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Carolina’s
Honor System has a long and distinguished history at the University of
North Carolina, dating back more than 100 years. The system rests on
several central tenets:
- The university community, including faculty and students, share a
commitment to the pursuit of truth, and the dissemination of knowledge
to succeeding generations of citizens devoted to the high ideals of
personal honor and respect for the rights of others.
- These goals can only be achieved in a setting in which intellectual
honesty and personal integrity are highly valued; other individuals
are trusted, respected, and fairly treated; and the responsibility
for articulating and maintaining high standards is widely shared.
- Both students and faculty must play active roles in fostering a culture
in which honor is prized and acting to remedy violations of community
norms relating to academic misconduct, injuries to members of the University
community, and conduct that adversely affect University operations
and resources.
In 2003, the Faculty Council reiterated its belief in these important
tenets and adopted a statement of faculty responsibilities with regard
to the honor system that can be articulated Appendix
B of the Revised Instrument of Judicial Governance.
The Honor
Code was revised in 2003 to describe more specifically various forms
of academic misconduct, including
- Plagiarism in the form of deliberate or reckless representation of
another’s words, thoughts, or ideas as one’s own without
attribution in connection with submission of academic work, whether
graded or otherwise.
- Falsification, fabrication, or misrepresentation of data, other
information, or citations in connection with an academic assignment
whether graded or otherwise.
- Unauthorized assistance or unauthorized collaboration in connection
with academic work, whether or not for a grade.
- Cheating on examinations or other academic assignments, whether
graded or otherwise.
- Deliberately furnishing false information to members of the University
community in connection with their efforts to prevent, investigate,
or enforce University requirements regarding academic dishonesty.
- Forging, falsifying, or misusing University documents, records,
identification cards, computers, or other resources so as to violate
requirements regarding academic dishonesty.
- Violating other University policies that are designed to assure
that academic work conforms to requirements relating to academic integrity.
- Assisting or aiding another to engage in prohibited acts of academic
dishonesty.
More detailed definitions of academic misconduct and other prohibitions
relating to prohibited conduct such as classroom disruption, resume fraud,
damage to library books, and threatening behavior that injures members
of the University community or University interests are available covered
in Part
II of the Revised Instrument of Judicial Governance.
- There has been an increasing incidence of academic misconduct in
high schools.
- Students and faculty may have dissimilar understandings regarding
academic norms.
- Students may be more likely to engage in academic misconduct when
---in large classes where they feel anonymous.
- Some students may never cheat while others may cheat no matter what
they are told. The vast middle group may be deterred from cheating
if instructors follow certain common sense strategies such as those
provided from students. Link to advice to faculty from students and
from colleagues. Link to advice from colleagues
Instructors
who take issues of integrity seriously have found that discussions of
related topics engage students and provide an important added dimension
to their classroom discussion. To facilitate discussion of these important
themes, faculty members may wish to consider introduce
the topic of academic integrity early in the course. They may also
find it very useful to tap into the supplemental resources including
those on plagiarism, research ethics, and ethics in various subject areas
identified resources for faculty segment
of this website. The Center for Teaching
and Learning has developed an extensive library of books, monographs,
and multimedia resources listed on that instructors may use to contribute
to their professional development in this area, and use to promote discussion
in their classes. See the preliminary listing of these resources.
In
keeping with University policy, reiterated by the Faculty Council
in 2003, instructors should not take unilateral action in dealing
with suspected academic misconduct. They should instead
- Consider meeting with the student suspected of academic misconduct
to find out all the facts, using discussion.
- Report such conduct for action by the Honor System using the simple
reporting form that will be available soon on the Honor System web
site.
- Recommend an appropriate grade sanction (F on the assignment, course
component, or course) and other remedial
action.
- Work with the appropriate Student
Attorney General’s Office to prosecute instances of misconduct
should they occur.
Reporting suspected student academic misconduct is important so that
the University can ensure an effective system of fact-finding; provide
a swift and appropriate remedy; and identify institutional mechanisms
that can prevent such misconduct in the future. Reasons for reporting
are discussed in the "Why Report Academic
Misconduct?"
portion of this site. Answers to frequently asked questions likely to
be asked
by instructors are provided on the FAQ.
- Become aware of provisions of the Honor Code and the Instrument
of Student Judicial Governance of which it is a part.
- Communicate expectations regarding student conduct (particularly
relating to collaboration, use of sources, and rules governing examinations
and assignments), as discussed in the faculty
advice section of this site.
- Use good judgment in developing and administering examinations as
discussed in the faculty advice section
of this site.
- Fulfill your responsibilities under
the honor code by providing necessary oversight, reporting incidents
of misconduct, and cooperating with the relevant Student Attorney General’s
office.
- Become involved in the Honor System
by exploring issues of academic integrity in the classroom, encouraging
academic departments and colleagues to take such matters seriously,
and participating in educational initiatives and faculty governance
responsibilities.
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