The Honor Code A quote spoken by once famous philosopher Aristotle states as such: “Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them,” (Motivational & Inspirational Corner). This quote very reasonably explains what it means to possess either an honor code or an academic honor code. Simply put, the self-dignity that comes along with properly following an honor code does not come by possessing such honors, but by deserving what is given to you by taking the code seriously. An individual who follows such a code honestly would be someone who deserves the honor; however, someone who does not follow the code in complete honesty would be someone who possesses the honor with no meaning or pride behind it. An honor code is a very
Notre Dame being a highly known and well established school incorporated an honor code into their system in 1989 (University of Notre Dame). Their honor code very thoroughly explains the rules the students are trusted and expected to follow, and failure to comply with these rules can result in punishment. Looking at the specific cheating aspect of the code, students who fail to comply with the code can have punishment ranging anywhere from receiving an overall failing grade for the class to expulsion from the school (University of Notre Dame). Generally, most students who are aware of such rules will not abide against them. In fact, it was found in a study by the Center for Academic Integrity that only 23% of students who went to schools that instituted honor codes cheated, while that number was much higher compared to schools that did not enforce any type of honor code, the number being almost half of the students that went there (Character.org). With the knowledge that their peers can report them for cheating and put their higher education at risk, few to none students will go against these rules. Also, most students will not abide against them due to the fact of self-guilt that comes along with cheating, knowing fully well that they are given the privilege to work and test take as they please. Students who know what is at risk by cheating
As stated in an article on the success of honor codes, “…with honor codes , expectations determine reality” (Dirmeyer and Cartwright, The Chronicle of Higher Education). This statement perfectly introduces the concept that honor codes have an enormous effect on one’s character. Students who choose to follow the honor code are students who will generally be more honorable, honest, and trustworthy in their lives afterwards. While undergoing an honor code throughout their academic career, they will be able to take serious matters in life seriously, as they should be rightfully doing. Students who learn what it means to be honorable early on will understand that going about things “the easy way” is not how work should be done, whether it be for school or their career. Doing honest and hard work is the way in which you earn respect from others and are able to properly partake in self-pride and dignity. This creates a student with a profound character, and the more people we see like this in life, the more successful society
To follow the honor code would be to expel all students involved and this would be a heavy hit on the academy. “At this time West Point had been having trouble recruiting soldiers because of the public attitude toward the military following the Vietnam War.” The other possibility was to scrap the way the system was supposed to behave to keep the cadets in school and to reconstruct the honor code and the way it handled violations. Diagnosis: a genitor The diagnosis of the problem stems from the fact that the honor code was a rigid book of rules that all cadets were expected to adhere to. All parties guilty of violations were given the harshest punishment of expulsion.
However, this may stem from a lack of enforcement of the rules. Even at the most prestigious schools, such as Harvard University, students are not upholding the rules implemented: “The possibility that 125 Harvard students ‘improperly collaborated’ on an exam in the spring has galvanized … discussion about … honor codes” (Source: C). In this case, people may argue that the only party at fault consists of the students. However, the faculty may be partially guilty as well, as their lack of care towards the rules has created a situation that jeopardizes the school’s integrity. Revision may then seem like the least of the school’s priorities, as they must show they seriously consider educational integrity. Likewise, at the University of Virginia, “157 students have been investigated by their peers in the largest cheating scandal in memory” (Source: D). Again, the school and all those who work there hold at least part of the fault for this ignorance because, theoretically, they should preserve and enforce the rules provided. The fact that the scandal exists means that they were not doing their jobs to their fullest. Although revision may seem simpler to carry out, the school’s staff must show an attempt at intervention within the student lives to keep them on a path towards
Honor is having pride in one’s family name or self and having courage. Honor can be a blessing in some cases, but in other cases it can be a curse. Some people use honor to make themselves better, but others use honor to make others feel bad. The theme of honor is shown throughout American literature especially in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, and Chinese Cinderella. Honor was first introduced in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Honor. What is honor? What does it truly mean to be honorable? What does it take to be honorable? Honor is a simple word that has many definitions. What is your definition of honor? For many years past, honor has been the foundation for what drove a man to be the best he could be and to do the best he could do. In English literature, many of the main characters were based off of the concept of honor. For example, in the literary works Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, the epic poem Beowulf, and the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, each main character’s ethics are determined by their way of perceiving what honor is. Honor means to be loyal, diligent, dedicated, strong willed, to stand for what you believe while ignoring all the consequences, standing up for something few others or no one else will, and being looked up to as a role model.
Honor Code has evolved over the years and its becoming more strict in its ways and flaws. “Taggert accused the administration of using the code to punish rather than to help students improve themselves” (Bergera). It lists of forbidden acts are antiquated and invade the students’ sense of privacy without truly defining the quality of honor. Other seemingly arbitrary codes such as no herbal tea, no short skirts and no beards are strictly enforced. Even Jesus Christ could not have attended BYU without shaving first. As a m...
To thine own self be true, as Shakespeare writes, is the fundamental principle that defines honesty. Although a variety of factors influence one's decision to be honest, the primary reason to choose integrity is to be true to oneself. Part of being true to oneself is recognizing the need for individualism. Individualism is the state in which a person is able to take in the events of the surrounding world and discern for himself which practices he or she will participate in. The importance of individualism is engraved in Belmont University's purpose statement, yet it is unclear whether or not individualism is valued because of the university's new honor code system. Is forcing Belmont students to comply to an honor code enabling them to make decisions for their own individual selves?
