An academic administrator has mistakenly circulated two theses of a Classics student to a mailing list of over 500 students.
The Classics undergraduate finalist submitted both his “thesis” and “special thesis” to Andrew Dixon, an Academic Administrative Officer, at the Faculty of Classics.
However, Dixon then mistakenly circulated the two theses to everyone on the Classics Undergraduate mailing list. The mailing list consists of 582 students in total and includes students of related subjects, such as CAAH.
Dixon sent an email of apology twenty five minutes later to the same mailing list. His email ran: “Many apologies for forwarding an electronic copy of a student’s dissertation to the list in error. Please delete this from your inbox.”
He then went on to offer his “apologies in particular to the student concerned.”
The theses in question could potentially account for 25% of the student’s total mark for his undergraduate degree. Classisicts take eight equally weighted papers. The student in question also submitted a “special thesis” which works as an optional ninth paper and can be substituted for the lowest exam grade attained. This was sent along with his thesis, which will definitely make up 12.5% of his final grade.
The Faculty of Classics responded with an apology, ‘The Faculty is deeply sorry for the mistake and apologises unreservedly to the student affected.” The faculty told Cherwell “We can understand the anxiety any student would have about the accidental circulation of work that will count towards their degree mark, but we are confident that there are sufficiently rigorous controls built into the examination marking and adjudication process to ensure the student’s work will be marked anonymously and fairly.”
“Any student who has concerns about the conduct of a University Examination is entitled to raise these with the Proctors, and they will be addressed under the University’s complaints-handling regulations.”
Classics students have expressed their anger at the mistake. A Merton Classicist told Cherwell, “I thought it was a complete betrayal of privacy. I felt very bad for that guy. It was horrible actually. I hope they make it up to him.”
