School failing me due to negligence on instructor's part

[nihile]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Mexico
Recently I've been contacted by the program director and the instructor saying they will be failing me for this term and last term's class because I did not satisfy the documentation requirements on the assignments.

There was no written guidelines of the required documentation on the assignment what so ever presented to me and this is the first time I'm hearing that just a signature is not enough. When I turned those assignments in last term during midterm and finals(we turn them in twice a term)the instructor accepted them without any feed back to me and I got full points for them. So basically I've been doing the same thing for 3 terms, thinking it was perfectly ok because I got full grades on them for two terms.

Recently the program director had to review my assignments for another reason and they call me up and say they are going to sanction a fail grade for this term and last term because I did not put enough documentation on the assignment. Had I been told about this when I turned in my assignments the first term during midterm this would been easily corrected and I wouldn't be failing those assignments/class. Is this not on the instructor's negligence for not only not providing any feed back, and giving me full grades for them for 2 whole terms?

I've been passing my classes with flying colors. Now I'm being told because they are going to fail me in this class I won't be able to continue the program so I will be kicked out. If I do I will lose my scholarship and health insurance and I'm dealing with a congenital heart problem right now that I can't afford without the insurance...

 

[ShyCat]

Spinning the story to get a different answer:

https://forum.freeadvice.com/libel-slander-defamation-88/accusation-falsifying-information-600521.html

 

[Ohiogal]

Spinning the story to get a different answer:

https://forum.freeadvice.com/libel-slander-defamation-88/accusation-falsifying-information-600521.html

Good to see you, OP, will spin things. Spinning things pretty much screws your credibility. Which one is the truth and which one is the lie? Because you aren't telling the truth. Which means you are lying. Which means you are a liar. Good grief, why do so many people lie?

 

[I'mTheFather]

I don't think the two threads show that OP is lying. I don't even think it's a spin. He's asking two different questions in the threads. The first involves the actions of the hospital, the second involves the actions of the school. In fact, he believed in the first thread that the school would not take action. His only concern was that he would not have an opportunity to seek employment at the hospital.

It seems that he found out several days later that the school is taking action. His question in this thread is whether or not the instructor is culpable for not requiring additional documentation last semester. He isn't questioning the outcome this semester based on the problems in the other thread.

I don't think OP is lying. I think he's grasping at straws, but not lying.

So, OP, the reality is the instructor trusted the documentation you provided until it was alleged that you falsified that documentation. The instructor and director are within their rights to review and change grades based on that allegation. More than one person at the hospital has alleged falsification of documents. It is up to you to prove they are wrong.

 

[commentator]

I don't want this dude to graduate and be treating anybody I know!

 

[nihile]

I don't think the two threads show that OP is lying. I don't even think it's a spin. He's asking two different questions in the threads. The first involves the actions of the hospital, the second involves the actions of the school. In fact, he believed in the first thread that the school would not take action. His only concern was that he would not have an opportunity to seek employment at the hospital.

It seems that he found out several days later that the school is taking action. His question in this thread is whether or not the instructor is culpable for not requiring additional documentation last semester. He isn't questioning the outcome this semester based on the problems in the other thread.

I don't think OP is lying. I think he's grasping at straws, but not lying.

So, OP, the reality is the instructor trusted the documentation you provided until it was alleged that you falsified that documentation. The instructor and director are within their rights to review and change grades based on that allegation. More than one person at the hospital has alleged falsification of documents. It is up to you to prove they are wrong

Well, thank you for actually reading the thread instead of just accusing me of posting the same thing twice. I'm not being failed for "cheating". I'm being failed for I guess not doing the assignment correctly. Is basically my school's spin on it. Even though I've been doing the assignment the same way for the past two terms and no one has said a word to me until now.

This is a completely different matter. The school did not find evidence of any cheating or falsification, but they are saying the work I've been doing for 3 terms are not sufficient. This is not a "spin" of my other thread. In my other thread I wanted to know the liability of the hospital for sending that letter to my school. The school is taking action but not related to anything the hospital said, according to the instructor. In this thread I want to know whether the instructor has any liability for his negligence.... How are these two "the same" thread?

 

[quincy]

Well, thank you for actually reading the thread instead of just accusing me of posting the same thing twice. I'm not being failed for "cheating". I'm being failed for I guess not doing the assignment correctly. Is basically my school's spin on it. Even though I've been doing the assignment the same way for the past two terms and no one has said a word to me until now.

This is a completely different matter. The school did not find evidence of any cheating or falsification, but they are saying the work I've been doing for 3 terms are not sufficient. This is not a "spin" of my other thread. In my other thread I wanted to know the liability of the hospital for sending that letter to my school. The school is taking action but not related to anything the hospital said, according to the instructor. In this thread I want to know whether the instructor has any liability for his negligence.... How are these two "the same" thread?

