Case Study : Final year Biomedical Science Student- Academic Misconduct - Appeal Upheld

Case Study

Final year Biomedical

Science Student -

Academic Misconduct

Appeal Upheld

Case Study : Final year Biomedical Science student (‘our client’) excluded after three offences of Academic Misconduct. RT Coopers drafted Appeal which was Upheld by the Appeal Committee.

In year 2, our client was found guilty of academic misconduct (first offence). In the final year, our client was accused of plagiarism and collusion (second offences) and denied any wrongdoing during the investigation meeting. Our client admitted to the second offences during the hearing of the Examinations Misconduct Committee. The Committee recommended exclusion for academic misconduct treating plagiarism and collusion as two separate offences. Therefore, our client was on record as committing three offences of academic misconduct by the time RT Coopers were instructed to draft the Appeal against the exclusion. The Appeal was upheld by the Appeal Committee.

Background

Our client undertook an elective in ‘Physiology and Pharmacology of the Central Nervous System’ in the final year of studies. Our client was accused of plagiarism and collusion (second offences) in assignments submitted for the ‘Pharmacology of Neurological and Psychiatric Diseases’ and ‘Experimental Cardiovascular Pharmacology’. The ‘Experimental Cardiovascular Pharmacology’ assignment was 1 Course Unit and the practical write up was worth 10%. ‘Pharmacology of Neurological and Psychiatric Diseases’ was worth 0.5 Course Unit and the essay worth 30%.

Our client was predicted a first-class degree in Biomedical Science and had secured a place at a reputable medical school to study medicine on attaining at least a 2:1. In the final year, our client was accused of the suspected second offences and attended an investigative hearing. The case was referred to the Committee. During the Committee hearing our client admitted to the second offences (not at the investigative hearing). The Committee found our client guilty of academic misconduct and our client was excluded.

‘…Having considered at length the evidence, the Committee has determined that the charges of plagiarism and collusion against you have been fully substantiated. The College regards cheating as a very serious offence. Consequently, the Committee has ordered the following penalties:

That you will be expelled from the College.
That all of your marks will be cancelled’.

RT Coopers were instructed to prepare an academic appeal against the exclusion.

The tutor supported our client with a letter of support. As our client had been found guilty of misconduct previously, plagiarism was regarded as a second offence and collusion a third offence.

Appeal

The two grounds of appeal were:

‘That there is new evidence that could not have been, or for good reason was not made available at the time of the hearing…’; and

‘The Principal will have the discretion to take into account grounds (including grounds of compassion) other than those stated above in deciding whether to allow an appeal to be heard’.

Plagiarism

Our client was found to have plagiarised an assignment as our client had not cited two authors. The Turnitin report showed 68 percent similarity index. The Committee considered that our client had presented verbatim text from source articles that had not been referenced anywhere in the assignment.

Collusion

On the collusion allegation, our client sent the completed assignment to a close family friend who copied the work. Our client admitted that an email was sent to the family friend attaching the assignment. Prior to sending the assignment, our client felt reassured as the family friend had informed our client that no part of the assignment would be copied. Our client was unaware of what had been copied. The evidence presented during the hearing showed extensive copying of a number of identical typographic errors in their respective assignments. Our client did not want to actively incriminate the family friend during the misconduct hearing. The family friend was allowed to repeat the year. Our client was excluded.

Outcome

On submission of the Appeal, the Vice Principal allowed the case to be transferred to an Appeal Committee for consideration. The Appeal Committee upheld the Academic Appeal. Our client was able to complete the Biomedical Science degree, commenced and completed medical school and is now a qualified practicing doctor.

Testimonial

‘I would like to take this opportunity to give a personal testimonial for, what I believe, is an excellent law firm. Following an issue with an educational institution at which I studied for three years, I spoke with a number of firms seeking legal advice regarding my situation. R.T. Coopers solicitors, namely Rosanna Cooper, showed immense enthusiasm despite facing a very tight deadline to collate a case over simply one weekend. This was the deciding factor for me to choose her for representation. She offered support, faith and integrity to a situation which was otherwise rather dismal. With her uniquely selfless work ethic, she built an unflawed case worthy of acclaim. Furthermore, she never at once gave thought to the amount of time she spent working on the case; and simply applied her full efforts until the work was complete. I honestly cannot fault the service I have received in any way, shape or form and would certainly recommend this firm to anybody seeking legal representation in their specialities. The quality speaks for itself.’ AJ

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