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I am in my final year of undergraduate. Another student, call him John, sent me a message on Facebook saying basically:

Can you send me the solutions to the assignment from unit X, that you took last year. In exchange, I will tell you what the future minitest questions are for unit Y that we are both doing this year.

Attempted Collusion is not explicitly mentioned in the Universities Academic misconduct guide. But, the mini-tests say at the top of each page:

IT IS NOT PERMITTED TO TAKE THIS PAPER AWAY FROM THE TUTORIAL SESSION OR TO DIVULGE ITS CONTENT

since students in the later tutorials could learn the questions from the students in the earlier tutorials (exactly as John proposed).

A complicating factor is that I really dislike John. He doesn't seem to have realised this. I find him personally annoying, and consider him a poor student. I don't understand how he has managed to pass enough units to have not been suspended for poor performance. It may be he is very good at exams, or it may be that he has been cheating all along.

I have a number of options, and could do one or more of them:

  • Ignore it, and block him on Facebook. I'm worried this could reflect poorly on me if the message ever became public.
  • Tell him no, and refer him to the universities plagiarism/cheating policy
  • Speak to the Professor of Unit Y about it (that we are both studying).
  • Speak to the Professor of Unit X about it.
  • Speak to the Head of School (sub-department), who is above both units
  • Speak to the University Dean. Who is in charge of enforcing the Academic Misconduct policy. (Will probably mean going though channels)

If I speak to a professor about this, he may be suspended. I worry that I am a bit too willing for that possibility as I don't like him. On the other hand it isn't my job to decide the consequences of his actions. Which is the best option?

Update: I spoke to the coordinators of units X and Y. Both said they would look into it and get back to me. I also responded to John, saying no, and referring him to the Academic Misconduct policy.

cag51
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Frames Catherine White
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  • Once, I agreed to help someone cheat on a test, and gave him all wrong answers. Well, except one I had wrong... – Almo May 11 '14 at 16:01
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    If an assignment from last year substantially overlaps with this year's then the professor is not doing their job properly. Usually the student keeps the copyright to their work, so they are free to publish their assignments (as long as it's well after the deadline) if they wish. Unless they are forced to sign an agreement limiting their rights. It annoyed me to some extent when professors took the lazy option and reused assessment material from previous years, opening the door to cheaters, which a big chunk of the class then became. – Evgeni Sergeev May 12 '14 at 12:41
  • "I also responded to John, saying no, and referring him to the Academic Misconduct policy." kudos! – Dikran Marsupial Mar 15 '24 at 10:33

7 Answers7

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Putting such a request in a written, verifiable manner as this student has done is incredibly dumb, and frankly merits whatever punishment is associated with this.

Although in principle you could simply ignore the request, I think this is one of those cases where you're better off reporting it. Otherwise, there's still the possibility that "John" could bring you down with him (he wrote you a note, after all!). So I would write to him declining the offer, and then report it.

