PLEASE HELP-SERIOUS

have you actually been accused of cheating or are you afraid that that is what she is going to say when you meet with her? Is there any reason for her to believe that you cheated? Meaning-does she have any evidence to back up her so call suspicions?

I am not sure how ethical it is to record someone without their knowledge. In fact, I think it might even be illegal to do so. And this of course may land you in an even sticker situation.

I would however save all correspondence (eg. emails) between the two of you that you can use as support if you take this to the department head or the dean.

Aside from the ethics of recording someone without their knowledge, you might also be in legal trouble. In some states it is actually a felony to do this, so be very careful with this. Much better would be to ask if your academic advisor could be present at the meeting, even if it means that you have to re-schedule the meeting or another suitable witness.

Behappy:

Do you have a faculty advisor? If so, talk with your advisor asap. Your advisor may be able to give you specific advice about any grievance procesases or policies that exist at your school. Does your school have an honor code or a process to examine charges of academic dishonesty?

Advice that this board could give will depend on how things operate at your own particular school. I've worked at several schools over the past 25 years, and the process for student complaints and academic honor/cheating was different at each school.

We won't record her, but we will make sure someone goes in with us to each of our meetings. She has no proof, the only things she has is that we logged on to do the tests at the same time reason being they must be done at the library computer lab and that's when class ended. Also we get from 6 am to 6pm to write the online quiz but we are in class from 9am-4pm, so it's just such a ridiculous set up. It gives you only 20mins timed and the questions are very detailed.

I have never cheated in my life, why in the world would I start now. I want and deserve to be in the program, I'm not some immature 18 year old, I don't need this stress. She has singled three of us out simply based on an assumption, plus we all got different marks.

#1. . .I don't think any of you should be talking about this with each other or letting her or anyone else know you have been communicating with each other about it--it makes you look like you are in cahoots with each other.

#2. . .Before the meeting starts, inform her that you want her permission to tape the meeting. If she refuses, make a point of saying repeating, "so to be clear, you are refusing to be recorded?" Let her know you will be taking notes and do not hesitate to stop and ask her to repeat things she has said so you can get them copied down correctly. Let her be aware you are copying things down verbatim and do not let her intimidate you and move forward rapidly. Tell her you want to get down exactly what she is saying and that you wouldn't have to be stopping and taking time to get the words written down exactly correct if she had allowed you to tape the conversation.

#3. . .Ask her how she decided there was cheating, ask her to be specific and copy it down word for word. Ask her what she plans to do and what your rights are. Admit to nothing and let her do all the talking. If she had proof you'd be gone already. She's on a fishing expedition and going to try to use intimidation and fear to rattle you and bully one of you into admitting something you haven't done so she can dispose of you. Keep your cool and say as little as possible.

Thank you all for your help. I most definitely did not cheat. I'm not a cheater. I work harder in school than anyone I know. I don't deserve this, and I won't let her take me down. Thank you for your suggestions, I'm not sure what is going to happen at this point. We might get an advisor to sit in on our meetings with her.