On April 17, 2013 the Ashesi Judicial Committee (AJC) ruled in a case of alleged academic dishonesty involving a student from C2016 in the mid-semester exam for Programming 1. The student had asked the lecturer for re-grading after marked scripts were returned to the student for review. However, the lecturer found out that additional answers had been written on the script during the review period, presumably by the student. When confronted the student denied having altered the answers. At that point the lecturer presented evidence which confirmed that changes had indeed been made. Only after being shown the evidence, did the student admit to altering the script while under review.
Ashesi’s Code of Ethics states the following: “Ashesi University, its students, and its professional associations will not in any way condone cheating, lying, or any other misrepresentations.”
– Section 7.5, page 33 of Student Handbook.
Sanctions:
- The student will receive a failing grade (E) in the course and will need to repeat the course in order to graduate.
- The student will need to apologize to the lecturer.
- The student will need to submit a reflective paper to the Office of Student and Community Affairs in a meeting at the start of the 2013-2014 academic year.
The AJC would especially like to advise students of the following:
- All forms of cheating carry a penalty at Ashesi.
- The minimum sanction that the AJC issues a student if found guilty is a failing grade (E) for the course, regardless of the whether the paper/exam was worth 2% or 90% of the total course grade.
- If you are struggling in a course, seek help rather than resort to cheating. Even a ‘substandard’ grade will contribute more towards your final GPA than a failing grade will.
