"The Predicament" Case Study Discussion

Jenny completed her high school education and dreamed of going to college. After 10 years and two children, she finally realized her dream. She started classes at an online university because it matched her current work schedule and allowed her the flexibility to spend time with her children. She completed her first class with excellent grades and was looking forward to her next class session. Just when things seem to be running smoothly, other significant events happened. Jenny's office had a downsizing, and several individuals lost their jobs. Fortunately, Jenny was one of the employees who was able to stay with the company. However, her boss, Tom, changed her hours and assigned her more responsibility. This change happened during Week 2 of her 5-week session.

Getting adjusted to her new duties required a lot of Jenny's time, and she was too exhausted at the end of the day to complete her coursework. She barely made her Unit 3 due date and was falling behind in her Unit 4 assignment. If she did not get at least a C in this class, she could be in jeopardy of losing her tuition reimbursement. She was not going to be able to continue with school if she did not have financial assistance. Jenny contacted her instructor, Professor Poe, on Wednesday and asked him for an extension. He advised Jenny that he had posted his late policy and she would receive any late penalties as well as any point deductions for poor writing and improper grammar usage.

He stated he could not make exceptions to the policy.

Jenny shared her concerns with her coworker, Gloria. After listening to the situation, Gloria told her, "Jenny, no one writes their own papers anymore. There are lots of places on the Internet that sell papers on just about any topic. My cousin has submitted them several times and always gets good grades. This way, you won't get points deducted for poor writing. I'll get a list of sites for you."

It is Saturday evening, and Jenny is just sitting down to start her paper. She logs onto her computer and notices that she has an e-mail form Gloria. It is a message that has a paper attached that Gloria's cousin, Louise, says should work for Jenny's class. If Jenny tweaks the paper slightly, she can spend some time with her children and get some additional rest before starting next week's assignment. Jenny hesitates for a moment but decides to tweak the paper and submit it. It takes Professor Poe about 8 minutes to determine that the paper submitted by Jenny has been purchased from an Internet site. Up to this point, Jenny had been receiving good grades on her submissions, but he will have to give her a 0 on this paper. He is thinking about letting her resubmit but remembers that Dean Brown has reminded faculty that they must adhere to the university's Academic Integrity Policy. Professor Poe escalates the situation to Dean Brown. Dean Brown determines that the paper is purchased, so Jenny fails the assignment, and an Academic Integrity violation is put in her file.

Assignment Specifics

Upon reading the "The Predicament" case study above, prepare a post that discusses your perspective of the levels of fault of each character (Gloria, Louise, Professor Poe, Dean Brown, Jenny, and Tom).

Your post should include the following:

Using the numbers 1-6, where 1 is most at fault and 6 is least at fault, rank the characters in order of the person who is most at fault as #1, down to the person who is least at fault as #6 for Jenny's failing grade on her Unit 4 assignment. (There are 6 people, so assign only 1 number per individual.)

Support your decision for the rankings.

Offer your suggestions for what you believe Jenny should do next.

Describe any time management strategies that you believe Jenny should try in the future to avoid a repeat of this type of situation.

References and intext citations required.