Code+of+Conduct+Charge+Regarding+this+Site

On 14 November, while sitting for the comprehensive exam at NCU I received the following communication from Dean Guillaume: November 14, 2012 Mr. Stephen Watts 270 NE Vivaron Avenue Saint Charles, MO 63303

Dear Mr. Watts,
 * Re: STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT CHARGING LETTER**

The University has determined that your conduct during the following exchange(s) is a violation of the NCU Student Code of Conduct. A copy of the Code of Conduct Policy is attached for your review.

The Charge is "Disruption or obstruction of the normal operations of the University; including unauthorized use of any of the University's facilities, informational or material properties, and resources."

The basis for this Code of Conduct Charge is that Mr. Watts maintains a public website entitled "Stevesncujourney.com" where NCU information is published. Upon the Dean's awareness of this site and the content, Dean Guillaume contacted the student by phone 10/05/2012 and email 10/08/2012 to discuss the concerns and request that the NCU content be removed. Steven agreed to remove content and although it appears some changes to the site were made a significant amount of NCU materials remain on the site and accessible.

As a result of the posting of course and assignment information on this site, we have two reported cases of academic integrity (Plagiarism) violations against NCU students for materials linked to this site as determined through the Tumitin software.

The charge will go before the Code of Conduct Review Board for adjudication on November 26, 2102. If you choose to participate in the Code of Conduct Review Board process, you will need to send a letter through your Compass messaging system to the Dean that includes your rebuttal to the charge and desire to address the Board, as well as a phone number for the Board to contact you. This letter must be received within 10 calendar days of the date of this letter.

Please note that should you present during the meeting, it will not be an opportunity to engage in dialogue but rather to state your position and respond to any questions posed by the Board. You will be allotted no more than ten minutes during the meeting; the Board will continue its evaluation and will Render a final decision on the matter. If the Board determines that the violation is substantiated, sanctions may be up to and including expulsion.

If you have any questions regarding this charging letter or the ensuing procedures, please contact 888-327-2877 Ext. 8065, which is the number of the Dean's Assistant.

Sincerely, Cindy K. Guillaume, Ed.D. School of Education

Here is my response to the allegations of this Code of Conduct charge, sent 16 November: November 16, 2012 Code of Conduct Review Board Northcentral University 10000 E University Drive Prescott Valley, AZ 86314

To Whom It May Concern,
 * Re: ALLEGATIONS REGARDING VIOLATION OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT**

I believe that the charge is inaccurate in several points of fact, to wit:

First, in my original contact with Dean Guillaume on 5 Oct, the Dean identified the removal of mentor's names from my site, to which I agreed, and complied in a short period of time, as is noted in the charge letter. I remember no other mention of removing any other specific content during that exchange.

Second, the Dean indicates that a follow-on e-mail was sent 8 Oct. I did not receive said e-mail, as it does not appear in my NCU e-mail or my work e-mail. In addition, my secretary, who also receives email from NCU regarding my account, did not receive said e-mail. If t here were further instructions regarding what was to be done in that e-mail, I cannot be held accountable for doing something that I did not receive.

Third, the charge is false on the face of it. The letter acknowledges that my site is public, which means that it does not use the facilities, informational or material properties, or resources of the university. The Dean claims that my site contains published NCU information. My site contains my papers that I wrote during my program (except for materials that I wrote for comps), and opinions and observations regarding my progress through the program. It has been long held by legal precedent that the work of students is their own intellectual property; hence I have the right to publish my work in any way that I see fit. There is no more "NCU information" on my site than could be found in any Google search regarding the university and its programs. Therefore, her claim that the site contains "a significant amount of NCU materials" is incorrect; as these materials are my work, and my property.

Forth, the Dean reports as support for this charge cases of academic integrity violations against NCU students. This saddens me, but my home page specifically states; "//students are to do their own work, and the papers on these pages are to be used for nothing more than inspiration or example. I did this work on my own, and worked very hard for the grades I received- any use of these resources in your own papers should be paraphrased and properly cited//".

Since my desire for this site, which originated with a request by one of my mentors to explore ways of presenting eLearning, is to help and encourage other students.

Since I do not encourage other students to plagiarize or in any way to "cheat", but on the contrary, caution students from doing so.

Since I have received no further instructions other than the original phone call, to which I immediately responded by deleting references to Mentors as requested.

