Copy and Paste
A student was referred to Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) for suspected plagiarism on a term paper for an upper division course. The suspicions of plagiarism arose when the instructor noticed a significant difference in the quality of writing throughout the paper. The writing was very poor except for certain sections, which upon investigation turned out to have been directly copied and pasted from various online sources. In addition, the student neither cited nor put quotation marks around any of the information in order to indicate that the work was not her own. When meeting with a Judicial Officer, the student explained that she plagiarized because she felt pressure to get a good grade on the paper because she wanted to raise her grade in the class. However, the Judicial Officer pointed out that if she had truly wanted to raise her grade, she should have put in the effort to write the paper herself, as now she is receiving a zero for it. In the end, the student agreed to accept deferred separation status, which means that she gives up her right to a formal hearing if again referred to SJA. She also agreed to do 12 hours of community service and to complete an assignment on when and how to cite properly, followed by a meeting with a learning specialist in the Student Academic Success Center.
Cheating AND dishonesty
A case of suspected cheating during an exam was brought to SJA when it was observed that a group of students had unusual markings on their exam booklets. Next to a series of questions there were written large letters and what appeared to be numbers corresponding to the question on the alternate form of the exam. When the tests were turned in and reviewed, all three exams had almost all of the exact same answers and shared a large number of the same wrong answers as well. When meeting with a Judicial Officer, one of the students claimed to not know the other students and said that she had emailed them to find out what happened. However, in the second meeting she admitted that she had lied about sending the email and did in fact know one of the students. Although there wasn’t enough evidence to establish that this particular student had cheated, she was found in violation for lying during the disciplinary process. As a result of her dishonesty, she agreed to accept a censure, warning her that any further violations would likely result in more serious disciplinary action.
Not my kind of bake sale
A group of upper division students was reported to be smoking marijuana on University property, so UC Davis police officers were dispatched to the area. The police officers found that they also possessed what appeared to be various types of baked goods containing marijuana, in addition to the initial marijuana. All of the students were honest and cooperated with the police, agreeing to dispose of all their marijuana, cupcakes and cookies at the location. The students were later referred to SJA, where they met individually with a Judicial Officer. The Judicial Officer explained in a meeting with one student that UC Davis is a “dry” campus, and that possession or use of marijuana is not allowed, even with a prescription. The student took full responsibility and agreed to disciplinary probation, meaning that if any misconduct takes place during his probationary period, suspension or dismissal would likely occur.