In reading both threads, nihile, I got the impression from the first one that the hospital was not questioning the process you were using but rather was questioning what was being presented for signature (ie, whether it was your own work or the correct work). After the hospital received complaints that you were falsifying information, the hospital contacted the school and the school conducted an investigation. The results of the investigation, whether you think them fair or unfair, were not in your favor.

In other words, it sounds to me that the instructor did not fail you over the procedure you used, because the procedure you used was the correct one. That is why your work was always accepted previously. It was only when it came to the school's attention that what you were presenting for signature might not be yours or was falsified in some way, that the school decided to fail you.

Because you have so much riding on this, nihile, it is probably to your benefit to review all facts with an education attorney in your area. It appears to me you have no legal recourse, either from a defamation standpoint or in getting the failed grades reversed, but a professional in your area who can do a personal review may see this differently.

Good luck.

 

[nihile]

In reading both threads, nihile, I got the impression from the first one that the hospital was not questioning the process you were using but rather was questioning what was being presented for signature (ie, whether it was your own work or the correct work). After the hospital received complaints that you were falsifying information, the hospital contacted the school and the school conducted an investigation. The results of the investigation, whether you think them fair or unfair, were not in your favor.

In other words, it sounds to me that the instructor did not fail you over the procedure you used, because the procedure you used was the correct one. That is why your work was always accepted previously. It was only when it came to the school's attention that what you were presenting for signature might not be yours or was falsified in some way, that the school decided to fail you.

Because you have so much riding on this, nihile, it is probably to your benefit to review all facts with an education attorney in your area. It appears to me you have no legal recourse, either from a defamation standpoint or in getting the failed grades reversed, but a professional in your area who can do a personal review may see this differently.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply, I have been trying to contact a lawyer for the last week and no response yet, really mostly because I have no idea who's a good lawyer for my cause.

This is what the school said, "what we are doing has nothing to do with the hospital. during our investigations of the claims by the hospital, while we did not find any evidence of cheating or falsification of documents, we come to realize that your assignments from the past was not complete. Based on this discovery we decided to fail you on the specific course in this term and the previous terms." This is not word for word but that's basically what they said.

My problem is there was no clear guideline/rubric of what the complete assignment needed, my impression all along was that just the signature because the instructor always only took the last page, which only has the signature and the name of the exam on it. I even asked him during my first term midterm, "I see people only turning in the last page, is that fine?" He replied yes.

Those information they say I'm lacking is on the first two pages and are not on the last page and since I did not turn the first two pages in ever, I did not do them. Anyway I just wanted to clarify things a bit. Hope it did, if not it probably just got more confusing.

 

[quincy]

Thanks for the reply, I have been trying to contact a lawyer for the last week and no response yet, really mostly because I have no idea who's a good lawyer for my cause.

This is what the school said, "what we are doing has nothing to do with the hospital. during our investigations of the claims by the hospital, while we did not find any evidence of cheating or falsification of documents, we come to realize that your assignments from the past was not complete. Based on this discovery we decided to fail you on the specific course in this term and the previous terms." This is not word for word but that's basically what they said.

My problem is there was no clear guideline/rubric of what the complete assignment needed, my impression all along was that just the signature because the instructor always only took the last page, which only has the signature and the name of the exam on it. I even asked him during my first term midterm, "I see people only turning in the last page, is that fine?" He replied yes.

Those information they say I'm lacking is on the first two pages and are not on the last page and since I did not turn the first two pages in ever, I did not do them. Anyway I just wanted to clarify things a bit. Hope it did, if not it probably just got more confusing.

You can find a lawyer who specializes in education issues through the New Mexico Bar Association: http://www.nmbar.org.

My understanding now is that the hospital stated that, when another or others asked you to show the work that went with the signature page, you did not show your work or you refused to show your work. There was never anything to show. You say here that you never completed the other pages or turned them in because you thought only the signature page needed to be checked.

The hospital and the school both questioned whether any of the work that went with the signature page was ever completed and, apparently, according to you, the answer is no. You did not do any of the work.

Again, I suggest you discuss the matter with an attorney in your area for a personal review of all facts - but from what you write here, if I understand your clarification (and I can't believe that I do ), things do not look promising for you.

 

[nihile]

I'll try using that website. I guess it's hard to explain my case without revealing information about myself or the nature of my work. Thanks for all the help.

 

[quincy]

I'll try using that website. I guess it's hard to explain my case without revealing information about myself or the nature of my work. Thanks for all the help.

I think having an attorney in your area personally review the matter is the best way to handle this, nihile. It is definitely hard to understand exactly what is going on in your situation but you are probably smart not to reveal too much in forum posts.

Perhaps it will be discovered that either the hospital or school was cutting corners and not grading on merit and this is what the hospital accidentally stumbled onto when questioning your work (or lack thereof). It is hard to say. Very hard to say.

At any rate, good luck.

 

[stealth2]

I agree that you should speak with a local (education) attorney. You should also ask him/her how you should approach the school on rectifying the situation. If your instructor truly did not provide any feedback, then I would think there should be a way to provide the properly completed assignments to the school's satisfaction.