Sask. student accused of cheating says penalty came before proof

A University of Regina nursing student wrongfully accused of cheating is frustrated he faced consequences before any investigations took place.

Tyvan Yee opened his email on Jan. 1 to find a message informing him that one of his final grades was being investigated. Yee learned he was also being removed from several classes in the upcoming term – which began in just seven days.

“I wrote everything the same way I’ve written all my exams for the past two years – nothing changed, nothing different – and submitted it and felt good,” Yee said.

Yee is in his second year of studies pursuing a Saskatchewan Collaborative Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a joint undergraduate program offered through the University of Regina and Saskatchewan Polytechnic, in order to become a registered nurse.

All Yee knew about the allegation was that it had to do with his pharmacology class, which differentiated him from other nursing students who received the same email after being flagged during a final in a different course.

“My mind starts racing all over the place trying to figure out why this is happening,” he said.

The university’s message didn’t state exactly what the accusation resulting in the investigation was, though Yee said he assumed was an allegation of academic misconduct to warrant such a response. In a panic, he said he started emailing professors, the dean of nursing and the faculty’s associate dean.

“I was on it,” he said. “As someone who is innocent and knows they haven’t done anything … I would hope that that stuck with them.”

He didn’t hear back, but said he wasn’t surprised because the email from the school directed students not to contact anyone about the matter.

Yee said he then went to the Faculty of Nursing’s office to try and make an appointment with the dean, but was directed to an advisor who told him to wait for the time being. The only service he was offered by the advisor was a new course schedule in case he was found guilty of misconduct.

It wasn’t until the start of the new semester that Yee got an email from the dean asking to meet.

During that meeting, Yee said he learned the investigation wasn’t related to a final exam, but rather an open-book quiz.

“That blew my mind,” Yee said.

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The nursing student said he was further confused when the dean said the investigation into his case could happen later. He was reinstated into his previously planned courses in the meantime, he recounted, because he was told that he would’ve passed the class regardless of the grade on his quiz, whether or not he’d cheated.

Yee said it was a “really weird” situation.

“Once I started poking my head around and calling people out and saying, ‘Hey, I’m taking this seriously, listen to me,’ the dean reached out to me and said that my situation was a quiz and not the final,” he noted.

Cleared of the allegations

On Monday, Yee said he learned he’d officially been cleared of the allegations.

Yee said he’s thankful, in spite of the month-long wait, that he was allowed to continue with his planned courses. Had he not been, the consequences would have changed the timeline of his studies and postponed his graduation date.

One of the courses Yee was initially removed from was his clinical placement at a hospital. Had he missed the orientation for this course – or anything more than a single shift – he would have had to wait until the spring to complete that required portion of his degree.

He said other students accused of misconduct haven’t been so lucky.

Yee said he knows about a dozen other students facing similar accusations. Several were removed from the same clinical component, or their mandatory second assessments course. He said a number of students have since learned they’ve been cleared of the allegations brought against them, but not in time to take the required classes as they planned.

“We’re told all the time ‘We need more nurses, there’s a nursing shortage,’ and this is how they’re treating the students who want to become future nurses,” Yee said, calling the action taken by the university a “disservice” to the students who had their allegations dismissed.

He said it diminishes students’ passion for their studies.

Of the students he knows who have been accused, Yee said the feeling is largely frustration, but they’re more concerned about the consequences and retaliation from the university, regardless of the outcome of the investigation into the alleged misconduct.

While Yee said understands accusations of cheating need to be handled in certain ways, he said he feels the university chose “the most PR way” to address this one.

“I do think they pushed the blame away from themselves … especially when it came to the students that were proven innocent,” he said.

Yee said he isn’t sure why the nursing program has online exams in the first place, when classes and labs are all taught in person. The only online component is testing, and Yee said he’d like to see a return to in-person examinations in the hopes of fewer students having to endure accusations that end up being unfounded.

In an emailed statement, the University of Regina Nursing Students’ Society (URNSS) said it does not support unethical practices within the program, but stands to support its students.

“We would like to offer any support to these students who feel misrepresented and/or seeking guidance,” the statement read. “We are a society made of students and we are here to support our peers.”

The society encouraged students to reach out without hesitation should they need support and promised to connect students with appropriate resources, depending on their situation.

Patient safety cited

Yee took issue with a statement made by Faculty of Nursing dean Cheryl Pollard in an interview with CTV News.

Pollard cited concern over patient safety as a reason for the swift removal of students from their upcoming courses ahead of the outcome of any investigations.

The dean said students were taken out of courses with a clinical learning component that included providing care, dispensing medications and interacting with patients and their families. She said students facing allegations of misconduct had not demonstrated their ability to provide safe patient care.

However, Yee said previous classes he and other students in his year have been required to take – and passed – included clinical components.

“(Those classes) showed we were able to work with patients already,” he said.

650 CKOM requested an interview with Pollard through the University of Regina but has not yet received a response.