Since I have requested from four separate parties (Dean Guillaume, Patricia from the Office on Conduct and Compliance, Pamela Sallee, and Linde Lisbona) on 15 Nov to have the e-mail that Dean Guillaume references in the charge letter, and have yet to receive a response from any of them.

Since my public website receives between 400 and 2100 views from 155 to 210 unique visitors each day, I would suggest that the site is good public relations for the school, and for its various programs.

Since I have added to my homepage the following statement, potential incidents of academic integrity violations should cease; "//ALL of the papers on this site have been added to the Turnltln database. ANY use of the resources on this site will be shown as plagiarism, unless they are properly quoted or cited. You have been warned//".

I believe that the charges against me are inaccurate and false, and believe that any sanctions against me would be counterproductive.

I am willing to make such changes to this public website as the school, or this board, deems necessary. I just need to know and understand what they are, and I will comply. Consequently, I would like to address the Board during the review process, and can be contacted at 314.749.6368. Sincerely,

Stephen W. Watts, M.Ed. School of Education


 * Sent:** 11/19/2012 12:26:08 PM
 * Subject:** Fw: StevesNCUJourney wiki

Dean Guillaume,

Upon further reflection and consideration, I have taken the action of removing my wiki completely from public access as of Friday (16 Nov). I am not exactly clear of what material is objectionable and what might not be - so, rather than take the chance of further exacerbating an obviously delicate situation, I have made this choice.

My intentions for the site were only to be of help, and if I may say so, to set an exemplary example for others - not to cause difficulty for the school, its staff, or its students. Also, as I previously stated, I did not receive the follow-on e-mail that you said was sent - so, I was unaware that the actions that I took after our conversation were not complete in what was required to fully address your concerns.

I would like to present a site that is helpful, but also does not divulge or expose the school contrary to what is encompassed in the Code of Conduct. I apologize that my actions appeared to be rebelious or non-compliant - that was not my intention or my understanding of our previous communication. I also apologize for any unintended consequences that my wiki may have caused to the school because of my lack of understanding of all of the issues involved. As I also previously stated, I am more than willing to work with the school to modify the site to be fully compliant with school standards, or to maintain it in its current private (and inaccessible) mode indefinitely - or according to any other stricture between those two choices as you, or other interested parties, may dictate.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Stephen Watts, M.Ed.


 * From:** Cindy Guillaume [cguillaume@ncu.edu]
 * Sent:** Fri 11/23/2012 3:00 PM
 * Subject:** Response to your email dated 11/19/2012

Hello Mr. Watts,

Thank you for your email message and for helping us to protect the integrity of NCU curriculum and materials. While I respect your explanation and true intention for the site, I am deeply appreciative of your understanding of the sensitivity of the situation and the need to ensure integrity in the management of NCU curriculum and materials. You actions help ensure that each student’s journey is authentic and purposeful.

As a result of your cooperation through the validation of the removal of the website, I will be retracting the Code of Conduct charge at this time. If you have any questions about future publications of NCU related content, please feel free to contact me and I will provide you with the appropriate guidance.

Sincerely,

Dr. Cindy K. Guillaume

On 27 May 2014 I received the following letter, again regarding this site:

Stephen W. Watts 270 Vivaron Avenue Saint Charles, MO 63303


 * Re: STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT CHARGING LETTER**

Dear Stephen,

The Dean has determined that your conduct during the following exchange(s) may be a violation of the NCU Student Code of Conduct. As a result, a Code of Conduct Committee will be convened to review the allegations against you and weigh any evidence provided by you and the University. A copy of the Code of Conduct Policy is attached for your review.

//Dishonesty, cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation or furnishing false information, forgery, or misuse of academic or administrative materials.//

The basis for this Code of Conduct Charge is that you have an active website with 723 students on the account at http://stevesncujoumey.wikispaces.com/Steve%27s+NCU+HOME. The website shows your course work for others to access as well as other Northcentral University information regarding your journey as a student. In 2012 you were warned of a possible Code of Conduct and you agreed to remove NCU related information from your website at that time. You are now officially being charged with violation of the Code of Conduct. The charge will go before the Code of Conduct Review Board for adjudication on the week of June 9th - 13th, 2014. If you choose to participate in the Code of Conduct Review Board process, you will need to send a letter through your Compass messaging system to the Dean that includes your rebuttal to the charge and desire to address the Board, as well as a phone number for the Board to contact you. This letter must be received within 10 calendar days of the date of this letter.

