Top Five Mistakes When Dealing With Academic Misconduct: Legally Blind Justice Podcast Episode 33
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Welcome to Legally Blind Justice, the podcast where we confront the toughest challenges facing students in their academic journey. Hosted by Tim Markley, Senior Director for Student Defense at K. Altman Law, this show provides essential insights and practical advice for navigating accusations of academic misconduct.
In today’s episode, we discuss academic misconduct: what it is, how accusations arise, and the top five mistakes students make when facing these allegations. Whether it’s plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, or self-citation issues, we guide you step-by-step through the process and offer strategies to protect your academic future.
Learn how to avoid common errors like overreacting, prematurely admitting guilt, ignoring university procedures, or attempting to face accusations alone. Discover how preparation, understanding your institution’s policies, and seeking the right support can make all the difference.
Tune in to hear real-life stories, actionable tips, and lessons that will empower you to handle academic misconduct accusations with confidence and integrity.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Success is determined on a case-by-case basis, and there is no representation that the services provided by K. Altman Law are superior to those of other attorneys.
Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more students navigate these critical challenges! For additional resources, visit us at www.kaltmanlaw.com.
Show Transcript: This is an auto generated transcript and may contain errors.
This podcast is for information only and should not be considered legal advice. There is no representation that the legal services to be performed by LOCA are better than the services of other attorneys. There is no guarantee of the outcome. Success is rendered on a case-by-case basis. Welcome to the Legally Blind Justice podcast, the podcast where we tackle the toughest challenges facing students in their academic journey.
Today's episode is all about academic misconduct. What it is, how accusations arise, and, more importantly, what I consider the top five errors that students make when accused. I'm your host, Tim Markley, and I serve as the Senior Director for Student Defense at K. Altman Law. So whether it's a misunderstanding, an honest mistake, or a deliberate act, being accused of academic misconduct
can be overwhelming. But there's good news. With the right approach, you can navigate the process effectively. So we're going to break it down step by step so you'll be prepared if this ever happens to you. So stick around. This is an episode you don't want to miss. So, let's start with this. What is academic misconduct? On the surface, it might seem obvious. Cheating, plagiarism, like things like that. But in reality, it's much broader and includes a lot of gray area.
that students don't often think about. So the most common examples of academic misconduct include plagiarism, copying or paraphrasing someone else's work without proper attribution. That includes plagiarizing yourself by using older papers that you've done in a different class. It's cheating using unauthorized materials to collaborate on assignments meant to be done individually.
falsifying data, sources, or even research. And then facilitation, helping others commit misconduct, such as sharing completed assignments or old tests. And finally, contract cheating, paying or coercing someone to do your work for you. Now, beyond these, there are less obvious forms, like reusing your own work, which I mentioned above, such as self-plagiarism. Now I once knew a student who got flagged
for plagiarism because they included a sentence from a draft of their final essay, but they forgot to cite the original draft. They didn't even realize that self citation could be an issue. Now, this is something we see a lot with freshmen, first time college students and foreign students who are coming here from a different university system that has different citation rules. That's why it's important to understand your institution's
academic integrity policy because every school handles and defines it differently. Now, some schools have zero-tolerance policies, meaning even minor infractions can lead to suspension. Other schools are more lenient. They have a kind of first-strike policy with just a warning. So take the time to read those school policies at the beginning of every semester or if you're transferring schools
when you move to that new school. Knowing the rules can save you from unnecessary trouble. Now, you can typically find these rules in your student handbook or on the school's website. And this is all critical because there's an emotional impact to being accused of academic misconduct. Imagine you're in the middle of finals week, juggling multiple deadlines.
and you get an email from your professor about academic integrity saying that you've been accused of misconduct. Now, what's your first reaction? For most students, it's panic. You might be shocked, embarrassed, or even angry. And these emotions are completely normal, but they can cloud your judgment if you're not careful. I had a client once who told me about getting an accusation for copying answers during a lab exam.
Now in reality, they'd simply glance at a neighbor's screen to double check the time left on the exam. But their initial reaction was to fire off an angry email accusing the professor of targeting them. That only made the situation worse. The key here is to stay calm. Take a moment to process what's happening. And remember, an accusation is not a conviction. It's the start of a process. And how you respond
will impact the outcome. Before doing anything, give yourself 24 hours to process the situation. Talk to someone you trust. It could be a friend, family member, academic advisor, or you even might reach out to an educational attorney. So let's move on and let's look at these top five errors that I think students make. Error number one.
panicking or overreacting. The first mistake you make is letting your emotions drive your actions. It's easy to feel defensive or outraged, but impulsive responses like sending angry emails, confronting the professor, or posting nasty stuff on social media can and will backfire on you. I worked with a student once who did exactly that after being accused of cheating.
went on a tirade on social media about how unfair the whole process was. Now, this post made it back to the academic integrity folks and it was used as evidence against them in their hearing. So remember, anything you say or do can be used to assess your character. So keep your communications professional and focused on resolving the issues. The second mistake I see students make.
