Getting blamed for plagerism in college I didn't do...

[digby723]

^^^ I dont think it will ever escalate to the other scenarios.

If you keep quiet and accept the 0, you are admitting the whole group is guilty.

You speak out about it, and at least they hear you say "No I did not plagiarize"
I don't think it can get worse than 0 just for that project.

If some person in my group decided to steal work, and I also got blamed for it, I will FIGHT to the end.


Lets just say for example she did indeed review the final work, and everything seemed ok. Then the 4th girl decides to add stolen work after everyone reviews. Should ALL get the blame for plagiarism?? How would you prove otherwise that you did not include stolen work?

This is what the OP said in her original post:

We have the option of appealing this decision, but that goes to a hearing, with a different panel of 'judges.' These judges could find that the consequences our teacher gave us were too light, and give us a 0 in the entire course. I'm so afraid of that happeneding as it will prevent me from graduating in May, and I will have to come back next fall for this one course. Does anyone have any suggestions??

While she may not be expelled from the school, the judges could fail her for the whole course, and with her being a senior, it would put her behind a semester, which is a large reason why I personally would not appeal the decision. As for your question about what I would do if I turned in my work, ok'ed the final paper and then the writer added plagiarism, then yes, you're right, I too would appeal it. But, that's not the case here. I don't know what I would do to fight that instance, but I would, since I would know that I absolutely did not do anything wrong, and that the writer, for whatever reason, decided to add to the essay without my, or the other group members consent. In the OPs case, while she might not have turned in plagiarized work to the writer, (since the OP hasn't come back to answer the question on if she/her other group members cited their sources or if they even wrote anything for the writer to use, or only provided articles/websites) she didn't review the final paper. Whether she would have been able to tell if the paper/parts of the paper were plagiarized is a moot point, since as far as we know, none of the group members looked over the final document before it was turned in.

If the OP wants to fight this, then go for it, she didn't plagiarize, and hopefully will (or has) been able to find information to back up her case. But, in a University that is enrolling possibly thousands of kids, ignorance is highly unlikely to be a be an acceptable excuse, and neither is claiming to be really busy. I don't know where the OP goes to school, but at my University all students must sign an Honor Code, stating that we will not plagiarize, steal or cheat. If we are caught cheating/plagiarizing we are putting ourselves at risk for getting kicked out, and there are several students in my department that were kicked out last year because of this. Again, I'm only basing my opinions based off my own experiences, but I would taken this is a huge lesson to be learned for next time, and be damn sure not to make the same mistake twice. But as it has been mentioned before, if the University's judges were to rule in favor of the OP, then they are potentially setting themselves up for a ton of other students who will also claim ignorance. I would only assume that they judges would not rule in favor of the OP so that they can make an example of her situation and set a precedent for future rulings.

 

[PrinceAbdullah]

any update? curiosity, hahaha!

 

[DiorDeVille]

This is what the OP said in her original post:




While she may not be expelled from the school, the judges could fail her for the whole course, and with her being a senior, it would put her behind a semester, which is a large reason why I personally would not appeal the decision. As for your question about what I would do if I turned in my work, ok'ed the final paper and then the writer added plagiarism, then yes, you're right, I too would appeal it. But, that's not the case here. I don't know what I would do to fight that instance, but I would, since I would know that I absolutely did not do anything wrong, and that the writer, for whatever reason, decided to add to the essay without my, or the other group members consent. In the OPs case, while she might not have turned in plagiarized work to the writer, (since the OP hasn't come back to answer the question on if she/her other group members cited their sources or if they even wrote anything for the writer to use, or only provided articles/websites) she didn't review the final paper. Whether she would have been able to tell if the paper/parts of the paper were plagiarized is a moot point, since as far as we know, none of the group members looked over the final document before it was turned in.