Please note that should you present during the meeting, it will not be an opportunity to engage in dialogue but rather to state your position and respond to any questions posed by the Board. You will be allotted no more than ten minutes during the meeting; the Board will continue its evaluation and will render a final decision on the matter. If the Board determines that the violation is substantiated, sanctions may be up to and including expulsion.

If you have any questions regarding this charging letter or the ensuing procedures, please contact 480-253-3439, which is the Dean's Assistant.

Sincerely,

Dr. Cindy K. Guillaume

At this point I'm determining that I'm not sure what I did to get this woman on me and trying to get me expelled. So, here is my response to the Board sent on 27 May 2014:


 * Re: CODE OF CONDUCT REBUTTAL**

Dear Dr. Guillaume,

I am surprised to receive you letter dated today. On 19 Nov 2012 I agreed to remove “my wiki completely from public access as of Friday (16 Nov)” and have maintained it in it private status from that date to this. I am completely in compliance with our earlier agreement, for which you retracted the possible Code of Conduct charges.

Since you seem determined to control how I store my property (my writings), and how I share my feelings and thoughts about my journey, I submit the following items as proof that I have not knowingly or otherwise violated the NCU Code of Conduct as you have charged.

In your charge you have stated that you feel the I may be in violation of the Code of Conduct, and that somehow I have been dishonest, cheated, plagiarized, misrepresented or furnished false information, forged, or misused academic or administrative materials. Since the basis of this charge is what you deem an “active website,” when the site is “private” and barred from the perusal of any, but members, per our previous agreement.

You further indicated in the letter that the basis includes that there is “Northcentral University information regarding [my] journey as a student.” What constitutes Northcentral University information? Per our earlier agreement; I removed at that time all mention of mentor names; I removed the wording of specific assignments; I removed every mention of Northcentral university, and any other information that could conceivably be construed as Northcentral University information (including any use of the abbreviation NCU or Northcentral University in anything, or on any page, that I’ve written). There is nothing on my wiki except for my own work, my own writings regarding various subjects that I’ve researched to further my pursuit of a Ph.D., and the feeling and thoughts I’ve had during the journey. Nothing that remains could possibly be construed as “Northcentral University information”.

To become a member, each applicant is required to identify themselves, and explicitly state that they will not violate the academic integrity policy of NCU. Only upon receipt of such a statement are applicants allowed access to the site.

On the front page of my wiki, which all members must access to view any other information, the following information has been detailed since our previous contact: “//As a note of caution from the Dean of the School of Education; students are to do their own work, and the papers on these pages are to be used for nothing more than inspiration or example. I did this work on my own, and worked very hard for the grades I received–any use of these resources in your own papers should be quoted or paraphrased and properly cited. (ALL of the papers on this site have been added to the TurnItIn database. ANY use of the resources on this site will be shown as plagiarism unless they are properly quoted or cited.)//” The warning is in a contrasting color (red) to all of the other words on the page (black), so that they will be noticed.

As you can see, I neither encourage nor condone plagiarism, dishonesty, or cheating of my own or anyone else’s materials. By any interpretation of the words in the Code of Conduct charge I am not guilty of any such misbehavior.

You claim that my wiki “shows [my] course work for others to access.” While, this is true, there is no stricture in the Code of Conduct preventing me from doing so. My course work is of my own effort and constitutes what the law has deemed to be my property, and it would seem that NCU should have no right to determine how I should show, store, share, or in any other way use my own intellectual property. Do you also claim the right to preclude me from publishing my dissertation findings, or any subsequent articles that may derive therefrom?

Thus, I categorically deny the allegations of misconduct. I am no guiltier of a Code of Conduct charge than is any other author whose work could be potentially plagiarized. If there were misdeeds done, then perhaps the responsibility for those misdeeds should be held against those who have committed them. I am appalled and insulted that you would impugn my integrity and my ethics on allegations that are without basis or fact.

I will perform any action and comply with any decision deemed necessary by the Board. I, therefore, request the opportunity to address the Code of Conduct Review Board. The board may reach me on my cell phone at 314.749.6368. I would appreciate notification of the date on which the board will be convened.

Sincerely,

Stephen W. Watts, M.Ed. 314.749.6368