To report this girl to her university?

[no1understands]

I am a private tutor, working with A level and degree students. This academic year, I have had enquiry after enquiry from university students asking me to do their coursework for them. I always say no, I'll help, point you in the right direction, do an assignment outline but I will not do the assignment for them. They show no interest! I feel like saying 'so, you are telling me you aren't prepared to put in ANY effort whatsoever to get your degree?' One girl said she has got someone to do her coursework for 2 years but now he can't do it, she's looking for someone else. She told me what uni it was and I've had others from there asking the same thing. I feel like ringing the university and telling them what's happening. I need more students to make my business viable. I feel like just doing the coursework for a wad of cash but when it comes down to it, I can't because I'm so angry with them! I feel like I should do something!

Well, not everyone wants to go to the EU. I know I didn't. And tbh I think it's fair for students to expect they'll be treated fairly if possible - that plagiarists will be punished.

Of course students should get treated fairly - but I think this thread has shown that they aren't. And plagiarists are very often not caught. The more money they have, the better their essay-writers, the less likely they are caught.

OP, definitely shop her, and anyone else who tries that kind of thing!
Perhaps you could negotiate with the Uni in question that if they need proof of cheating, you could slip in a pre-agreed reference website (perhaps a link to a blog of the essay) to catch them out with.
I have done 2 degrees, one at a brick Uni, one with OU, all my own work. I would never cheat, as the privilege of a University education is the chance to learn about your subject and experience facilities you can't get outside a university environment.
Shame for her, she's missing the whole point of the course, I pity her.

Sansa you are very clever to target international students, no doubt, but you do realise they are all here on student visas? And if they get caught, they will not only be expelled, but deported? and they are probably more likely to get caught, as lecturers will suspect any essays that are too good.

You've made it clear you really don't care but gahhhhh I just don't get how someone can not care, you don't need to be doing this work.

Not all of them are on student visas. I don't 'target' anyone. I get all my work through word of mouth. That's how it started, that's how it's always been. It came my way by chance and since then it's been word of mouth. I can see where it wouldn't be for someone starting out, however, so I put out a few suggestions.

I sell bespoke work for money. I do not recycle, it's all mine. What the purchaser does with it is his or her lookout.

How do you know I don't need to do this work? You don't.

Well, I assume the EU ones aren't on visas, but then, I don't go into their personal lives and details mostly. I have some clients I have come to know or past ones I came to know somewhat more than others. But it's a business and you keep things professional.

Plagiarism software only catches students who copy off the internet or off each other as it gives you a percentage of the work which is identical with other work it can compare to. If the work has been written in its entirety by someone else but to order there is nothing the software can do. If the work is a completely different standard to the students' abilities up to then, the supervisor may suspect plagiarism but there is very little they can do.

All unis have plagiarism policies and most require students to sign a declaration when handing in work BUT the reality is that they do very little even in cases where there is proof of plagiarism. I have sat on endless plagiarism committees and it's the most depressing job ever. You know the student has cheated, the student knows they have cheated, you have spent ages gathering the proof and at the end of the day they get very little punishment, e.g. a 0% for the submission but with the right to resubmit.

That's the UK, the US is a different thing altogether. Plagiarism ruins not just your academic career but potentially your employment prospects as well.

P.S. No one will expell an international student for plagiarism!!! They pay bucketloads in fees, they could murder their tutor and still be allowed to finish their degree!

Well, as long as you enjoy something and it's not illegal then it's fine...

I mean, if you're going to have an affair with someone who's already married, it's their shout if they want to, nothing to do with you, they made the promise and you have absolutely nothing to do with it...

Just because the bulk of the moral blame doesn't sit on your shoulders doesn't mean you're squeaky clean. (And I say this as someone who once refused to 'help' someone cheat on her boyfriend with me - she knew he would be upset (as she'd even asked him about it) and was prepared to do it anyway. I wasn't and didn't.) I am quite amazed at how some people can't see any possible wrongdoing on their own part in situations like this.

I feel it all smacks of hubris somehow ...

I meant, you could be doing the same kind of work but for legitimate purposes.

You can charge £20-40/hour just for transcribing or editing, which you can also do on your own time, at night, whatever.

It's a job. But go ahead and psychoanalyse it. Hubris and all.

dreaming, what I do is legit. It is legal, I am self-employed and pay tax and NI. I have transcribed and edited in the past, it is not as steady as what I do and I need steady.

If you don't 'get' it, I cannot say I care because you don't pay my bills. The people who buy my work do. I honestly don't care what they do with it. It's very steady work and it's very easy for me to collect payment.

But I began this sort of work in the humanities and it is still the most enjoyable part of the job(s).

Given the grammatical problems in the above sentence, it would appear that your clients are being shafted.

I think she doesn't know what hubris is. Nothing to do with psychoanalysis.

Well, boffinmum, she might have an ex-boyfriend to lend her a hand with any Psychology papers.

This might explain the reason why so many employers are finding their graduates struggle to answer the phone and spell their name

What a sad state of affairs. I'd lynch my dcs if I found out they were doing stuff like this. Talk about lack of integrity.

Yes, you should report her then contact the national papers and spill the beans.

sansa That sounds like a lot of hard work- trying to get yourself to sound like an international student, reading their notes etc! It's much easier to just outline an essay for someone and talk it through with them! I'm wondering how much money you would get for that now! It would drive me mad doing it as a career!
As it happens, many of the students who have approached me sounded like they had English as a second language. They are probably the ones with the money. In my opinion, that adds assisting a visa scam into the mix, just to make it worse! I emailed the girl back to 'remind' her that she risks being expelled from her course, and that I wouldn't do her work for her. I don't know the course, but I know the module and university. I'm still not sure if I should report it. It probably would make no difference, but I'm glad more people would do the same as me!

Hiddenhome sadly, this wouldn't be news to the University or the papers, they are just not able or willing to do anything about it.
The university this girl is at is not a particularly well regarded one. This sort of thing will only devalue further degrees achieved at these Universities when employers realise that students are coming out with degrees in subjects they have no idea about.

If you get 2 students from the same course with the same assignment, give them both an identical one!!

about the state of universities and degrees these days.

'Editing' some ones essay? What exactly does that mean? Does it mean rearranging/ making changes as that would seem like cheating to me too. I have probably got that completely wrong! Can someone kind please explain. Ta.

As a mature student with 3 kids and no cash to spare, it irks me that people in my seminar groups have nothing to contribute in seminars, don't do the reading and yet miraculously turn in first class essays!

It is not fair. Not at all.

2boys, I do a bit of editing work for university students. At the moment, I am providing proof-reading services for a PhD candidate. She is an international student. Generally, I correct her grammar and punctuation. Occasionally, it is clear to me that she has mistranslated a word, and I will flag that. I send her back a document with the corrections made. I use 'track changes', which is her preference, as she can review the changes and learn for the future.

Clearly there is a loose definition of 'editing' being applied in some cases mentioned on this thread, but I am very careful not alter her content in any way, and do not suggest any changes to her ideas. Her subject matter is not one I know anything about, anyway, and she understands that! The way I see it, I am a sort of next-generation 'spell check' program!

Our university actually provides such services to students with learning disabilities and to international students. That is how I got the work originally. There are also writing labs at some universities, where all students can get help with their writing style and grammar. This is all above-board and completely in line with university policies. I also teach and I take plagarism very seriously with my students and also with our kids at home. I was raised to put a high value on education. I also have been a self-funded student. I'd never do anything to help someone cheat.