Representation of a university student regarding use of AI

Louise O’Driscoll and Rheanna Stewart were recently instructed to represent a student facing an academic misconduct referral by her university.

The student instructed the team, having received notification from the university that their submissions system had detected usage of AI in her assignment which counted towards a final mark. This came at the end of a three year undergradulate degree course and just prior to her graduation so it was imperative that this matter was handled appropriately and efficiently to allow the exam board to finalise her degree classification in time.

As the referral had been made, the client felt it best to reach out to the firm to gain some advice and support ahead of her referral meeting with the university faculty. Her wish was to ensure that she was fully prepared to best present her case. She denied using AI/cheating.

Preparation:

With the deadline fast approaching, the team acted quickly and met with the client to start working on her case. They reviewed the evidence sent to the team, met with the client in conference, took the client’s instructions and supported the student to prepare a response to the allegations raised by the university before the deadline of Monday at 4pm and attended the afternoon meeting the following day.

Amongst the paperwork supplied by the university, the student had not seen an important piece of evidence that had been provided to the student, the team drew it to the student’s attention allowing for focused and clear case preparation. The team went through the examiners comments with the students and the report, seeking to understand how the concerns may have arisen and considering how best the students case could be presented to the panel in rebuttal of the accusation that the student had cheated through the use of AI generated text.

Student misconduct cases can evolve quickly as students tend to instruct when they understand the serious implications for their studies. This is something Louise and her team deal with often and can successfully work with strict and unmoveable time frames.

Meeting outcome:

After the meeting, the client was found not to have breached the university’s academic policy by engaging in academic misconduct and would not be referred to a disciplinary investigation by the university. The client was relieved and very pleased with the team’s services, praising the team’s ‘communication, responsiveness and professionalism’.

Louise O’Driscoll regularly supports students facing academic investigations or referrals by their university, and she also helps to prepare students through the meetings and hearings. The importance of being objective when considering the evidence and understanding both the strengths and weakness of the case, along with kindness, responsiveness and efficiency are what we believe helps benefit the student and the progression of these investigations to a positive outcome.

If you need advice or assistance from our education team regarding an academic investigation or referral by your university, please contact us and ask to speak with Louise O’Driscoll.