I teach at a small public university in a physical sciences department. A student of mine was found to be in possession of a cheat-sheet in the sophomore level class. She was issued a grade of F for the course, as explicitly outlined in my syllabus. In the grievance process, the faculty upheld my decision to assign an F to the student. But, she continued her grievance to the Provost's office, and was allowed to retake the examination in question, and her grade was re-calculated.
Bear in mind, gentle readers, that she was interning out of state during the summer when the situation had to be rectified, and at the expense of the university she was flown in to re-take that examination. In the end she still failed the exam, which lowered her overall grade to a C, instead of the prescribed F for her earlier transgression during the spring semester. Where is she now, you ask? She is mid-way through her graduate pharmacy studies.
It is quite clear that the policies of our department, the ones put in place to maintain a standard of ethical behavior, are incogruous with those of the university administration as a whole. It is also quite clear that those who are establishing rules which our little darlings should strive to follow in their professional lives, don't give a fuck about whether someone who can't calculate a pharmaceutical formulation properly will actually go out and make such formulations.
Customers at pharmacies across this glorious nation of cheaters and plagiarizers beware...there is a slack-ass dipshit about to push your pills to you.