aeismail
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  • Who do you recommend reporting to? Which proffessor/ the head of school / all of the above? – Frames Catherine White May 11 '14 at 14:36
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    I agree that declining the offer in writing has no downside and is a good idea, but what is the rationale for reporting this person? – Faheem Mitha May 11 '14 at 15:15
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    @FaheemMitha: The same as the rationale for calling the police if you witness a crime. Attempting to cheat should have negative consequences. – Anonymous May 11 '14 at 15:32
  • @Oxinabox You report to the professor (who will escalate if (s)he deems fit) or to the institution's honor board. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten May 11 '14 at 15:44
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    "Putting such a request in a written, verifiable manner as this student has done is incredibly dumb," Oh, please tell me that they did it on university provided email as well. Then we'll have a bonus round of dumbitude. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten May 11 '14 at 15:46
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    I would not call the suggestion of cheating in this context a crime. A crime has victims. Granted, it is (the suggestion of) immoral behavior, but small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. Personally, if this happens to me, I would not report it, I do not consider it my business to police other peoples morality. But it really is up to the poster, I think. – Faheem Mitha May 11 '14 at 15:57
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    @FaheemMitha: It's not a crime because no law is being broken. However, it is a clear case of academic misconduct—and, depending on the poster's school's code of conduct, not reporting may be tantamount to a violation in and of itself! – aeismail May 11 '14 at 16:31
  • @Oxinabox: Check your school's code of academic conduct (if one exists); how to report a violation should be listed there. If no such guidelines exist, start with the professor of the courses involved. – aeismail May 11 '14 at 16:32
  • @aeismail: Ok, if failure to report is a violation, that is a good reason to report, certainly. – Faheem Mitha May 11 '14 at 16:46
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    @FaheemMitha There *are* victims of cheating: anyone (and everyone) who did not cheat and loses a later opportunity to the cheater. Grades are going to be important in getting into grad school or having graduation honors on your diploma to show prospective employers. This is why people cheat! Because the results matter to their future prospects, and they want to steal someone else's chances. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten May 11 '14 at 16:47
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    Just because you can't see the damage here and now doesn't make it unreal. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten May 11 '14 at 16:48
  • @dmckee It is unfair to the people who are not cheating, certainly. – Faheem Mitha May 11 '14 at 16:53
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    I'm not sure how 'verifiable' Facebook really is. Even if you could obtain logs from Facebook itself, that would just indicate that someone using some IP address sent a message. Anyone can create a 'fake' Facebook profile, and plenty of Facebook profiles have been hacked or even just a student leaves the lab without logging out. – Rob P. May 11 '14 at 17:29
  • Given the specificity of the email, it's unlikely it's a hack, unless someone pranked him. But in that case, the burden is still on the instigator. – aeismail May 11 '14 at 18:24
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    Another reason to report: There is a very real possibility that John has been cheating all along in school. Reporting him for attempted cheating (even if it is not an actual violation of the honor code) means that his past work may be placed under extra scrutiny. – apnorton May 12 '14 at 01:45
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    To be fair, I think we have to check the premise: is the proposed act even cheating? It seems to me that 'John' proposes to exchange somewhat public information. The evaluation system seems to rely on security by obscurity (using the same questions at differents point in time, assuming students don't talk), which is dumb; reusing last year's questions is lazy. So this may be a case of students exploting sloppy work of a teacher with fair means -- talking -- not strictly cheating. – Raphael May 12 '14 at 07:05
  • @FaheemMitha As has been pointed out, this is not a criminal matter. But, since you mention it, most jurisdictions do have "victimless" crimes: for example, conspiracy to murder is usually a crime, even if the murder doesn't happen. – David Richerby May 13 '14 at 04:50
  • @aeismail - wondering if the fb messgaing could be used to turn the tables on OP. Culprit could claim that the deal was struck, but went sour and now the OP is complaining to take revenge. What do you do then ? OR, I came to know OP was into cheating, so I wanted to trap OP and report him to authorities ? Checkmate ? – Erran Morad Jun 10 '14 at 06:37
  • @BoratSagdiyev: Unless the other person has equally tangible evidence, the original message is too damning to be ignored or explained away. – aeismail Jun 10 '14 at 09:51
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    @DavidRicherby: Agreed, generalized inchoate offences (conspiracy, attempt, solicitation, accessory) are a principle of English common law and similar systems. In some sense the crime of murder, plus the general principle of conspiracy, yields a new crime of conspiracy to murder. It's characteristic of an inchoate offence that no act causing criminal harm is performed by the offender. – Steve Jessop Jun 12 '14 at 11:04
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I generally agree with aeismail - the profound stupidity of putting a request like this in a way that provides evidence is staggering.

Whether or not you should report them for cheating may not be a decision you have to make - I would strongly suggest you check your institution's student handbook or honor code. I've been in more than one university where if you suspect or have evidence of someone cheating, you're obligated to report it.

