Owing to Covid 19 pandemic, in person classes were suspended from the start of March. That basically meant that  no classes were held and students had to learn all alone and remotely which was not quite convenient and presented a lot of hurdles. Unfortunately this university did not take any initiative to start live online classes like other universities did. If our university had also started these online classes then me and other students can learn their topics more conveniently and thoroughly. Moreover it would have given us the opportunity to ask questions if we had and and through out we would have been able to get an answer to our queries and would be able to get our concepts clarified. But this didn't happen at our university and we were not facilitated through online live classes. We were just given some limited PDF files and some website links to prepare for our exam which were not sufficient at all. As a result i was having problems to learn calculus after the shutdown. Moreover, by the end of March, I had a very high fever and i was sick for about a week. I took all the exams including other courses while I was under treatment and was laying in my bed. I managed to take the other courses using my phone where I just typed in and submitted the paper, but for calculus I had to do the Maths, which was not totally possible taking into account my deteriorating health condition. Moreover, please also consider that I had never studied Calculus in my life but it was a pre-requisite for computer science studies so I couldnt skip the exam. Furthermore, there were no online class system and calculus is not a subject where its possible to learn all alone without interacting with a teacher. Furthermore, owing to covid 19 and for staying home for prolong period of time I got very sick which was also a big difficulty to learn calculus

 

1) Classes suspended as a result learning calculus all alone staying home was near impossible as i never took calculus in my life and i had to take it because its a requirement for computer science studies

2) There was no online class system and calculus is not a subject where its possible to learn all alone without interacting with a teacher

3) Due to covid 19 and for staying home for prolong period of time I got very sick which was also a big difficulty to learn calculus

 

 

Because of this I found no other way to complete my mid term expect for getting assistance from these online platforms. I therefore request for some sympathy and dont mark my exam as zero. I assure you that I will never attempt such action again in future. 

 

As this year was different because of the pandemic that has shaken the world, I request you to kindly sympathize with me and not take a drastic action. I am extremely ashamed for what I did and I request you for some leniency. I would be highly obliged.

 

Regards,

The dean then replied with the following email-

In my capacity as Academic Integrity Officer (AIO), I recently received the attached report of academic misconduct, a copy of which you have also received. Because there is a record on file of a previous report of academic misconduct (February 2020, for MATH1111, Section a and d), the AIO may impose additional sanctions.  

 

In cases where there is ‘no contest’ in that the student has acknowledged academic misconduct, it is a matter for the AIO to determine what, if any additional sanctions should be imposed.  However, since you have not acknowledged academic misconduct you have the opportunity to present your point of view.

 

In view of the Covid 19 situation, I will be proceeding with hearing the student’s response to the academic misconduct case via email instead of a meeting with the instructor and the student.  I have received an email from you in response to the academic misconduct case (see below your email dated April 25).   Having carefully considered your response, I have decided to uphold the penalty imposed by the instructor.  If, however, you prefer to have an online meeting scheduled to discuss the case and provide any additional information to support your case, please let me know by 4:30 pm, May 01 and a meeting will be scheduled by Lois Wood from the Dean’s Office who will also invite the instructor to the meeting.

 

Please be advised that you may invite a member of the University community acting as an advisor to attend the meeting with you.  See the definition of ‘Advisor’ in section 2 of the Academic Integrity Policy 

  Please also be advised that you may also bring witnesses [ if applicable ].  If you intend to bring an advisor [ and/or witnesses ], it is your responsibility to notify them of the date, time, and location of the meeting and to notify me by at least 3 calendar days prior to the meeting who will be attending the meeting with you.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions concerning this matter.

Sincerely

I emailed the dean that I want to arrange a meeting to discuss this issue. What do u think I should talk about or what should I tell him so he doesn't put additional sanction and doesn't mention that on my transcript?