Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am submitting this letter of appeal to appeal the sanction issued by Professor Mark Ormiston, the instructor of the BCHM 218. I received unsolicited images of the BCHM 218 final exam and did not save them in fear of causing a breach of academic integrity. At the time, I did not know that the failure to report was unacceptable. I now realize the seriousness and implications of what I failed to do. I sincerely regret my lack of action and have learned a lot from this process. However, I believe that the sanction is stronger than what it should be, and so request a lessening of that sanction.

The final exam opened on the morning of December 19th and the images of the questions were sent to me later that evening. The images were sent without my request or knowledge. They were sent through Snapchat, which is an application where the images disappear after being opened. I had no interest in looking at the images, so I closed them and did not think of it any further. I did not download the images nor did I send them to any other students. As I did not download the images, I did not use them to prepare for the final exam. I received the unsolicited images of the exam without the knowledge that an individual had made that decision to take pictures of the questions. Knowing that spreading the information was wrong, I chose not to spread this information to other students in order to prevent further spread of the breach.

The exam was suspended on December 20th at 4pm and I was scheduled to write it on December 21st at 9am. Due to my limited involvement in the situation, I did not see a reason to immediately report it. On December 21st at 10am, an email was sent to the students from Professor Ormiston stating that the final exam questions were leaked. In his email, Professor Ormiston stated that ??We know the identity of the individual responsible for the leak and have issued a ?notice of investigation??, which is the first step in cases like this.? The only information that I had was who sent it to me, which is stated he already knew. Given this, I did not see a reason to come forward as it would not have had any utility to the investigation. Furthermore, Professor Ormiston??s email disclosed that ??Any individuals who are known to have had the exam questions available to them and (a) chose to write regardless and/or (b) passed these questions on to other students will also be issued notices of investigation.? Neither of these criteria applied to me; I did not write the exam and I did not pass the questions on to other students. Given the information from the email, I did not believe that I would have to come forward nor that I would be involved in the investigation. Subsequently, on January 4th, I received a notice of investigation and on January 13th, I received a Finding of a Departure from Academic Integrity notice from Professor Ormiston that stated that I would receive a mark of zero on my final exam.

As a second year student who spent their first year at home, I have never before faced situations of academic integrity transgression. I have known that cheating is not tolerated, however, I did not know that I was required to notify the professor of a breach by others and I was unaware that it carried a great penalty. I am a very hardworking student with aspirations of attending medical school. I have a 3.4 GPA and participate in clubs such as MEDLife in order to help me achieve what I want to do in the future. Receiving a zero on my exam would result in me failing the class. Having an F on my transcript would not only prevent me from attending medical school, but would significantly lower my GPA for other graduate programs as well. Although I strongly understand the seriousness of the situation, I did not know that it was inappropriate to not report a breach and this given sanction, and the consequences it carries for my future, goes beyond what I believe is fair.

I sincerely apologize to Professor Ormiston and my peers for what my lack of knowledge to take action has caused. I have learned a lot over the past few weeks, and I am now well-aware of what I should do if I face a similar situation again. Henceforward, I will report any breach of academic integrity that comes to my attention, whether I am involved or not.

Ultimately, I accept that some sanction is necessary because I have come to realize my inaction was wrong. However, I believe that the failure on my exam currently assigned is too severe. I hope that you consider the impact that this will have on my future and appreciate that I have learned a lot throughout this process. Thank you for your time and consideration. If you feel it would be helpful to your decision, I would appreciate the opportunity to go over this situation with you.

Sincerely,
Jordana Su
20221524