WATERLOO — Forgery, impersonation and a $900 fee were involved in a "sophisticated" examination scam allegedly uncovered at the University of Waterloo this week.
Facing criminal charges as a result are a UW math student and a PhD candidate from York University who is accused of registering to write a first-year exam for her.
The two suspects allegedly met through a website that matches Chinese students facing exams with other Chinese students willing to fraudulently write them for a fee.
"It's nothing short of criminal and should be treated as such," said UW spokesperson Nick Manning. "That's exactly what we have done.
"These are exceptionally talented and bright students who must be under extreme pressure to perform. It's just a very sad situation."
Manning said UW officials responded after getting a tip that student identification cards were being forged so paid imposters could take exams for students.
Working with the math faculty and campus police, he said, the university increased scrutiny of ID cards at math exams by scanning their magnetic strips with laptop computers.
Manning said that was being done during a first-year math exam for hundreds of students Monday morning when one writer suddenly left before he had been reached.
He was followed and arrested after officials allegedly found him in possession of an altered ID card that had legitimately been issued to a female student.
"The magnetic strip is obviously difficult to forge," Manning said.
The forged card then led to its real holder and she was also arrested for allegedly paying the imposter $900 to write the exam for her.
"The majority of people do uphold our high standards of academic integrity, but a small number succumb to the pressure and cheat," Manning said.
The accused student — Kaiwen Qian, 20 — was held in custody and appeared in Kitchener court Wednesday on two charges related to forgery and impersonation.
She was released after putting up $3,000 to help ensure she doesn't flee to her native China.
Qian must also turn in her passport and other travel documents, remain in Ontario and report weekly to Waterloo Regional Police until her case is dealt with.
The second suspect, Longhua Wang, was previously released by police on similar charges after promising to appear in court at a future date.
Manning said the website at the heart of the case isn't unique to UW, but he couldn't say how well-used or widespread it is.
"Frankly, this is a problem any university or college faces," he said.
Although there has been cheating in exams before, Manning said the sophistication of this alleged scheme is new.
"There is clearly a difference between writing notes on one's hand … and forging documents, impersonation and paying a third party to write your exam," he said.
Manning also said the university's response should send a message that it is vigilant about weeding out cheats and "keeping pace" with new methods.
In addition to criminal charges, the UW student allegedly involved faces likely expulsion.
Manning said cheating by a small minority is unfortunately expected since students, especially international students, are under intense pressure to succeed.
"The stakes for them are very high," he said.
当加拿大人是傻瓜？加拿大人分不出中国人的脸，男女还是分的出的。
