First-year Ryerson University student Chris Avenir might end his academic career much sooner than expected, due to a Facebook group he created. He has been accused of academic misconduct and faces expulsion from the university.
There are 147 counts against the 18-year old computer engineering student, one for every student who used the group. School officials claim that students used the group to gain unfair advantages, while Avenir tries to defend himself by pointing out that this was only an old-fashion chemistry study group, except it was tailored for the digital realm.
The student saw his Chemistry grade go down from an initial B to an F, after the group was discovered.
Kim Neale, Ryerson Student Union advocacy co-ordinator, stated for the Toronto Star:
"If I post a question about physics homework on my friend's [Facebook bulletin board] and ask if anyone has any ideas how to approach this, and my prof sees this, am I cheating? No one did post a full final solution. It was more the back-and-forth that you get in any study group."
Avenir must now appear in front of the engineering department for an expulsion hearing. If things go wrong he is expelled, he can appeal to the Academic Senate.
I guess this is one of those situation when “Blame Canada” truly applies.
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