I would like to tell you about a situation that happened to a friend recently.
A student was dismissed from taking a final which resulted in an "F" in the course. It was their final course of the entire program. The cause for dismissal, "Violation of Classroom Rules," during an informal, optional quiz review.
Initially, there were false allegations made by another student that he had been reading questions to himself and recording it on his mobile device. Upon investigation, there was no probable evidence to prove that this student was cheating. The student was already passing the course and none of the questions reviewed were going to be repeated on the final; therefore, it showed no intent to cheat or gain an academic advantage.
After academic dishonesty was ruled out, faculty members decided to switch things around and cite the student for violating classroom rules by having a cell phone out instead. The violation resulted in an inability to take the final, fail the course, and subsequently repeat the class next year.
The student is an excellent scholar with a clean record and no previous history of offenses; holds numerous character references, tutors students, teaches children part-time, and has proven clinical competence throughout the program. Upon graduation, the student would of been ACLS, BLS, ECG, and Critical Care certified -- a truly ambitious, self-determined individual.
The student was disciplined with guidelines not set forth by the syllabus. He was also denied his first amendment rights. There were repeated attempts to speak with the instructor. Though the student posed no threat, security was notified twice to remove the student from campus.
The student does not feel that the totality of the circumstances were considered. These circumstances include the nature of their violation, their true intentions, the degree of premeditation, their acceptance of personal responsibility, the need for any unfair advantage, history of offenses, their academic history/honors, their pro-active approach to correcting their mistakes, and considering if there were any actual or potential harm that have caused to other students or to the school.
The penalties they imposed were not fair, humane, and proportionate to the infraction. As a result of the faculty's misapplication of policy and procedure, there will be a direct impact on the livelihood of the student's future which will result in a loss of income from a delay in their RN licensure.
We get a lot of these stories here -- I was a wonderful student, doing great all the way through the program, no problems ever, I did one little thing that wasn't even really wrong, and now I'm getting kicked out (or disciplined) for nothing, the instructor is just out to get me for no reason -- and, usually, it eventually turns out that there's quite a bit more to the story than originally revealed. I'm not buying this.
As to security being called, since the various US school shootings in recent years, many schools now have an automatic policy that security is called, on a precautionary basis, any time there is any type of negative interaction with a student, however minor. No school wants to be the next VA Tech.
Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.
There's something fishy here. Let's say the student DID record the quiz review. If he did, it would be for the intent of using the recording later. He would most likely have no idea whether or not the questions would be used later, until later happened. How was it proven that he didn't record things? Having a phone out is typically against classroom rules even if it's not written in a student handbook. For one thing, it indicates expecting a call or text message, and if that happens, it disrupts the classroom. It isn't ok, and students know that. Just because others didn't get taken to task about it, doesn't make the student you know right.
How do you know all these things about the other student? It seems you know more details than most people would know in such a situation, unless you are him, or you are his significant other. Also, why are you so interested? Don't you have enough stress on your own plate without getting into his? Can't he work on this himself? Schools have appeal processes, and since he was such a respected and worthy student, there must be some faculty member, somewhere, who would stand up for him.
If there's no more to your story than you've written, I would think the school would give him a proctored test so that he could finish the final. However, it seems there's a pattern here. Maybe you aren't telling us everything, and/or maybe you don't know everything that's happened. Dishonesty in any form isn't something we want in nurses. Not following the rules can be a slippery slope...not following one leads to not following two and so on. It would be interesting to know the whole story.
I didn't really get whether or not he was taping the questions or not. In my school, you have to sign an agreement that you will not share test questions..written, verbal or other. Violation is dismissal...even if it wasn't meant to help the original student.
My problem also is the word usage in the original post. Sounds like a lawyer to me.
One other issue is the assumption of the student's accomplishments in the future. How the heck could you predict any of that?
While I have seen students dismissed for minor reasons that were never understood, in most cases there was more to the story.
elkpark
14,633 Posts
We get a lot of these stories here -- I was a wonderful student, doing great all the way through the program, no problems ever, I did one little thing that wasn't even really wrong, and now I'm getting kicked out (or disciplined) for nothing, the instructor is just out to get me for no reason -- and, usually, it eventually turns out that there's quite a bit more to the story than originally revealed. I'm not buying this.
As to security being called, since the various US school shootings in recent years, many schools now have an automatic policy that security is called, on a precautionary basis, any time there is any type of negative interaction with a student, however minor. No school wants to be the next VA Tech.