Personal Reflection Letter

Personal Reflection Letter

Thank you in advance for letting me write this reflection letter for me to fully realize the seriousness of the problem.

As a master student at Columbia University, I expect myself to conduct with integrity and honesty. I expect myself to put forth efforts in pursuit of a mater degree in Applied Analytics like anybody else. It is my fault that I was dishonest or that I facilitated dishonesty with regards to course attendance. I should not take shortcut and let anyone else document my course attendance in Strategic Communication (APAN 5800 sec 004). Therefore, I would like to solve this problem with option one, which is to accept the penalties and disciplinary action and write this reflection letter. I will outline in this letter how I am going to plan to avoid future allegations of misconduct.

Before I outline how I plan to avoid further allegations with regards to course attendance or any other allegations related with personal misconduct, and after reading the written reports regarding the circumstances and allegation of the case, I would like to give my reaction to the reports and offer some additional information which might help in the resolution of the case. I would like to provide my explanation to the circumstances.  

I conducted dishonesty for two reasons. On the one hand, I had a group meeting with my group mates from another class to prepare a presentation in the library. It was of higher priority for me. On the other hand, I thought it was okay to have someone signed for the class for me because the class attendance does not actually count towards to our final grade. In other words, the class attendance is not part of the grade. However, there is no excuse for misbehaving especially in the community of Columbia University and I am feeling guilty of my poor behavior during the weekly class in Strategic Communication (APAN 5800 sec 004). It was not my place to act in such a behavior that will undermine my honesty and integrity. Misconduct at school can probably make you drop out of school so I think the sooner I try to rectify the situation, the better. I understand now that I must handle the situation in a professional and mature manner.

To prevent further misconduct related to course attendance or any other personal misconduct or poor ethical decision-making that will undermine the foundation of the Columbia academic community, I would like to reduce my chances of acting with misconduct. It is important for me to do the following in the future:

• Understand ways to lead misconduct. There are a few ways that will lead to misconduct. Documenting course attendance with dishonesty is only one of them. Other misconduct includes cheating in the exam, sexual misconduct and so forth.
• With respect to class attendance, I should remind myself of the academic integrity code and how the code applies to my specific course.
• To prevent myself from documenting class attendance for someone else or let someone else document class attendance for me, I should come to the class at a regular manner.
• If I am unable to come to the class for some reason, I should send an e-mail to the course instructor to explain my situation instead of letting someone else document my attendance.
• Even though under the situation that course attendance does not count towards to the final grades, I should remember that regular and punctual class attendance is a prerequisite for learning stuff from this course. I should abide by the guidelines that the faculty and the course instructor have established for the course absences.  
• I should remember all the time that falsification is a serious problem. One of the falsification includes falsely reporting having met responsibilities of attendance or participation in class. The sanctions are also very severe with regards to falsification.

There are also other misconducts such as cheating and sexual assault that even though I didn’t conduct, I should also make a plan to avoid further allegation:

• For cheating during individual assignment or in-class exams, I should know the difference between permissible collaboration and unapproved copying, and should warn myself of the consequences of cheating.
• I should not cheat during in-class exam or individual assignment, or help anyone else in the class cheat.  
• To prevent sexual misconduct at Columbia University, there are a few ways I can ensure that I will not be involved into a sexual assault when someone else has tendency of conducting a sexual assault.
• I may create a distraction when I see someone has intention to conduct sexual assault. I can do what I can to interrupt the situation in order to give the person at risk to get to a safe place.
• I can also ask directly when I see someone might be in trouble.
• If I am afraid that I might get retaliated, I should refer to a local authority. It is the safest way to intervene.
• If someone around me has tendency of conducting a sexual assault, I should take the responsibility of a supervisor to prevent such assault from happening.

These are ways that I plan to do in order not to conduct any misconduct in the future, no matter it is falsification with respect to the class attendance, or cheating in the exam and individual assignment, or sexual assault.