this too. I'm going to come up with a uniform grading procedure for the whole class with two sets of eyes if possible.

Thanks, everyone

[Wahoo Redux]

I wouldn't worry too much about it.  Your admin has supported you in the past, and if he provokes an incident it will probably mean he is out of your program, at least I would think so.

[kaysixteen]

Is it standard operating procedure nowadays to allow a grad student who's been found guilty of plagiarism to remain in the grad program?   What about cheating in professional schools, such as med school?

[financeguy]

My first post on the fora when it moved from the chronicle was about this exact issue. I had someone in another class again who had complained the last time that he got an F for having not submitted work for 8 of 10 weeks, but then later claimed a disability that had never gone through the applicable office. My chair knew exactly who he was when I gave the "heads up" about a complaint since he had pulled the same thing a couple other times. He took it the next time with no incident. I wouldn't assume you'll have an issue of any kind. He's probably more irritated that there isn't a different section with another instructor than you are that he will be in your class again.

[foralurker]

Is it standard operating procedure nowadays to allow a grad student who's been found guilty of plagiarism to remain in the grad program?   What about cheating in professional schools, such as med school?

Oh, it's worse than that. We are an honor code school, and that honor code feels like it has teeth if you're dealing with an undergrad. The problem I'm seeing with how our honor code was written, is it feels like they've forgotten that grad students—doctoral students—may plagiarize too. At this level of study, the honor code doesn't feel like it has teeth. Maybe I'm out of line in my thinking, but if a doc student submits a whole paper they lifted from someone's blog, that should be enough to get you booted from your program.


Thanks for sharing your expertise, folks. I swear, I once had a sense of confidence and a spine. (That was before the PhD)

[Caracal]

Is it standard operating procedure nowadays to allow a grad student who's been found guilty of plagiarism to remain in the grad program?   What about cheating in professional schools, such as med school?

Oh, it's worse than that. We are an honor code school, and that honor code feels like it has teeth if you're dealing with an undergrad. The problem I'm seeing with how our honor code was written, is it feels like they've forgotten that grad students—doctoral students—may plagiarize too. At this level of study, the honor code doesn't feel like it has teeth. Maybe I'm out of line in my thinking, but if a doc student submits a whole paper they lifted from someone's blog, that should be enough to get you booted from your program.


Thanks for sharing your expertise, folks. I swear, I once had a sense of confidence and a spine. (That was before the PhD)

I suppose part of the issue might be that you're dealing with a student from outside of your program? Usually, the formal university penalties for plagiarizing a paper would only be part of the issue for a grad student. If their advisor, or potential advisors felt that what happened was serious enough and there weren't mitigating factors of some sort, there's just no way they could stay in the program. A grad student doesn't just need to pass courses, they should be considered to be a professional in training and that means they need to do acceptable work. Plagiarized papers obviously fall way below that standard.

[foralurker]

I suppose part of the issue might be that you're dealing with a student from outside of your program? Usually, the formal university penalties for plagiarizing a paper would only be part of the issue for a grad student. If their advisor, or potential advisors felt that what happened was serious enough and there weren't mitigating factors of some sort, there's just no way they could stay in the program. A grad student doesn't just need to pass courses, they should be considered to be a professional in training and that means they need to do acceptable work. Plagiarized papers obviously fall way below that standard.

That's an interesting take and I suspect you are right. I was told, both verbally and in writing, that I was not to discuss or reveal that the student had plagiarized, had gone through the honor code office, or had been placed on probation. I pushed back hard on this (I guess I do have a spine after all!), and told the director of the honor code office that I wanted him to send a letter to the student's department and alert them that their student was on probation. The probation meant that all of their research activities would need to come to a halt for 12 months (no pubs, no conferences, etc.). I did get a response back from the honor code director that said the letter was sent to the student's department to alert the appropriate parties (PI, advisor, chair).

So, I can't ask anyone what happened and, for that matter, I haven't gotten to know anyone in the other department as our paths don't cross. COVID shutdowns that were in place when I arrived didn't help with cross department networking either. Who knows, I may be considered a villain in that student's department.

[Langue_doc]

I suppose part of the issue might be that you're dealing with a student from outside of your program? Usually, the formal university penalties for plagiarizing a paper would only be part of the issue for a grad student. If their advisor, or potential advisors felt that what happened was serious enough and there weren't mitigating factors of some sort, there's just no way they could stay in the program. A grad student doesn't just need to pass courses, they should be considered to be a professional in training and that means they need to do acceptable work. Plagiarized papers obviously fall way below that standard.

