Jason Himsey
Lorton,#2UPDATE Employee
Mon, October 22, 2012
Dave,
I am an APUS Ambassador, as well as an Alum of AMU (conferred AA and BA, working on MA). My studies with APUS started in 2001 and I have seen first hand the transition from the "old days" to the days of verifying student reports with the submission of work via Turnitin.com. Given that APUS is a regionally accredited university, the use of Turnitin.com assists the university in ensuring its credibility by verifying student work as original. As you know, plagiarism is a common issue among higher education institutions.
We can all agree that no system is near perfect. Your service and experiences in the desert might be very similar to many other students at any/all universities, so it is not really a surprise that your report might have been very common to several other reports submitted for review. Not all circumstances are the same, so you do have an option.
Did you contact your professor, or student services to request an appeal? You certainly should submit an appeal to have another source review your work and the Turnitin.com report. APUS has worked very hard to be the fine institution it is today and I am confident they would hear and consider a valid and justifiable appeal. Turnitin.com is a great resource that is used at many universities, online and brick and mortar alike - so it is not subject to just for-profit universities.
I wish you well and hope that your take a moment to contact APUS to seek reconciliation of your concern.