Verdict: 6 weeks suspension

I was at a 9:30am meeting today with the University's Disciplinary Committee.   

What? Come again?

The University's Disciplinary Committee is a group of people, i.e. professors and student representatives, who come together to hear cases regarding academic misconduct.    I think every university has something like this and the purpose of these committees is to address issues that are beyond the department and faculty level.

So, I attended one of these this morning because I found a student plagiarized in her assignment in my course last term.  My Department held an internal meeting and decided that this case should be brought up to the University level.  So, that's the background.

I presented the case to the 7-member panel.  The student, who sat beside me, told her part of the story/explanation/justification.  After a few rounds of Q&A, both of us then waited in the adjacent room while the panel decided on the verdict and penalty. 

The verdict:  guilty and 6 weeks suspension. 

What do I think about the penalty?  Too light? Too heavy?  This is a final year student.  The extent of her plagiarism was, in my opinion, ridiculous.  It was a patchwork of different paragraphs copied directly from various original sources. 

It was a very very lenient punishment.

Am I happy about the outcome?  Yes, because I believe students deserve chances.  Not just a second chance, but many many more chances. 

Does the student hate me?  Probably.  Trust me, it was probably quite awkward that we had to sit together in the waiting room.  The knives didn't come out; I offered her tissues; she was crying; and I told her to breathe. 

How do I feel?  I feel sad.....sad that it had to come to this.  No teacher ever wants to punish their students. 

It's raining and thundering outside right now.  The sky is grey.  It's good weather today.