Leaving CCSU With Mud On My Face

I have officially finished my academic year at Central Connecticut State University, and therefore have completed my second year at university altogether. Despite all the highs of the year regarding my learnings, I left the biggest low until the last minute, tripping at the finish line and landing in a giant cow pat.

I'm No Longer A Blue Devil

Upon checking my email I was greeted with the following message:

Hi Phil,
I'm sad to say I'm going to have to fail you for the semester, as a substantial portion of your Portfolio is plagiarized. I've turned in an Academic Misconduct Report to the English Department Chair and the Office of Student Conduct, as well as evidence of the plagiarism (a copy of your paper with plagiarized sections highlighted and links to the sites from which you copied and pasted text. I'll attach it here as well.). I'm really disappointed that you tried to take the "easy" way out - and that some of your best lines were probably someone else's. And to be honest, I'm offended that you thought you could get one over on me and pass other people's work off as your own. I hope that this is a one-time error in judgment, but given the fact that it occurs in both papers you included in your portfolio, I tend to doubt it. I also hope it isn't something you're doing in your published pieces since, for that, you can get in a lot worse trouble than failing a course.Debbie

As the words slowly sank into my brain, my heart sank and my guts turned to mush. I was confused, what on earth had I done? As I clicked the file I began to scroll through my work until I found highlighted text. It turns out that my technique for writing complex info had landed me head first in the cow pat. 

The portfolio was a complex information piece as well as a travel article about New Orleans. To help me structure the pieces and prevent myself from going off on a tangent never to return, I copy and paste research into a word file (this also prevents me flicking between windows on the laptop). I then work up to a particular 'cut and pasted' section, rewrite it, delete it, then work towards the next. I've used this technique numerous times since I was a secondary school and had never fallen foul. Upon reading my plagiarised (yes, spelt with an 'S' not a 'Z' Debbie) I noticed how in my rush to complete the paper, my rush to draw a line under my second year, my rush to celebrate a great year, I didn't proofread my work and notice that I hadn't deleted the copy and pasted sections. 

In mad panic I sent a barrage of emails to my tutor here as well as back at UCLan. Personally I found it unprofessional to hurl accusations my way without allowing me to defend and or explain myself, for all she knew I simply uploaded the wrong file to the system. My tutor back home told me that everything would be ok, she would support me and said I could use her for a character reference. She told me to ask about an appeal and a possible re-submission. My tutor at CCSU just sent me an appeal link, nothing else. Surely this information should have been offered to me from the get go, not after asking?

My appeal letter read as follows:

Dear Dr. Cohen,

                        I am writing in accordance to the recent accusation of academic misconduct for the course: Creative Non Fiction II, Course Number: 375, Professor: Deborah Bradford.

            Attached to this letter you fill find the piece of work in which the accusation refers to. Now denying the fact that it includes plagiarism would be ignorant and stupid of me. It is there in black and white. My appeal is based upon a simple mistake and a writing technique that obviously needs to change.

            The reason that there is content in the paper that is not mine is that when I begin a paper, I research the topic and copy and paste segments into a word document for the sake of structure. By doing this it allows me to write to a template, so to speak, and prevents me going off on a tangent. This technique allows me to be as clear and concise as possible.

            As I begin the paper, I write up to, and around the copy and pasted text, and then delete it. A bit like doing a ‘dot to dot’ and then deleting the dots once the paper is completed. The reason that this paper contains content that is not mine is simply down to the fact that I forgot to delete the copied text, and join up the segments before and after.

            Plagiarism is something that I have never been accused of in the past, and upon informing my tutor back in England was told that she will support me to the fullest, as she knows that this is not in my nature. Something that I believe my tutors at CCSU will back me up on. Since being in America I have worked hard to gain a 3.75 GPA and have a good relationship with my professors. If you wish to use them as a character reference I’m sure they would speak highly of me.

Professor D’Ambrosio – Magazine Writing (mary.dambrosio@...............)

Professor Dolan – Playwriting (dolanan@..............)

Professor Dunne – Advanced Composition (dunne@.............)

Professor Hazuka – Creative Fiction II (hazukaj@.....................)

Professor Martin – News Writing & Reporting II (martinv@.............)

Professor Shankar – Poetry II (shankarr@............)

Professor Sweeney – Intro To Broadcast News (sweeneyda@..................)

Catharine Frances – My tutor back home in England (cfrances@............)

            I would even go as far as saying that even Professor Bradford would agree that prior to this incident, I was nothing but a solid member of the class who interacted and partook in every aspect of the lessons. I was always punctual, and only missed class when it was agreed between the two of us.

           I am nearing 26 years of age and returned to University to achieve something. I am not here, like many other students, because I don’t want to join the real world or because I don’t know what to do with my life. I’ve worked hard doing jobs that I’ve despised to save up enough money to return to education so that I have the best options in the future. I did not return to University to look for shortcuts, nor to cheat and lie my way to a degree.

I am guilty of many things. I am guilty of rushing, of being careless, of not paying close attention to line level details, of a poor drafting process, of not fully understanding the citing technique used at CCSU, and of not proof reading my work. I am, however, not guilty of deliberate plagiarism.

            I throw myself at the mercy of the authorities to reconsider my failed grade and to consider the paper that I should have handed in. The paper that I have sent to Professor Bradford, and the paper that I have included in with this appeal.

            I thank you very much for your time, and your consideration. I hope that you can look at this from my point of view and hope that you can give me a second chance. I wish to leave CCSU with good memories.

                                    Yours faithfully

                                    Philip North

During the appeal it was apparent that they do not allow re-submissions and that all they cared about was that I had plagiarised. From across the boardroom table, questions fired at me from all angles from the five strangers sat along it regarding my reasons for plagiarising, my apparent writing technique, and my academic history. They weren't budging. The result, failing the course and no further punishment. 

My First Sight Of CCSU. Never Judge A Book
By It's Cover

That's not the end of it. It turns out that I used a section of my Creative Non-Fiction II paper in my Magazine Writing paper. They were both about travel but the Magazine article was much longer. In panic I alerted my Magazine Writing tutor that I may have fallen foul and if possible could she mark a resubmission. It turns out that she was unaware of any plagiarism. Some tutors use 'turn it in' an online plagiarism checker - turns out she wasn't one of them. Upon receiving my email she was more angry that I had used part of a paper for two classes, apparently this is also breaking the rules. After pleading ignorance she advised that I withdraw the paper from her class and take a 0 for that section of the course, lowering my grade from a B+ to a B. Turns out that she had already marked everything - I should have kept my mouth shut. Honesty is not always the best possibility.

In regards to finishing the course at UCLan, I panicked as I originally thought that they wouldn't allow me to continue into my 3rd year and I don't have the finance to repeat 2nd year. I have been reassured by my tutor that they will arrange for me to pick up another module to make up the credits needed to graduate, unfortunately odds are that my grade for this class will be capped at a bare pass. 

Looking on the bright side, I get more information/classes for my tuition money. As teachers keep telling me, it's not about the grade you finish with, but the knowledge you get from the class. 

So, all in all I finished with the following grades.

CREATIVE WRITING
Creative Fiction II - A
Playwriting - A
Poetry - A-
Advanced Composition - B+
Creative Non Fiction II - F

JOURNALISM
News Writing & Reporting II - B+
Introduction To Broadcast News - B+
Magazine Writing - B+ lowered to a B