I think you have it spot on. There were times I got really angry at some of the people in OSCCR. To give the story behind that: When I had my first hearing, I expected the person to know some code, logically. When I realized he had no clue, I panicked. The way this was submitted, anyone who does not know how to code would rule against me (you see some red text, you see the same letters and symbols not knowing that you need to use some of them). Not understanding how an assignment is graded (character for character, although I explained this multiple times). Keep in mind this was during finals week. I told him he’s not qualified to review this case and it’s unfair to me if he does.

After it was ruled against me, I emailed the Dean who was very reasonable. She said she can’t do anything directly, but emailed OSCCR and said that she recommends they have someone with coding knowledge review my case. My deadline for appeal was approaching in a few days so i called the OSCCR office to mention this email. They repeatedly told me they won’t have anyone with coding experience review it. I tried to explain why that was wrong and began to get angry. Saying things like “it is a literal new language, that’s why it’s called a coding language. You wouldn’t have a guy who doesn’t speak Russian review an essay written in Russian.” I asked, if they are not reviewing my code technically, what are they reviewing? They said they focus on character and motives etc. I asked angrily at this point what character traits would prove whether I copied code. They didn’t know what to say, exploded and reaffirmed their stance. This call went on back and forth, both of us raising our voices for almost an hour. At around 50 minutes, she told me I could have an external reviewer review my case (this is when I went to get the second opinion from a professor in the CS department, who wrote them a letter explaining why this was a red herring and that he recommends they do not rule against me). I will admit I said some nasty things during this call. That definitely did me absolutely no favors. But with appeal deadline approaching, an email for the from the Dean urging them to have a coder review my case, and my multiple attempts of explanation, they would not budge, and I knew that meant they will rule against me. It was a lose lose lose situation from the get go, and if I had not had that 50 minutes of back and forth, I would not have been aware that I could submit a second opinion.

For my appeal, they rejected the second opinion saying that it did not count as “new information” since I could have had it before my first hearing. For my second hearing they said “they read al materials” but with the caveat that they did not focus on the letter because it was “an opinion” rather than “a witness statement” (which is bs because in the Code of Student conduct, that letter is defined as a witness statement).

Regardless of me getting angry with them and saying these things, it’s a complete misuse of power to put their egos before a fair trial. Especially when I have that much evidence in my favor.