Fomite
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  • wondering if the fb messgaing could be used to turn the tables on OP. Culprit could claim that the deal was struck, but went sour and now the OP is complaining to take revenge. What do you do then ? OR, I came to know OP was into cheating, so I wanted to trap OP and report him to authorities ? Checkmate ? – Erran Morad Jun 10 '14 at 06:38
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    @BoratSagdiyev: I think generally speaking the authorities won't look kindly if John claims to have been carrying out a solo sting operation on the questioner. Presumably the questioner isn't cheating, so unless John can whip up a clever frame job at short notice the tables aren't turned. At best John will wriggle out of it. But it's a good caution as to why the questioner shouldn't "play along" with John to any degree at all, since doing so would put the questioner in the position of claiming to be a sting operator, which is uncomfortable even when true. – Steve Jessop Jun 12 '14 at 11:10
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As a student, I would like to answer this, apparently everyone has a different perspective here, but mainly 2 sides. Students vs Professors :)

He asked you for last year's answers. What is wrong with this? I sometimes ask my friends for previous years' answers as well. This does not mean I am going to copy them. I can go through their work, understand the concepts better and do my homework. The reason is, not every question type is covered in classes or books and guidance might be required to solve them. First you learn how to solve something, then you apply your knowledge to questions. And questions with solutions are the perfect way to master the knowledge. When I use my friends' past homeworks, it really helps me learn the material and all the time I spot their mistakes and prepare my own homework with no mistakes.

Of course, his intentions might be directly copying your homework. In such a case, a proper department should keep old homework solutions and it is the TA's responsiblity to detect them.

So, if someone who you think has intentions to learn from your homework is asking for it, it is very normal to give. But if you think his intention is to directly copy, then you can simply decline his request. You can say you don't have them anymore or you do not wish to share them. No person is guilty unless they commit the wrong and again, you shouldn't worry about them. The university pays graduate students for these matters, it is their job.

Kogesho
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    However he didn't just ask for my solutions. He offered to tell me test questions, before they should have been released to me. – Frames Catherine White May 12 '14 at 13:18
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    @Oxinabox Talking about test questions is not allowed? That is called collaboration and the professors should know better not to ask same questions. Don't care more than your instructors care. – Kogesho May 12 '14 at 13:22
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    That is not collaboration. It may or may not be reasonable to talk about test questions. But collaboration is not the word for that. – Frames Catherine White May 12 '14 at 13:45
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    This answer raises a good point. I think many of the other answers (including mine) were taking for granted the OP's judgement that the proposed activity would constitute cheating, and giving an answer to the general question "what should I do when someone proposes cheating?" – Trevor Wilson May 12 '14 at 17:11
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Sorry, I'm old school. You don't lie, cheat or steal. Additionally you don't tolerate anyone who lies, cheats or steals, particularly in an academic environment. I believe all students have a duty, an obligation, to report someone breaking those rules, period. That's part of being a responsible adult. Accepting that poor behavior among your peers erodes the quality of your education. Yes, when the peer group doesn't always support it, it does take a lot of character, strength and personal courage to do the right thing. Oh.. and just imagine for a moment.. what if this person was your best friend? That decision takes lots of courage and is very difficult. Good luck with your dilemma.

Oh, and whom to speak to first? I would start with either of the two teachers involved. I'd hope you'd get the same response from either of them. They have been trained for this situation, and will direct you as to possible next steps. Note: is there a university policy on this with a specific process to follow? If so follow it. If not talk to either teacher.. probably the one who knows your integrity and credibility better.

zipzit
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    You seem to be expressing a lot of 'attitude' in your answer. "welcome to the adult world. Accepting that poor behavior .... speaks volumes about your lack of character ...". That reads like you are insulting me. I'm not sure if you intended to. Perhaps you would like to reword it to use a more neutral tone?

    You also fail to recommend who to report them too, which was a major part of my question.

     – Frames Catherine White May 12 '14 at 08:35
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    You are absolutely right. Apologies. I just had that argument with a 25 year old family member and it totally didn't go well. His peer group believes strongly that you shouldn't report others, mind your own business. I apologize for projecting my experiences onto you. Your first step, sharing the question with this forum has shown your courage to address the issue. I will re-write. And thanks for rekindling my hope in a younger generation! – zipzit May 12 '14 at 21:22
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    Thanks. Your improvements to the answer are appreciated. – Frames Catherine White May 13 '14 at 13:23
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Here is my evaluation of the options that you mentioned.

Ignore it, and block him on facebook.

This option is fine, but in my opinion is a bit lazy.

Tell him no, and refer him to the universities plagiarism/cheating policy

This couldn't hurt, but probably he will just ignore it.

