School moves to police students online

[BP-TheGuy88]

<p>[The</a> Eyeopener Online](<a href=“http://theeyeopener.com/article/3816]The”>http://theeyeopener.com/article/3816)

School moves to police students online
Posted on 03/05/08
Written by Adrian Morrow</p>

<p>(The Eyeopener) - A first-year student is on the brink of being expelled for running an online study group.
Chris Avenir, a chemical engineering student, joined the Facebook group “The Dungeon/Mastering Chemistry Solutions” to seek help and examples from other students for upcoming tests and assignments.
After an administrator discovered the group, Avenir’s professor gave him an F in the course, charged him with academic misconduct and recommended that he be expelled. Of the 146 members, Avenir was singled out because he was designated as a group administrator. He says he is being treated unfairly, especially since never posted any answers on the discussion pages.
“What we did wasn’t any different than tutoring, than tri-mentoring, than having a library study group,” Avenir said. “I’m being charged with something I didn’t commit.”
This is the first strike in a new offensive by Ryerson to crack down on student conduct on the Internet and off campus. This week, the school brought a policy to Senate that would extend its Non-Academic Student Code of Conduct to incidents that happen online.
“The student code of conduct needed updating, recognizing that there are things like Facebook, YouTube, stuff like that out there,” said President Sheldon Levy. The change to the policy was partly prompted by Ryerson students who set up “white culture” groups on Facebook last year.
The proposed changes would also give the school the power to punish students for infractions that happen off campus, if they’re using the Ryerson name at the time.
The policy and Avenir’s pending expulsion have ignited student opposition to the university’s bid for more authority over student behaviour.
“The university is interfering in students’ personal lives,” said Salman Omer, a third-year aerospace engineering student and Senate member. “This is an infringement of our rights.”
Ryerson’s actions are part of a trend at North American universities to police students’ online activities, opening a debate on security culture. South of the border, Georgia’s Valdosta State University expelled student Hayden Barnes in January for posting a collage online that made fun of the school president.
And when Trent University in Peterborough, Ont. tried to bring in a similar policy, 2,000 students signed a petition to get the policy killed. “People really feel that the Internet shouldn’t be policed,” said Tyler Roach, president of the Trent Central Students’ Association. “There’s a large contingent [of students] that thinks we shouldn’t even have a student non-academic policy.”
Kim Neale, student issues and advocacy co-ordinator with the Ryerson Students’ Union, thinks the move to police students’ activities outside school will create a culture of fear on campus. “When did we lose faith in our students and how they behave?” Neale said.
The issue highlights a generation gap between students who use the Internet as an informal forum and school administrators who are trying to figure out how to deal with it, she said.
“I don’t think any university has caught up with the technology,” she said, pointing out that none of the adult members of the Senate committee that drafted the policy have a Facebook account. The committee made a few compromises for students — such as protecting the right of students to hold protests off campus — but refused to budge on the Internet policy.
Levy maintains that the policy strikes a balance between students’ rights and the university’s desire to hold them accountable for what happens online.
“There’s lots of opportunities for a complaints process and appeals process as with all policies,” he said.
Now that the policy has been presented to Senate, there’s a month until it gets voted on. Some are fighting the policy by getting gangs of students to come to Senate and sign a petition.
So far, Avenir is the only member of the Facebook group charged with academic misconduct on the Internet.
He has an appeal on March 11 and, even if he wins, he’s hoping to get his friends involved in the fight to get the policy rolled back. Avenir has already missed an appeal because the school informed him of it in an e-mail rather than calling him. He thinks it’s ironic that the school would embrace one form of technology while punishing another.
“It’s stupid to reject new technology,” he said. “If they win this, it will set a precedent.”

Not really sure what went on in the Facebook group but assuming it was just the kind of help you get when studying in groups, then I’d say this is pretty dumb of the school to do.</p>

[1of42]

<p>Bahahahaha… Ryerson.</p>

<p>Sorry for that, but Ryerson is a bit of a joke of a university for anything other than media studies.</p>

<p>Of course it was a dumb thing for the school to do… it’s a dumb school!</p>

[austin]

<p>this is idiotic and doesn’t make any sense.</p>

[HisGraceFillsMe]

<p>Seems awfully High School-ish to me.</p>

<p>No. I just insulted high schools. </p>

<p>Seems awfuly MIDDLE SCHOOL-ish to me.</p>

[nontraditional]

<p>It looks as if the group advertises itself as a place for people to post solutions to homework problems. The student in question is a group admin.</p>

<p>But the group’s members say that although nobody ever has posted solutions to homework problems, people do ask for and give help on homework.</p>

<p>The homework counts toward the final grade in the class.</p>

<p>Every school I’ve attended has had policies forbidding students from getting help actually doing one’s homework. The fact that a bunch of Ryerson students seem to be saying that everybody cheats and therefore it’s unfair that the school penalizes the students who get caught when other people get away with it doesn’t impress me.</p>

[erhswimming]

<p>I’m glad our school did away with a similar policy that allowed them to give students write-ups/reprimands for pictures with alcohol on Facebook.</p>

[OKgirl]

<p>I know that high schools check internet activity, but I had no clue that colleges did that!</p>

[Reddune]

<p>Wow! Next thing you know it, they want to install cameras in our dorms, to keep us safe from the Boogey man. And what happens to free-speech and innocent-before-proven-guilty? </p>

<p>P.S.
I have never heard of any of these schools before. Are 3rd-4th Tier schools losing their grip on reality?</p>

[AUlostchick]

<p>Getting help on your homework is not cheating, nontraditional. There are alot of really awful professors who give problems for homework but don’t explain how to actually DO it; asking someone for help when you don’t understand is wrong? I doubt it’s as if the person is like, “here is my homework, work these out for me please so I can turn them in tomorrow morning.” It’s probably more like, “there’s this one kind of problem I don’t understand, what do I do?” and then someone says, “well give me an example of the problem and I’ll see if I can help you.” and then they pick out one of the problems in their homework that is like that. It’s the same thing as if you had a friend sitting next to you explain it, or if you hired a tutor to explain it, or whatever. </p>

<p>This whole thing is total BS.
And so is the expulsion of that student in Georgia. that’s like saying you can’t call your professor an ass hole or say that President Bush is a moron. that’s effing freedom of speech! As long as you aren’t saying something violent or harmful about them, it should be allowed.</p>

[1of42]

<p>The key question is whether collaboration is allowed for the course for which the group was created. If so, there is no basis for the actions taken. Otherwise, it’s very possible that the kid should be expelled for cheating.</p>

[apumic]

<p>Unless it’s an exam (incl. take home exams), I’ve never heard of a prof saying you CANNOT get a friend’s help. Homework is supposed to be when you learn to do the work by practicing. If you’re struggling, then, by all means, you should certainly be getting help from other students, TAs, tutors, the prof…
If this group gave out actually answers, then I can see where that is a breach of academic integrity, but the whole point in most schools providing free tutoring services and writing centers is for students to come in and get assistance on homework or their papers! The tutors don’t give you the answers persay, but they point you in the right direction. That’s what I would expect this group was doing – in which case, it seems totally fine to me.</p>