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I really hope the phone call I had with one of my students was not recorded.
I am an academic advisor for an online school and have approximately 400 students, so I tell every student that I will get back to them within 24 hours. Most people do not have a problem with this time frame because usually I get back to my students within a couple of hours. However, I had one student who emailed me regarding an issue with her professor. The professor accused the student of plagiarism. So she emailed me and told me how unacceptable this situation was. While I am reading her email the phone rings, guess who it was.....
You guessed it my wonderful student. Here is the conversation that we had:
Me-
SS-Sucky Student
Me: Thank you for calling school's name, this is me, how can I help you?
SS: Hi this is Stupid Student; I sent you an email regarding my professor twenty minutes ago.
Me: I just got it; I am in the middle of reading it right now. You said your professor accused you of plagiarizing the work?
SS: Yes, but that is stupid all I did was copy and paste it from a website.
Me:
That would be the definition of plagiarism, taking someone else's work and copying it.
SS: But it was a rough draft and I was not finished with it yet.
Me: Regardless, you copied someone else's work....
SS: It was a rough draft!
Me: I understand that it was a rough draft but you just said you copied and pasted your paper from a website.
SS: It was a rough draft and the professor gave me a 0 so what should I do?
Me: You should accept the 0 and not do it again, you learned a lesson regarding coping and pasting other people's work. Your professor is not failing you, which he could have; he is just giving you a 0 on that particular assignment.
SS: But it is not fair, and you are my Academic Advisor and you should be able to fix it.
Me: What would you like me to do in order to help you? I can go over the plagiarism policy with you and guide you to different resources to help you right papers so this does not happen again.
SS: No, I want you to fix it.
Me: Stupid Student you just said you copied the work, is that correct?
SS: Yes, so?
Me: That would be considered plagiarism. Because of that your professor gave you a 0. You can make up the 0 on your final paper. Your professor has not turned you over to the university, in which you could fail the course or have been dismissed...
SS: For what?
Me: For coping someone's work and saying it is your own work.
SS: That is stupid. It is even more stupid that I had to what for you to read my email.
Me: Stupid Student, I understand your frustration however I have 400 students and I let you know in the beginning that I have 24 hours to get back to you. You only gave me 20 minutes before calling me.
SS: This is still stupid.
Me: I understand that, however I cannot change the policy.
SS: So you are telling me that a professor can just give a student a 0
Me: Yes
SS: And there is nothing you can do about it.
Me: No, because the professor has justification and explained to you why you received a 0.
SS: You are no help to me.
Me: I am trying to help you however I do not know what you want me to do.
SS: I want you to get the professor to change my grade.
Me: I cannot do that, if you have a problem with the professor you can fill out an instructional issues form, however you would have to explain that your professor gave you a 0 because you copied other people's work, so the committee might decide to forward it on to the Dean of College.
SS: You know I pay $20,000 a year (not true, more like $10,000) for this school and I should be getting treated fairly.
Me: We are treating you as fair, we are not kicking you out of school, which we could.
SS: You know I pay your salary.
Me: Excuse me?
SS: I pay your salary.
Me: Ok
SS: And I expect you to fix this for me
Me: (Thinking of a response)
SS: Because I pay your salary
Me: I do not understand what you would like me to do.
SS: I WANT YOU TO FIX IT! I pay your salary and as my advisor you should fix my problems, because I pay your salary.
Me: Since you pay my salary can I have a raise?
SS: What?
Me: You kept telling me that you pay my salary I asked if I could have a raise.
SS: I am going to a different university. CLICK
I guess that means I cannot have a raise.
I probably should have not said that but I was on the phone listening to the same thing for over thirty minutes and I had enough. So, I really hope this phone conversation was not taped because I really do not want to try and explaining this to my boss.
I am an academic advisor for an online school and have approximately 400 students, so I tell every student that I will get back to them within 24 hours. Most people do not have a problem with this time frame because usually I get back to my students within a couple of hours. However, I had one student who emailed me regarding an issue with her professor. The professor accused the student of plagiarism. So she emailed me and told me how unacceptable this situation was. While I am reading her email the phone rings, guess who it was.....
You guessed it my wonderful student. Here is the conversation that we had:
Me-
SS-Sucky Student
Me: Thank you for calling school's name, this is me, how can I help you?
SS: Hi this is Stupid Student; I sent you an email regarding my professor twenty minutes ago.
Me: I just got it; I am in the middle of reading it right now. You said your professor accused you of plagiarizing the work?
SS: Yes, but that is stupid all I did was copy and paste it from a website.
Me:
That would be the definition of plagiarism, taking someone else's work and copying it.SS: But it was a rough draft and I was not finished with it yet.
Me: Regardless, you copied someone else's work....
SS: It was a rough draft!
Me: I understand that it was a rough draft but you just said you copied and pasted your paper from a website.
SS: It was a rough draft and the professor gave me a 0 so what should I do?
Me: You should accept the 0 and not do it again, you learned a lesson regarding coping and pasting other people's work. Your professor is not failing you, which he could have; he is just giving you a 0 on that particular assignment.
SS: But it is not fair, and you are my Academic Advisor and you should be able to fix it.
Me: What would you like me to do in order to help you? I can go over the plagiarism policy with you and guide you to different resources to help you right papers so this does not happen again.
SS: No, I want you to fix it.
Me: Stupid Student you just said you copied the work, is that correct?
SS: Yes, so?
Me: That would be considered plagiarism. Because of that your professor gave you a 0. You can make up the 0 on your final paper. Your professor has not turned you over to the university, in which you could fail the course or have been dismissed...
SS: For what?
Me: For coping someone's work and saying it is your own work.
SS: That is stupid. It is even more stupid that I had to what for you to read my email.
Me: Stupid Student, I understand your frustration however I have 400 students and I let you know in the beginning that I have 24 hours to get back to you. You only gave me 20 minutes before calling me.
SS: This is still stupid.
Me: I understand that, however I cannot change the policy.
SS: So you are telling me that a professor can just give a student a 0
Me: Yes
SS: And there is nothing you can do about it.
Me: No, because the professor has justification and explained to you why you received a 0.
SS: You are no help to me.
Me: I am trying to help you however I do not know what you want me to do.
SS: I want you to get the professor to change my grade.
Me: I cannot do that, if you have a problem with the professor you can fill out an instructional issues form, however you would have to explain that your professor gave you a 0 because you copied other people's work, so the committee might decide to forward it on to the Dean of College.
SS: You know I pay $20,000 a year (not true, more like $10,000) for this school and I should be getting treated fairly.
Me: We are treating you as fair, we are not kicking you out of school, which we could.
SS: You know I pay your salary.
Me: Excuse me?
SS: I pay your salary.
Me: Ok
SS: And I expect you to fix this for me
Me: (Thinking of a response)
SS: Because I pay your salary
Me: I do not understand what you would like me to do.
SS: I WANT YOU TO FIX IT! I pay your salary and as my advisor you should fix my problems, because I pay your salary.
Me: Since you pay my salary can I have a raise?
SS: What?
Me: You kept telling me that you pay my salary I asked if I could have a raise.
SS: I am going to a different university. CLICK
I guess that means I cannot have a raise.
I probably should have not said that but I was on the phone listening to the same thing for over thirty minutes and I had enough. So, I really hope this phone conversation was not taped because I really do not want to try and explaining this to my boss.
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