Don't Drop the Soap

Perhaps the hardest part of teaching is dealing with academic dishonesty. Cheating on exams, essays and lab reports is rampant, and there's very much one can do. It's usually very hard to accuse a student of cheating and to provide the proof of it.

I think that most students have cheated in one form or another in school, but we've got to be willing to pay the penalty for our actions. From what I've seen, most instructors make a judgment call depending on how severe they feel it is.

Not to get into details, but a student (not one of mine) created an entire web of lies (that included me) surrounding an entire semester's worth of work. Completely suspicious, the said student has yet to provide a reasonable answer to how this work was done and provides a changing story every single time. We had a small 'hearing' yesterday, and the chair ruled to send it off to the disciplinary branch of the university. No doubt, he will get kicked out.

I genuinely feel bad for the kid, as he made a stupid mistake, and we should all be able to make mistakes. Also, his entire college is done for, and tens of thousands (if not hundreds?) of dollars are down the drain.

Students are well aware of the rules, and must abide by them and pay the penalties if they are found to not abide by them.