Life’s an open book
A graduate student was recently referred to Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) by her professor for having unauthorized materials out during a closed-book exam. She, like many other students, was enrolled in both this course and another course taught by the same professor. The exam for this course was closed-book, but the exam for the other course was open-book. During the graduate student’s meeting with a judicial officer, she stated that she had confused both exams for being open-book and that she had acted in good faith during the exam. However, she was the only student who had made this mistake, and during the exam the proctors reminded everyone it was closed-book and had written “closed book” on the board. She was placed on deferred separation until graduation, which waives her right to a formal hearing if she is later referred to SJA and found in violation of a policy.
Sharing is caring
A professor referred two science lab partners for suspected unauthorized collaboration on their lab papers after noticing significant similarities in the organization of and thought progressions in the two papers. He found the papers to be so similar that he was not able to evaluate each student’s knowledge of the material individually. The professor had explicitly told the students that collaboration in the lab was allowed in order to conduct their experiments, though the lab papers were to be written entirely on their own. The students’ unauthorized collaboration resulted in their placement on deferred separation, 10 hours of community service and a 25 percent grade reduction on the paper. They were also required to review a series of suggestions on how to avoid academic misconduct.
Something smells fishy
When two resident advisers noticed what appeared to be the smell of marijuana emanating from inside a first-year dorm room, they called campus police to confirm their suspicions. When the officer arrived and knocked on the door, the first-year student let the officer into her room. The officer promptly confiscated the marijuana and smoking device that were in her possession. The student’s unlawful possession of a controlled substance violated Student Housing policy, and as a result she was placed on disciplinary probation.
