I received a letter from UOP stating I sent an email to someone basically telling them off. Now they need my response and will convene a teleconference ethics comittee to convene on my case. I am almost done wth their program. I sent an email to the person handling the case denying it. What could happen here? This is my first violation, it was basically a "Charge Letter"...alleged allegations. Please advise, I am so stressed out right now...
It would be good to start with reading all the policies and guidelines the university has published on how such matters are handled. You want to make sure that you're given due process, with the university abiding by all the officially required protocols. Since the university is making the charges, the burden of proof is on the university. If you didn't do it, ask them if they have the IP address from which your supposed email came from? Do they have evidence that your account wasn't hacked and that you DID send that email? You might want to do a bit of investigating on your own. Who do you think could have done it to set you up? Possibilities on the how's. And why's...
Whats the... whats the worse that can happen? They give me a warning or suspend me for 30 days? I only have a few classes left.....
Yes, did you do it? Since you sent a letter denying it, you must not have. Who are they saying you sent the letter to? Another student or an employee of the school? I find it difficult that charges of harassment could hold up if you just sent someone one angry letter. If the letter contained threats, then that's a different story. But just an angry letter doesn't seem like such a big deal. If they destroy your educational goals by kicking you out or suspending you for a long time, you may have grounds for a counter-suit.
You sent an email and then denied sending the email? So what's your defense? "Someone broke into my house and sent a threatening email from my computer." or "I know that I told him to DIAF but I didn't actually mean DIAF." This is looking like some kind of "throw yourself on the mercy of the court" case.
Did you deny sending the email, or did you deny that they email you sent was harassment? If you denied sending the email, but you actually did send it, you may have made a bad (but manageable) situation significantly worse. If you denied that the email was harassing, that is a different story. You can defend you email up to a point, but at some time it may be easier to simply apologize for the "confusion and misinterpretation" of your email and assure them that you meant no harm. Was this email supposed to have been sent to a student or to faculty/staff?