After some research on other university honor codes, the processes of honor codes are really similar to the University of Colorado at Boulder. In fact, Colorado State University (CSU) have a similar honor code pledge as us, which is “I have not given, receive, or used any unauthorized assistance. ” Comparing the discipline process between here and CSU and Stanford University, they are looks identical but written differently. However, the discipline from Stanford are harsher than here an CSU. From the Office of Community Standard Student Affairs website, “the standard sanction for a first offense includes a one-quarter suspended suspension. ” While CSU, they have a bit more lenient sanction for a first offense. From the CSU website, there are
Codes that promote integrity are what everyone wants. One high school, Lawrence Academy, had a discussion of issuing an honor code within the school. Most concluded that “we need an environment where students and faculty could live in complete trust of one another” (Source B). The only way this school could have trust was through this system. Trust and integrity is needed throughout a school to strive and keep improving as a school and as a student.
An honor code can affect students’ behavior positively by the student knowing between what is right and what is wrong; that builds a principle that student will follow for the rest of their life. Honor codes reduce the amount of cheating that is occurred in classrooms, this is very beneficial since cheating is looked at very negatively since it is a very dishonest way of showing your knowledge. Also, if a student has cheated their whole way through high school, their life would be much more difficult. An honor code not only gives a school a better name, but it also shows that the kids that come out of the school are honest and hard workers. We need honest hard workers for several important jobs, such as a doctor, etc. If people were cheating and did not learn what they were supposed to know for this job, that can become very harmful. An honor code is necessary to make the world a better
People have cheated in college for years without getting caught; is it right to steal other people's work? A kid in college was the top kid in the class and people had always cheated on him during his academic career. He was too afraid to tell any teachers about the kids cheating and making him do the assignments. Until the honor code was established in their university and a peer noticed the kids cheating and talked to him about turning them in. The net day he told the professor and the kids who were cheating were caught and expelled. This is why Broken Arrow and other schools should establish a honor code.
In conclusion, the issue of academic integrity does not only affect an individual, but also an institution. Therefore, it is the duty of students and schools to ensure that ethical principles are upheld all the time. Moreover, institutions of higher learning should deal with all reported cases of academic dishonestly severely to deter others. In addition, a culture of academic integrity should be promoted. For students, it is even more important because it helps them to avoid losing a potential career due to misconduct. Moreover, upholding the values of ethics and integrity provides them with intrinsic
Academic integrity has been a major concern among many colleges and universities across the world. Many people may ask the question: what is academic integrity? University of Missouri’s Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (n.d.) states, “Academic integrity is the core set of values and principles that underwrites the very mission of the University itself; integrity, honesty, hard work, and the determination to translate personal and professional principles into behavior.” Some also may view academic integrity as the act of sustaining honest and rightful behavior in an academic setting that avoids, prevent and provide disciplinary actions for those who commits academic dishonesty, plagiarism and cheating of any kind. Majority of college and universities in all disciplines has academic ethics and honesty policies for all students regardless of their academic statues as undergraduate or graduate students. For example, Webster University’s Statement of Ethics (n.d.) for both graduate and undergraduate programs says, “Those who elect to partici...
I am very familiar with the Honor Code and conduct process due to in class discussion and through my own research and reading. During my first semester at UF, one of my First Year Florida class assignments was to take a test which evaluated my knowledge on the Honor Code by giving me different sets of situations and what type of violation was violated in each one. Moreover, I have a clear understanding that the Honor Code not only includes violations of plagiarism but also bribery, bribery, cheating, fabrication and conspiracy. Furthermore, I comprehend that once accused of an academic violation a student is allowed to accept or deny responsibility that is overviewed by the Student Conduct Committee with an appeal process to the VP of Student
Cheating is unacceptable no matter what type of situation it is. After reading about the Atlanta Public School scandal, and finding out the consequences that were given to the teachers, I totally agree that the behavior for the teachers were not justifiable. If you break the law, then you’re going to be punished and there’s no other way around it. I do believe that the long jail sentence given to the convicted teachers were a bit insane, but the teachers know all consequences of every law they break before agreeing to teach. In my opinion, the punishments don’t fit the crime because we have criminals and drug dealers on the street free but teachers in jail because they changed answers on an elementary school test. The justice system doesn’t always make sense sometimes, but at the end of the day, we all know the consequences if we commit the crime.
Academic dishonesty is serious because it is central towards the student 's self-identity, the academic mission of the campus, the reputation of the school as well as the qualifications in which the school offers. When there are many instances of cheating, or when there is no measure to combat the act, the quality of students that is produced by a school tends to be wanting. Graduates of inferior quality tend to have problems obtaining jobs, or if they do, they have a hard time adjusting easily since they did not fully master what they learned in school adequately. While campuses strive to establish a culture which supports honest teaching and research, the issue of academic integrity goes way beyond the quality of work a student submits to the moral fiber of the learners. The values include trust, honesty, respect, fairness and responsibility (Roberts,