VANCOUVER -- Officials at a B.C. university say they're aware of allegations of cheating in a first-year chemistry class, which recently had its final exam online.
In a screenshot posted to Reddit, an instructor at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus says she's investigating how her final exam appeared on an academic website, adding that sharing the exam is strictly forbidden.
"It has become clear that some of your classmates did not take their commitment to exam integrity seriously," the post says. "After a term in which I have offered leniency in exam deadlines and 'rules,' I feel that I have been taken advantage of and have had my trust broken."
The director of university affairs says the school is aware of the allegations of academic misconduct.
"Any and all allegations of this type are treated very seriously by the university," Matthew Ramsey said. "The dean's office has a number of routes they can taking, including giving zero on the exam, or recommending further disciplinary action and that can include a zero in the course itself, suspension or expulsion."
Ramsey explained those decisions are made by the president's committee on academic misconduct and that they often take time.
Just over three weeks ago, UBC said it was investigating allegations of widespread cheating on a first-year math exam. More than 100 cases of possible cheating were suspected in that instance.
Ramsey said he couldn't say whether more cheating was happening with many courses operating online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The process will be followed in this instance as it was in the previous instance and as it will be in other instances," he said.
"Academic misconduct may seem like the easy way, but if you are caught it does have long term consequences, and we would remind those students that the consequences can be severe, they can radically affect their studies at the university."
Ramsey said it's unclear how many people are involved in the most recent incident.