Speak to the Professor of Unit Y about it (that we are both studying).

A good option. Another related option that I don't think anyone has mentioned yet is telling the professor about the request but not mentioning John's name. Most professors would (or should) appreciate hearing in general terms about ways that students are cheating in their classes.

Speak to the Professor of Unit X about it.

It is probably better to speak to the professor in charge of you and John at the moment.

Speak to the Head of School (sub-department), who is above both units

Speak to the University Dean who is in charge of enforcing the Academic Misconduct policy. (Will probably mean going though channels)

I don't think it is a good idea to go over the professor's head unless you think that he or she is not taking the matter seriously.

Community
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Trevor Wilson
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Let me defend the middle ground here.

First of all, we're hearing only one side of the story here. Although, the case may seem straightforward, I do find the proposition of John strange. If he had simply asked for the solutions from last year's course without offering anything in return, this wouldn't have been an issue at all. It's like asking a girl out but also offering her money to improve your chances.

Also, everyone seems to be taking for granted that his suggestion of cheating necessarily means that he has cheated before or even that he will cheat again. In fact, this person, who is a student, and whose case is relayed to us by someone who admits to disliking him, has already been labeled a serial cheater and is even considered to be very likely to use cheating as his primary means in obtaining a job!

Anyone who has given a little thought to the problem would realize that there is a limit to cheating. Cheaters do not pass all exams with 100%. You can't cheat your way through answering interview questions unless you actually understand what you're being asked.

One of the suggestions given here, which I think is the most appropriate, was to ask the instructors in general terms about the exact form of cheating and its consequences. Then you will be better positioned to decide whether or not to report someone directly.

user15206
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I finished a good university which helped me find a wonderful job. Cheating in the university is not the best thing to be done, but sometimes people have to do it in order to win - if you don't understand me I doubt you understand life - watch Arnold Schwarzenegger six rules of success. And I would like to tell you that reporting your colleague is very stupid in my opinion - why you need to do such a bad thing to him? Did he do something bad to you - no... Maybe it's best that you ignore it, but for sure you don't need to report him - you will make him unhappy, and if you ignore it nobody'll be unhappy, right? If you obey all the rules (I'm talking about the rules, not the law) you won't go far in your life... If you don't believe me check the most successful guys in the planet - what do you think, they obeyed all the rules and never cheated on anything??? Think out of the box. I know intelligent guys with great academic experience and at the same time guys who only graduated school and are 100 more successful than the first. Be cool, don't take things so seriously - it's not a robbery or a rape, as I said - take action when somebody's been made unhappy, this is not the case. And now you're about to make someone unhappy, why?

John Parcker
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    Hi John. I see that you are new here so I won't vote you down but there are several problems with your answer. Consider how a teacher would mark this answer. First, you say nobody gets hurt but others do get hurt. Those who do not cheat are measured lower than they should be, compared to the one who did cheat. As far as success, how do you define success? If it is by material acquisition, then anything done by the wealthy is acceptable? Your logic is on a slipper slope. – earthling May 12 '14 at 11:52
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    But cheating does make others unhappy, just like cutting in line does. (And does Arnold Schwarzenegger let people cut in front of him in line? I wouldn't try it.) – Trevor Wilson May 12 '14 at 17:05
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    Did he do something bad to you — Yeah, actually, if I followed the rules, he did something bad to me by breaking them. – JeffE May 12 '14 at 21:50
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    John Parcker, You probably want to read those six rules again, IN CONTEXT. (http://www.graduationwisdom.com/speeches/0067-schwarzenegger.htm) Rule #2, Break the Rules is not about cheating, its about NOT listening to other's stereotype beliefs of 'it can't be done that way'. – zipzit May 12 '14 at 22:36
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    This answer strikes me as a justification for avoiding responsibility. It makes me want to make the answerer unhappy - why? - to snap him out of a nasty frame of mind. Such "success" comes at a price, both for the cheater, and those around him. – Dronz Nov 14 '14 at 20:18
  • The large downvote reaction to your answer should prompt you to recognise that such behaviour as you tolerate, advocate or even seem to admire will serve you very badly in life. Once you are found out, you will be shunned and will not succeed. – Anton Jan 03 '22 at 10:00