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by Timothy M. Dodd, Executive Director of the Center for Academic Integrity
Honor codes and academic integrity policies form dialogue at the institutional, classroom and individual level around fundamental values. Codes and policies call students, faculty and staff to a life of ethical conduct and reflection through the promotion of a campus culture of trust, honesty, fairness, responsibility, respect, courage, and empathy. An active academic integrity dialogue not only affirms the values of the best among us but also empowers them to model and promote those values. All campuses have champions for integrity; a strong code or policy energizes and rewards them and encourages others to adopt the practice of integrity.
The elements of a traditional honor code (usually have 3 or more of the following)
- student initiated and operated
- students have full responsibility for investigation, adjudication and sanctioning
- impose a single sanction for all violations (suspension or expulsion)
- include a non-toleration clause (duty to report violations); failure of a witness to report a violation is a violation
- require a signed pledge on all work submitted
- all students must pass an honor code test or participate in honor code education before academic work will be graded
Traditional honor codes often govern non-academic behavior.
The elements of a modified honor code (have all or most of the following)
- initiated and operated through shared responsibility among students, faculty and administrators
- students have significant representation (usually majority vote) on hearing panels comprised of students, faculty and administrators
- faculty may adjudicate and sanction first offenses (within published grade sanction guidelines) and are required to consult with and report violations to the campus' integrity or judicial administrator
- second or subsequent violations are referred to hearing panels and more severe sanctions (often suspension) are applied to repeat offenders
- involve creative sanctioning (punitive plus educational sanctions packaged to address the nature of and motive for the offense and the academic and ethical development needs of the violator)
- may have a non-toleration clause (often expressed as an obligation to act or respond or a duty to care) that does not carry a sanction if not invoked
- students play the leading role in campus education of peers and faculty
Modified honor codes are usually developed to address academic infractions and educate about academic integrity but can "mature" into codes that govern academic and social behavior.
The elements of an ideal code or academic integrity policy
- speaks to consensus institutional values
- enforceable and culturally appropriate proscriptions, prescriptions and practices
- student involvement and ownership
- students are primary educators (and are recruited from among acknowledged student leaders and esteemed peers)
- streamlined process (to reduce the "hassle factor" for faculty and students)
- competent and reliable investigation (often conducted by a trained, impartial and permanent judicial investigator)
- fair and consistent adjudication and sanctioning
- central recordkeeping that merges academic and non-academic infractions into a single disciplinary file
Among over 4,000 institutions of higher education in the US, only 270 have self-described honor codes according to Dr. Don McCabe, the foremost voice and authority on academic integrity research. While few in number, their impact is great according to Dr. McCabe. Serious test cheating on campuses with honor codes is typically 1/3 to 1/2 lower than the level on campuses that do not have honor codes. The level of serious cheating on written assignments is 1/4 to 1/3 lower at honor code schools. But the impact doesn't derive magically from the term "honor code." Whether you adopt an "honor code," modified honor code" "community standard", "campus covenant," or "academic integrity policy," its strength and influence are borne of the myriad ways to promote discussion from admission to graduation, inside and outside the classroom, of the fundamental values of academic integrity.