If the OP wants to fight this, then go for it, she didn't plagiarize, and hopefully will (or has) been able to find information to back up her case. But, in a University that is enrolling possibly thousands of kids, ignorance is highly unlikely to be a be an acceptable excuse, and neither is claiming to be really busy. I don't know where the OP goes to school, but at my University all students must sign an Honor Code, stating that we will not plagiarize, steal or cheat. If we are caught cheating/plagiarizing we are putting ourselves at risk for getting kicked out, and there are several students in my department that were kicked out last year because of this. Again, I'm only basing my opinions based off my own experiences, but I would taken this is a huge lesson to be learned for next time, and be damn sure not to make the same mistake twice. But as it has been mentioned before, if the University's judges were to rule in favor of the OP, then they are potentially setting themselves up for a ton of other students who will also claim ignorance. I would only assume that they judges would not rule in favor of the OP so that they can make an example of her situation and set a precedent for future rulings.

I don't know any professional who will ding you more for not conducting a final review than they would for PLAGIARISM. OP is being accused of one of the worst misconducts you can carry out in an academic setting. Even if she gets it reduced to a slap on the wrist for "laziness", that's an improvement. I would absolutely fight this 100 percent. If nothing else, marching in armed with enough of your research, emails, and other documents to show that you really care offsets charges of plagiarism. People who care that much generally don't cheat or, if they do, don't do such a sloppy job of it.

No professor is going to expel you for not reviewing a final paper, and no professor is going to expel you for not sitting there quietly when someone accuses you of plagiarism that you didn't do. I'm not understanding the fearmongering here. The teacher thinks OP didn't care enough about his/her class to put in the work, try to do a good job - and that's insulting to the teacher. March in there and show him/her that they shouldn't be insulted - convince the teacher that you DID care, you learned a lot, you grew in the class, and you have far too much respect for the teacher's efforts and the material to do something like this.

 

[GhstDreamer]

any update? curiosity, hahaha!

I think the OP had meeting with some of the profs? last week...I can only think of a few reasons why there is no update:

1) The judges haven't reached their decision
2) The decision is already made but isn't in the OP's favour
3) The OP is just too busy to post a reply for now.

I'm hoping for the OP's sake, it's just 1 and 2.

 

[digby723]

I don't know any professional who will ding you more for not conducting a final review than they would for PLAGIARISM. OP is being accused of one of the worst misconducts you can carry out in an academic setting. Even if she gets it reduced to a slap on the wrist for "laziness", that's an improvement. I would absolutely fight this 100 percent. If nothing else, marching in armed with enough of your research, emails, and other documents to show that you really care offsets charges of plagiarism. People who care that much generally don't cheat or, if they do, don't do such a sloppy job of it.

No professor is going to expel you for not reviewing a final paper, and no professor is going to expel you for not sitting there quietly when someone accuses you of plagiarism that you didn't do. I'm not understanding the fearmongering here. The teacher thinks OP didn't care enough about his/her class to put in the work, try to do a good job - and that's insulting to the teacher. March in there and show him/her that they shouldn't be insulted - convince the teacher that you DID care, you learned a lot, you grew in the class, and you have far too much respect for the teacher's efforts and the material to do something like this.

But if the OP decided to appeal her professors decision, it isn't up to professors to come to a new conclusion. It's up to a panel of judges. At this point, if the OP wants a different decision, it's up to her to appeal it to the judges, not to the professor. While she could try to change the professors mind by coming in with whatever evidence she can find, the OP made it sound that it was either appeal to the judges, or take the 0.

Also, the OP has already stated that she deleted all of her e-mails with correspondence between her and the other group-mates before she was accused of plagiarism. You're implying that all the OP has to do is print off her e-mails, walk in with her own work and the citations she has (if she has them at all, again, this is undetermined) and that the professor should see that the OP didn't plagiarize, but even the OP has stated that she doesn't think that she'll be able to get the e-mails back.

Again, I've stated multiple times that I'm only giving a reply based off my own experiences, my own University's rules and the expectations I have of a University when I apply there. I'm not trying to scare the OP into making a decision based off of my own opinion. If she cannot make her own decision as to what is best for her, then she has more problems then just being accused of plagiarism. All I know is that if I were "caught plagiarizing", and I had no hard core evidence to prove otherwise, and I didn't have any e-mails/proof, that I would let this go, and not risk delaying my graduation. Again, these are only my opinions.

