Exam Violation

Hi Guys,

Have anyone of you guys/girls ever had an exam violation? Last saturday I was issued an exam violation for carrying a stop watch. Any ideas what happens next or what’s the best way to address, it was a very basic stop watch and it seems kinda silly to me but just wanted to know if any of you’ll have experienced anything similar?

Thanks

According to CFA institute’s website wrist watches are allowed but audible alarms/timers must be turned off. It specifically states that any type of desk clock or timer is not allowed. I’d guess your best course of action is to email them immediately to state your case.

wow … stop watch = exam violation? didn’t know that… i myself didn’t even bother getting any type of watches cause i dont want to over emphasize looking at the watch… makes me more nervous. I just look at the main watch hung on the wall.

A friend took a stopwatch to Level 3 a couple of years ago - got the violation letter and then appealed the decision. Got his result voided and a two-year exclusion from the program.

Why shouldn’t we be able to take a stopwatch? My exam location on the weekend had no visible clock - only the flipcharts saying “less than two hours remain” etc.

For level 2, I actually don’t have a watch and bought what i thought was just a clock but ended up being technically an alarm clock. i didn’t notice this until the proctor pointed it out. what was different in my case as i showed it to the proctors when i was checking in. they debated and asked one of the senior proctors who ended up allowing it as long as i promised that i didn’t use the alarm function. (i actually didn’t know how to use the alarm function anyhow).

Out of curiousity, do proctors tell people that they have violations in person always?

@ missing link … holy mother, that seems really harsh, did they hear his side of the story before suspending him or just informed him that he is suspended ?

Any other experiences with happy endings ?

Sadly there are no happy endings.

I think the best you can hope for is a Private Reprimand and results voided, but given the prior case above I think it looks bad for you. If you want to check the link below shows penalties for exam violations.

http://www.cfainstitute.org/ethics/conduct/sanctions/Pages/candidate-sanctions.aspx?PageName=searchresults&ResultsPage=1

That is too harsh… They could have just said that you are not allowed to take it once you were entering the exam only. Very harsh :frowning:

@ Monito thanks for the link , in fact in the 3 year period only 2 suspensions were issued, and that too after a hearing must be a real small world if one of those in missing links friend…

I am quite sure he was charged under " Possession and Use of Electronic Devices".

Well he is in the elite league of only 2 , I hope they let this go… although I know thats wishful thinking

Still my all time favorite violation:

http://dealbreaker.com/2010/03/let-it-be-known-the-cfa-will-not-have-its-name-tainted-by-images-of-taints/

that seems like a pretty harsh.

my test centre didn’t have a clock on the wall. can you imagine sitting level 3 am without knowing the time? the paper was delayed 15 minutes as well

Same thing happened to me in a CPA exam few years ago, brought in a small little digital clock, one of those with a magnet that you can put on your refridgerator. Proctor wrote me up and I got a warning letter from the State Board a few weeks later. Pissed me off bigtime for such a trivial thing.

@ Calvol Does a warning letter or private reprimand result in voiding your result

@ Gringo… tell me about man , we had a tiny clock couldn’t see s**t

One year i turned up with a stop watch. My wife thought it was a good idea. The proctor checked the list of items and told me it was not allowed and that was the end of that.

How do they see that you have a stop watch if you have it on your wrist?

@MajorNYC They don’t always tell you if you are in violation. My study buddy was taking L3 again this year. What happened is a proctor suspected that he was copying/attempting to copy as he raised his head stretching his neck. No word was said to him by any of the proctors. One and half months after the exam, he receives a document package from the institute charging him with plagiarism. He contested this and the issue was only finalised this year in March. He was simply asked to register again at an even higher rate even though they held him up.

Hello,

can they do this? I think the proctor has to give you a letter. The proctors are oftern normal students or worker you work at the fair. So there is no way they can do it without informing you