admitting a guilt without understanding the accusations. This confessing prematurely can get you into trouble. Some students think that admitting guilt, whether guilty or not, will lead to a lighter punishment, get the matter over with, and they can move on, especially if they know that the school has a two-strike or three-strike policy as it relates to academic misconduct. Now, in reality,
This often limits your ability to defend yourself later. A student accused of plagiarism confesses because they didn't know how to properly cite a source. Now, later they realized the citation error was minor and it would have constituted plagiarism under their school's policy. Now, before admitting anything about those details, they should have looked at the policy
talk to someone and maybe we could have corrected that before they were actually charged with plagiarism and it ended up on their record. Now, that's not to say that sometimes admitting your mistake is the best policy, but don't do it immediately. Think about the rules, the consequences, and what you actually did. Review the evidence, and if it doesn't make sense, let's get some clarification before we roll into a meeting that will get you suspended.
put on probation or gets permanently placed on your record. Error number three, ignoring university procedures. Every school has a formal procedure for handling academic misconduct and ignoring results that can result in a direct guilty verdict. I've seen this happen with multiple students. They ignore a notice to meet with a professor. They ignore a notice about a hearing.
And when they don't show up, they're automatically found guilty because they failed to attend the hearing. Simply ignoring it won't make it go away. You've got to read all the correspondence carefully. You've got to make sure you know the deadlines. Show up for meetings and hearings. If you're unsure about the process, consult an advisor, legal counsel,
someone else. There are things like a five-day rule that can get you into trouble. Is it five business days or five calendar days that an appeal might be due? All of those things are important, so you've got to make sure you read those rules. Error number four. Going it alone. A fourth mistake is thinking that you have to handle everything yourself. Academic misconduct is complex and
You need support. Like I said, it can be an advisor, a parent, or a legal expert. They can make a difference because oftentimes, they're not as emotionally involved as you are, and they can see the big picture. They're not blinded by the emotion of the situation. So, a student accused of plagiarism that I worked with had a campus advocate who helped them demonstrate that their so-called plagiarism was actually a citation error.
They avoided penalties thanks to that guidance. Most schools allow you to bring a support person to a hearing. Don't hesitate to use this option. Even if the support person can't speak at that hearing on your behalf, can oftentimes they're there to provide moral support. And if you need to, you can ask for a break to have an outside conversation with that advisor. Now, error five, focusing only on the punishment.
don't fixate on the potential consequences. While it's natural to worry about punishment, this mindset prevents you from preparing a strong defense. I know of students who spent hours pleading for leniency instead of gathering evidence to show that their actions weren't intentional. As a result, they go into the hearing, they're talking about leniency, and the committee automatically assumes if you're asking for leniency, you gotta be guilty.
and they end up with the negative consequences. Instead, focus on presenting your side of the story. Gather evidence, drafts of your work, emails, assignments, instructions, anything to provide context for that argument that you were not guilty of this academic misconduct. So those are the five steps that I see folks make. Let's look at some things you can do to protect yourself and prevent that misconduct. Number one, as I've said this a hundred times,
Understand the rules. Read your school's academic integrity policy, and if you're unsure about assignments or guidelines, ask a professor. I recommend you use the same tools that the professors use when they're looking at your papers. Programs like Turn It In or Grammarly will tell you if your paper looks too much like an AI paper or too much of it looks to be plagiarized. So if you
Do those things ahead of time. That is a significant way to improve the quality of your paper and to improve the chances that you don't get accused of academic integrity. Communicate, communicate, communicate. If you're struggling, don't hesitate to reach out to your professor or an academic advisor. They are there to help you. Now, I will tell you to save those communications.
They may be helpful if you are eventually accused of some kind of academic misconduct. Manage your time. Procrastination leads to poor decisions like cutting corners or rushing through assignments. And this is especially true for college freshmen. There's a real feeling sometimes when you're a freshman, you're on your own for the first time, and you think, I can stay up all night, and I'll cram that paper out just before it's due.
and you find yourself cutting corners. Don't do that. Learn good study habits. That'll serve you all the way through college. So let's look at some of the lessons and things that we've learned here. Be prepared, read the rules, seek help. Now there are lots of stories about students accused of academic misconduct that I've been able to in my role to help students with.
I once had a student accused of cheating during an online exam who proved their innocence by being able to show their browser logs and showing that they didn't have unauthorized resources or didn't access other things. I had another student who admitted to a citation mistake but was able to work with the professor to fix that issue and to deal with the concerns. And instead of being cited for plagiarism,
He and the professor worked it out to teach how to do a proper citation. Now, those are just a couple of stories about what's happened and how to respond to accusations. So remember, academic misconduct can be daunting, but they don't have to derail your academic journey. Avoid the mistakes we discussed and follow the proactive steps so you can handle these situations with confidence and integrity.
There are a host of resources as well to help you. Your school has an academic integrity office and a website with all kinds of materials. There are academic advisors and campus advocates. There's legal aid if you need it to help you with these things. And remember, the university has a whole legal department to write up these rules and help them interpret these rules. And if they don't have an in-house legal department, they have an outside counsel who fills that role. So...
you need someone on your side. That could be an attorney, a parent, or someone trusted. But remember, get help, don't go it alone. So if you found this episode helpful, share it with your classmates, subscribe, leave us a review. You can also check us out on the web at khaltmanlaw.com.
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