That's an interesting take and I suspect you are right. I was told, both verbally and in writing, that I was not to discuss or reveal that the student had plagiarized, had gone through the honor code office, or had been placed on probation. I pushed back hard on this (I guess I do have a spine after all!), and told the director of the honor code office that I wanted him to send a letter to the student's department and alert them that their student was on probation. The probation meant that all of their research activities would need to come to a halt for 12 months (no pubs, no conferences, etc.). I did get a response back from the honor code director that said the letter was sent to the student's department to alert the appropriate parties (PI, advisor, chair).

So, I can't ask anyone what happened and, for that matter, I haven't gotten to know anyone in the other department as our paths don't cross. COVID shutdowns that were in place when I arrived didn't help with cross department networking either. Who knows, I may be considered a villain in that student's department.

It would appear that tuition trumps academic integrity in your institution. It is quite likely that the student has submitted plagiarized assignments in other courses. All you can do at this point is to make sure that your grading is transparent, and run all your decisions by your chair.

I once had a student who accused me of bias because Stu claimed that hu had As and B+s in other courses. The secretary looked up Stu's grades which were Ds and Cs--not even a single C+.

As others have noted, Stu is probably trying to set you up. If Stu is an international student on a student visa, the department might be (misguidedly) protecting the student from having to leave the program. Students on probation are not considered to be full time students, which is the requirement for being allowed to stay in the US.

[foralurker]

As others have noted, Stu is probably trying to set you up. If Stu is an international student on a student visa, the department might be (misguidedly) protecting the student from having to leave the program. Students on probation are not considered to be full time students, which is the requirement for being allowed to stay in the US.

I did not know they weren't considered full time while on probation. Interesting. Yes, the student is an international student. This is making much more sense.

[Caracal]

As others have noted, Stu is probably trying to set you up. If Stu is an international student on a student visa, the department might be (misguidedly) protecting the student from having to leave the program. Students on probation are not considered to be full time students, which is the requirement for being allowed to stay in the US.

I did not know they weren't considered full time while on probation. Interesting. Yes, the student is an international student. This is making much more sense.

I'm not sure that's quite right. A bit of quick googling seems to indicate that, by itself, probation wouldn't lead to a loss of a visa or full time status. However, if probation involved a requirement to take fewer courses, or some other change in status, that could result in a loss of visa...

[foralurker]

Ah, ok. Then no, course registration doesn't seem to be a factor.

Something that no one in the honor code office would answer was how probation would impact the student's stipend and tuition waiver. (It's none of my business , which is probably why they ignored that one question when responding.) As the probation section is written from an undergrad point of view, I was unable to find this on my own. I don't mean to sound petty, but I suspect the student's family has enough money that the loss of these funds would have little impact on the student's wellbeing. But, I'm left curious as to how that could impact a visa.

To be clear, absolutely none of this is important to my central question. The conversational winds blew in that direction and I'm simply curious. Not so much about this one student, but higher ed as a whole.

[Caracal]

Ah, ok. Then no, course registration doesn't seem to be a factor.

Something that no one in the honor code office would answer was how probation would impact the student's stipend and tuition waiver. (It's none of my business , which is probably why they ignored that one question when responding.) As the probation section is written from an undergrad point of view, I was unable to find this on my own. I don't mean to sound petty, but I suspect the student's family has enough money that the loss of these funds would have little impact on the student's wellbeing. But, I'm left curious as to how that could impact a visa.

To be clear, absolutely none of this is important to my central question. The conversational winds blew in that direction and I'm simply curious. Not so much about this one student, but higher ed as a whole.

I suppose it would all depend on the details. Stipends can be dependent on TAing, and I have no idea if you could do that while under probation. Obviously, if the stipend is competitive in some way, probation could effect that. It seems like there might be ways in which being under probation could effect your ability to file for a renewal of a visa, or something? I'd be curious too, it seems pretty clear that by itself probation wouldn't necessarily lead to the loss of a visa, but I realized I probably didn't want to spend an hour trying to figure this out.

[foralurker]

I'd be curious too, it seems pretty clear that by itself probation wouldn't necessarily lead to the loss of a visa, but I realized I probably didn't want to spend an hour trying to figure this out.

LOL! No, please don't

[larryc]

This. You've got this and the important people have your back. And this student has already tried all the bullshit! If things do start to go sideways, let your chair and people know, keep notes and maybe bring in someone else to grade this student's work. But it is not likely any of that will be needed.

I wouldn't worry too much about it.  Your admin has supported you in the past, and if he provokes an incident it will probably mean he is out of your program, at least I would think so.