By Ian Shepherd
It is that time of year again when exams have finished, all seems well, and suddenly you receive an email saying you are being sanctioned. Now your flights, entire summer, and plans thereafter hinge on an appeal you do not understand completely how to approach. Sadly, but also reassuringly: you’re not alone.
This piece serves as a short guide to help you not only understand the current system but also succeed in your appeal. Bear in mind that the offices of different IE Schools can differ in their judgment, and success is not guaranteed. In the future, IE Exam Guidelines may change, but the underlying logic remains more or less the same.
Firstly, what the sanctions are and their implications. There are two types of sanctions: (1) Academic Sanctions and (2) Ethical Sanctions. An Academic Sanction is what most people will likely receive, and it means you have broken the rules of the exam, like Smowl/Respondus not working or a background program running, etc. An ethical Sanction is where you have broken the rules of the exam to gain an unfair advantage (cheating, in plain English). You will see in your sanction letter what type it is, so base your appeal on what you are being accused of. If you receive an Academic Sanction, do not say you did not cheat because you are not being accused of such; it discredits your argument and, in some cases, adds unnecessary suspicion.
Now that it is clear what the nature of the penalty is, it is time to appeal. The first step in appealing is counterintuitive–do not immediately appeal. You, as a student, have rights within IE’s Code of Conduct under section II.3.3., and you should exercise them to their fullest potential to build a strong argument before sending your appeal. You have five (5) business days to appeal from the moment you receive the sanction letter, so act immediately to gather supporting evidence. Exercise your rights by sending a reply to your issuing office, not appealing but asking, for example, for a data log of inbound and outbound traffic during the exam from your device to see what exactly was used. When you are done gathering your supporting evidence, send your appeal, but remember, you only get one chance.
How are appeals argued? Also found in IE’s Code of Conduct, the most relevant grounds are ii. If new, previously unconsidered evidence emerges. iii. If the sanction is clearly disproportionate to the offense, considering any aggravating or mitigating circumstances. The third ground is arguably the best approach to rebuttal because you cannot argue the existence of your technical breach–it somehow came up on their system, so it exists. Your argument and its success are based on how you can prove its technical distance from your exam. This is wherethe supporting evidence, including the data log, becomes important. You must justify that the time running and amount of data present are so insignificant that it makes no sense to be punished. To be sanctioned for Smowl or another application flickering (turning off then on outside of your control) momentarily, could be argued as a disproportionate sanction. Your mitigating circumstances would be the duration of the flickering and/or its data throughput, or even if you, the proctor, or the classroom camera noticed it occurred during the exam. No case is the same, but a little bit of argumentative creativity and moxie will give you at least a chance.
Other underlying things that will help you in your appeal letter are a combination of brevity and professionalism. Imagine that many others are simultaneously appealing, so keep your letter quick and to the point. Additionally, maintain decorum by being polite, orderly, and avoiding platitudes. They know you are a good student, so if it is not for an Ethical Sanction, do not use it as an argument. Lastly, do not threaten to involve your parents; it does not work.
Closing off and looking at the bigger picture, appeals can be avoided by strategically positioning yourself in a way that makes it difficult for sanctions to foment in the first place. As silly as it may seem, be overt like sitting in the front of the classroom, sitting so your laptop can be seen by the classroom camera, and inviting along with encouraging the invigilator to witness your screen throughout the exam.
Lastly, before appealing, weigh the costs and benefits of how far you are willing to go and how it could impact your relationship with your office and university administrators. Sometimes winning is measured by how little you lose.
Featured image courtesy of Myles S Breiner Attorney at Law
