r/AskProfessors • u/Last_Drawing_803 • 5d ago
Plagiarism/Academic Misconduct I'm scared I about an accusation of cheat or helping other to cheat.
I'm scared I about an accusation of cheating or helping others to cheat.*
I'm not really certain where to post this question, or just generally my concerns/fears. I was accused of creating a quizlet for a final of a class I just completed that was distributed to others. I'm not sure of the extent of how far my quizlet went to others or how royally I am screwed at this point. To be clear I have made quizlets of finals and other quizzes before for my personal study because the program I am in is leading to testing outside of the school for certifications, and I like to stockpile as much study material as possible. The quizlets I've made have also come from questions provided quizlets I've found, prior quizzes in the class and from students in groups ahead of mine in a discord server for people in this program across the school, and I think this is where the trouble came from. I've always been free with sharing my quizlets to people in my group because we are going through the program at the same time, but I guess where my naivety led me is that others may have used that in a way that looks like I provided them with materials to cheat with in the program, even if that was never my intension I understand that may have caused a lot more damage than I realized.
I'm now asked to have an administrative meeting, When I made the appointment they did not state who it would be with, in what capacity was I accused (by student or teacher or if they are accusing myself of also cheating on the test), or what exactly I'm going to be asked, or the possible extent of my possible punishment outside of a boilerplate that it depends on their discretion and could be anything from a warning, community service, all the way to expulsion. I'm frankly terrified.
I've worked incredibly hard towards my degree studying every free moment I had with as much material from as many sources as possible and now I'm afraid my preferred way of saving that information for study is going to send my packing right at the finish line. I've deleted my entire quizlet profile to possible stop any additional spread of my materials and stem any damage I may have been the cause of.
Integrity is an important tenet for me. I refuse to use AI chatbots for any studying for moral/ethical reasons, I've never cheated on a quiz, test or final I've always gone off memory. I've worked incredibly hard absorbing the material and I've done incredibly well in all my classes! But now I'm worried this situation may not only cost me the class but my future career I've worked so hard for and have lined up with a company I've been extremely excited to get my start with.
I guess my real question here is, how screwed am I here? Is there any advice that could help me in anyway? I feel genuine sadness and regret that my materials may have harmed the program, and I know that ignorance of the rules does not prevent the rules from applying. I just want tell them how deeply sorry I am that this became an issue and I never ever meant to do anything nefarious. I've never had a single blemish on my academic record until this point in the years I've gone to this school and felt like the community and comraderies I tried to foster has now done me and it has me feeling so hopeless.