 

[DiorDeVille]

But if the OP decided to appeal her professors decision, it isn't up to professors to come to a new conclusion. It's up to a panel of judges. At this point, if the OP wants a different decision, it's up to her to appeal it to the judges, not to the professor. While she could try to change the professors mind by coming in with whatever evidence she can find, the OP made it sound that it was either appeal to the judges, or take the 0.

Also, the OP has already stated that she deleted all of her e-mails with correspondence between her and the other group-mates before she was accused of plagiarism. You're implying that all the OP has to do is print off her e-mails, walk in with her own work and the citations she has (if she has them at all, again, this is undetermined) and that the professor should see that the OP didn't plagiarize, but even the OP has stated that she doesn't think that she'll be able to get the e-mails back.

Again, I've stated multiple times that I'm only giving a reply based off my own experiences, my own University's rules and the expectations I have of a University when I apply there. I'm not trying to scare the OP into making a decision based off of my own opinion. If she cannot make her own decision as to what is best for her, then she has more problems then just being accused of plagiarism. All I know is that if I were "caught plagiarizing", and I had no hard core evidence to prove otherwise, and I didn't have any e-mails/proof, that I would let this go, and not risk delaying my graduation. Again, these are only my opinions.

I'd imagine the "judges" here are current/former professors.

 

[digby723]

I'd imagine the "judges" here are current/former professors.

It's possible. At my University, the student can appeal the decision to the Dean of Students and/or the Academic Dean of the college, they're the ones that would decide on the appeal, and I'm 99% sure that both mt Dean of Students and the Academic Dean were both professors at other institutions in the past.

 

[PrinceAbdullah]

It just seems we need a concrete version of the events. Or simply put, more info.


Imagine being part of a jury and not having enough info. HAHHAAA

 

[thegoreprincess]

Just wanted to see how this was resolved...

 

[No Cute]

I don't know any professional who will ding you more for not conducting a final review than they would for PLAGIARISM. OP is being accused of one of the worst misconducts you can carry out in an academic setting. Even if she gets it reduced to a slap on the wrist for "laziness", that's an improvement. I would absolutely fight this 100 percent. If nothing else, marching in armed with enough of your research, emails, and other documents to show that you really care offsets charges of plagiarism. People who care that much generally don't cheat or, if they do, don't do such a sloppy job of it.

No professor is going to expel you for not reviewing a final paper, and no professor is going to expel you for not sitting there quietly when someone accuses you of plagiarism that you didn't do. I'm not understanding the fearmongering here. The teacher thinks OP didn't care enough about his/her class to put in the work, try to do a good job - and that's insulting to the teacher. March in there and show him/her that they shouldn't be insulted - convince the teacher that you DID care, you learned a lot, you grew in the class, and you have far too much respect for the teacher's efforts and the material to do something like this.

I absolutely agree. At my university, a professor is not allowed to fail a paper/project for plagiarism without due process, an academic conduct hearing. Faculty could get fired for reducing a grade due to plagiarism, even with complete and thorough proof, if proper procedures are not followed. This policy, of course, depends on the school, but if OP's school has a similar policy, then OP's professor must take the situation to the review process. Curious about the outcome. And hoping OP was director with her professor and brought proof to the process. Faculty, in general, want truth, responsibility, and learning, nothing more.

 

[Red_Rose18]

"this is what i always hated about group projects in college. you never know what the other is actually contributing. inevitably, there is always someone who doesn't do as much work as someone else and it always ends up becoming problematic".

I totally agree with this. I think group projects should be banned in college. There is too much riding on these projects usually to trust other random people that you were either matched up with by a professor, or don't know well enough to make an informed decision to pair up with yourself. In every group project I have ever participated in, there has always been at least one person that does little to no work, but ends up getting away with it because everyone else picks up the slack. At the very least, the professor should take note of who worked on which section. Also, the OP should not be responsible for double checking what everyone else in the group does, kind of defeats the purpose of a group project. Sorry for the rant, but this has hit a sore spot with me, lol.

 

[beggarbaby]

The only thing I can add to this is that while delayed graduation is a short-term thing, having an undisputed plaigarism charge on your record is permanent. Personally, it seems a lot easier to explain to employers that you disputed a charge because you weren't guilty but unfortunately did not have enough concrete evidence than to just say, well, I didn't appeal. That means you accept guilt, doesn't it?