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This is classic programmer thinking. Administration will accept that the account belongs to the student because the names are the same and the question matches

This is classic programmer thinking. Administration will accept that the account belongs to the student because the names are the same and the question matches the exam question. Stronger evidence will not be required.

jeremyjh 14y ago
At first they may accept that but do you really think the student isn't going to challenge it? There actually is due process involved in matters like this, and part of that is assessing the evidence. The only reason the prof asked for the confession is because otherwise he has absolutely nothing.
- fusiongyro 14y ago
  The burden of proof for a reprimand at a university is a lot lower than in a court. Every university takes a hard line on cheating (or at least, wants to be perceived that way), and all other things being equal they will side with their faculty over their students. So no, I doubt very seriously that "due process" at the university level is going to require harder evidence than this, until the student is thrown out of the school and dad's lawyer decides to sue, and even then it won't be hard to materialize a contract signed by the student at matriculation that alleviates the university of any kind of obligation to be fair about these kinds of punishments. The likelihood of a student being "framed" is a lot lower than the likelihood of the student just being stupid and expecting not to get caught. When bringing this up before the university ethics board the student will have to do more than argue that anybody could have registered under their name. There will probably need to be some proof that somebody else did it. If you think otherwise, wait until you or somebody you know winds up on the wrong side of a university ethics panel. You'd be surprised how very little it takes to get in trouble and how difficult it can be to get out of trouble. A friend of mine got brought before an ethics panel for hacking, by simply sending the IT staff an email about a page with a vulnerability. Nothing was exploited and nobody was told about it except one person in the IT department. It took five profs arguing against the absurdity of the proceedings to get the sentence reduced from being kicked out to "just" one semester of probation. In short, the prof doesn't need the confession. The student would be wise to write one and play up that this is their first time cheating. Trying to fight this like a legal battle will only make the school that much more eager to kick the student out.

jeremyjh 14y ago

At first they may accept that but do you really think the student isn't going to challenge it? There actually is due process involved in matters like this, and part of that is assessing the evidence. The only reason the prof asked for the confession is because otherwise he has absolutely nothing.

fusiongyro 14y ago
The burden of proof for a reprimand at a university is a lot lower than in a court. Every university takes a hard line on cheating (or at least, wants to be perceived that way), and all other things being equal they will side with their faculty over their students. So no, I doubt very seriously that "due process" at the university level is going to require harder evidence than this, until the student is thrown out of the school and dad's lawyer decides to sue, and even then it won't be hard to materialize a contract signed by the student at matriculation that alleviates the university of any kind of obligation to be fair about these kinds of punishments. The likelihood of a student being "framed" is a lot lower than the likelihood of the student just being stupid and expecting not to get caught. When bringing this up before the university ethics board the student will have to do more than argue that anybody could have registered under their name. There will probably need to be some proof that somebody else did it. If you think otherwise, wait until you or somebody you know winds up on the wrong side of a university ethics panel. You'd be surprised how very little it takes to get in trouble and how difficult it can be to get out of trouble. A friend of mine got brought before an ethics panel for hacking, by simply sending the IT staff an email about a page with a vulnerability. Nothing was exploited and nobody was told about it except one person in the IT department. It took five profs arguing against the absurdity of the proceedings to get the sentence reduced from being kicked out to "just" one semester of probation. In short, the prof doesn't need the confession. The student would be wise to write one and play up that this is their first time cheating. Trying to fight this like a legal battle will only make the school that much more eager to kick the student out.