I think I might have accidentally cheated because I understood my teacher incorrectly. At the beginning of the class the teacher was taking about testing and said something like you won’t have enough time even with open book, so I thought he meant that our tests are open book. But I checked my syllabus just a few days ago after my finals and realized that our tests were not open book. But now I can’t drop my class what should I do. If I tell the teacher will she expel me.
hi there,
this is a tough situation but hopefully by now you’ll know if your case was flagged as an academic offense or not, as your instructor probably would have contacted you by now if there’s a concern.
if your instructor has contacted you about a possible academic offense, don’t stress out too much! they definitely can’t just expel you based on that, and you will have a chance to explain yourself and throughout the procedures for investigating an academic offence.
first you’d have the chance to talk with your instructor, and then, if they believe there has been an academic offense, you would have to discuss the case with your instructor and the chair of the course’s department. since your case involves cheating on a test, it would likely be forwarded to the dean of the faculty or division. (it seems that chairs are only supposed to make decisions on assignments worth 10% or less of the course grade.)
when discussing with the dean, you’d have the chance to explain your situation and admit to the offense. in that case, the dean would be able to impose sanctions that they feel are reasonable. a list of possible sanctions can be found here. none of these sanctions include expulsion from the university, but you may get a suspension of up to 12 months. in the best case scenario, you may just receive an oral or written reprimand, or a decreased mark in the course/test.
i think it would be best to be honest and clearly explain your mistake. also be sure to respond quickly and professionally to communications with your instructor/chair/dean. being honest and showing remorse can definitely play a factor in deciding the penalties you may receive.
fyi, if for whatever reason you choose not to admit to the offense, your case could technically get escalated to the university tribunal… but hopefully it won’t come to that (*sweats nervously*)
if you have any concerns you should definitely also reach out to your registrar to get professional advice. you can book an appointment with an academic advisor, and anything that you discuss with tehm cannot be used against you in an academic offense case. you can also reach out to downtown legal services (dls) for support – they’re a free legal clinic at the uoft faculty of law and have lots of experience helping with student academic offence cases.
hope that helps,
aska