Is it just me or has almost everyone attending AU been accused of academic misconduct especially the usage of AI, even when it’s not used they still accuse us! It’s actually crazy and they need to fix this because people are paying money and putting insane effort into their classes just for a tutor to fail you on a baseless argument and AU will back whatever they say.
I'll explain my whole story from the beginning with ENGL255, this might be lengthy
From the start I have always been a decent writer from high school till now. I was taking ENGL255 to fulfill a requirement for business and honestly the course itself was simple until one day I noticed that one of my assignments took a bit longer to be graded, and I found out a week or two later it had been flagged for misconduct. Keep in mind I had done it myself and submitted it like I submitted everything else the only problem is, I personally don't like using word document (preference) and I use google docs instead, usually I submit it like that no problem but this particular assignment the tutor required me to submit it as a word document, no problem right? Well being lazy I decided to just search up doc to word converter online and use that. I usually use that anyways and through the years I have had no problem with the submission issues. Even with the old assignments I usually did that and found no issues, but this particular one they accused me of misconduct due to the author being "python" or something like that, through my research I figured out it was normal that it usually happens with converters and I submitted my appeal and even stated I would give my old drafts and writing process as proof.
As I waited for a response 2 months later they concluded evidence and said I got caught for plagiarism. From what I've researched through universities and the appeal process it's usually a multi-step process not a one and done thing. Anyways a month later, I finished the course and realized that I finished the course with a mark that I wasn't satisfied with due to that one assignment that messed up my mark. After back and forth with tutors and the appeal office, I unfortunately had to retake the final exam (200$ by the way) and after a week of researching essays, seeing my feedback on my assignments and practicing for days even with a job mind you. I felt prepared to write my supplemental exam, I had to pay another 60$ with proctor to take it on that day as well but I didn't care because through all the stress, hardship and breakdowns I got because of this situation, it didn't matter to me.
Anyways to give you a breakdown, on my first exam I got a 70% and I really did rush that final exam due to me having to already take 5 exams in a week (in person exams as well) so this time on my supplemental exam I decided to take my sweet time and use the full 2 hours and 30 minutes to write the most beautiful piece of literature I could conjure up, sitting for a whole 2 hours no bathroom breaks, no water just writing. So after finally finishing, I was satisfied and submitted as needed, and a few days went by and I didn't get a mark back, I called Athabasca and they stated it takes a few days after it had been posted for you to get the mark.
A few days after I woke up and checked my grades to find there was a hold on my account and they couldn't describe the hold so I decided to call Athabasca AGAIN and they stated it was due to misconduct, I contacted the Integrity Coordinator and although it is still ongoing he said it was due to something I submitted recently and its under investigation and it may take 1-2 weeks to send the information to me. Keep in mind I have to send my transcripts by May 18th (it's May 15th right now) and due to my experience before it took a total of 2 months to process. I'm honestly at a loss for words at this entire process I have never been caught for plagiarizing ever and that's not even talking about this entire supplemental exam, even the proctor didn't flag me for anything I was doing wrong in the exam. I have been extremely disappointed and confused and it just sucks because when you work hard and you just get accused of something you didn't do it makes you question everything. I hope no one goes through what I have been going through and I've always been good with managing stress but this is genuinely overwhelming.