I got a letter from CFAI saying I’m now under PCP investigation because of unusual number of similarities. I’m innocent and did NOT cheat! I have been in shock since last week, and honestly, I don’t know how to defend myself. I never have and never will do such things to jeapodize my integrity and pride. What should I send to them to help my case? How should I form my defense? I’d appreciate any suggestions!!! I read some post saying the odds of wining is very low. But I want to fight for it, and not get punished for something I didn’t do. I’m thinking about focusing on no proctor report.
I appreciate any suggestion!!! Many Thanks!!!
(Thansk a lot, hashtag & klaudnine! I made some revision per your suggestions)
If that’s the case, how is the PCP investigation run? Both candidates get one and then what? How would they prove who copied who? Assuming it’s the true cheater’s word vs. the innocent person?
“Tough s**t, better luck next time?”
Seems impossible to prove you did nothing wrong. What an awful situation to be in, sorry.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions! Do you think the fact I wrote in my orignial post would be a good defense? Is there anything that could be misinterpreted? What else could I add? Thanks again!
So am I going to be punished by this? Is it helpful if I explain to CFAI that I 100% did NOT help anyone? I think I covered my answers, because I need to darken some of my choice since my hand removed some of the pencil marks when I covered my scantron. But it probably wasn’t air-tight.
Let assume that unusual similarities are spotted between Candidate A and Candidate B. Then, 4 scenarios are possible:
False positive (which can be ruled out by the balance of probabilities)
A has cheated
B has cheated
They both cheated (which can be ruled out by the balance of probabilities as well since this scenario assumes that A and B have planned this beforehand - not possible since they did not know their exam seats before the exam day).
As such, how can CFA Inst. accuse and panish either A or B since it cannot know for sure who cheated and who did not?
Maybe, the only way to determine which one cheated is to examine the workings in exam paper, however this is also speculative.
In my opinion, if similarities are spotted, CFA Inst. must send a PCP Investigation to the proctors, not the candidates.
Unless one of the two confesses, the CFAI can’t know. So to protect the integrity of the exam, the only solution is to punish both. This isn’t a criminal court where Blackstone’s formulation applies.
If you had intentionally helped the person next to you or looked at someone else’s paper, would you admit it? I’m guessing that you, and most others, would not. So what is CFAI to do, just punish those who admit to cheating and let everyone else walk? You can certainly try to defend yourself (the lack of a proctor’s report works in your favor), but in this situation the onus is on you to prove your innocence which is a difficult task at best.
Thanks for the input higgmond. Punishing both is very unfair for the innocent party. Do you think my statement could have any good effect in any way? Other than saying I won’t cheat, and don’t need to cheat, and cannot cheat because it’s impossible for me to see other’s answer, I really don’t know how to prove my innocent. Could you give me some advice on how to form my defense? Thanks again!
But punishing neither is very unfair to the guilty party. And it’s also unfair to all of the candidates who didn’t cheat (not merely the accused but innocent party).
I see your reasoning but I respectfully disagree. Surely there are candidates or even charter holders who have cheated and have never been caught. How you handle these cases? CFAI is responsible for ensuring a level playing field for everyone. If it is not capable of doing this to the full extent, then punishing innocent parties ( as in similarity analysis) is not in my opinion the right thing to do.