Hamilton, NY — A student-driven campaign at Colgate University has resulted in the adoption of an Academic Honor Code that will be implemented beginning in the fall of 2000.
After months of discussion and development among students, faculty members and the administration, the code was put forth in a student referendum during the spring semester and passed with more than 78 percent of eligible students voting in favor.
Once the Academic Honor Code is implemented, all incoming students will be required to sign a pledge to live by and support the letter and spirit of the code: that they will represent themselves truthfully, claim only work that is their own, and engage honestly in all academic assignments.
‘The idea of an honor code captivated a lot of students,’ said Connie Soja, associate professor of geology. Soja was heavily involved in the process through her membership on the Academic Affairs Board. ‘Students saw the Academic Honor Code as a way to elevate the academic atmosphere and level of trust on campus. It sets a positive tone about values, and a level of expectation among students that without a code is difficult to achieve.’ The Academic Affairs Board (A.A.B.) is a body of the campus governance system, comprising faculty, administrators, and students and student leaders dealing with matters directly related to the academic functions of the university.
Soja also noted that having an honor code gives students ownership, in large part, in elevating the academic atmosphere on their campus, by asking them to be more involved in their own behavior and that of other students.
‘I’m thinking about what is best for Colgate,’ said Class of 1999 member David Mills, Student Government Association president, during a student-run television program, The SGA-Team, in the spring term. ‘It is important to look at the great benefits and sense of academic integrity that will occur when a new generation of Colgate students is brought in under an already established honor code.’
Kristie Canegallo, a junior from Springfield, Mass., became an enthusiastic proponent through her service on the A.A.B. and the Executive Board of the Student Government Association. ‘The Academic Honor Code will add to what Colgate already offers students ‘ a way to refine their values. It will solidify and make more apparent what we do already here, which is to foster an atmosphere where honesty and integrity are discussed and revered.’
Senior Taylor Lies, of Chicago, Ill., who also served on the Executive Board of the Student Government Association, noted that he, too, hopes that the honor code will ‘increase discussion of issues like honesty and integrity ‘ What is honor’ What does it mean” and will strengthen relationships between students and professors by raising the level of trust.
Soja noted that extensive national research by Rutgers University Professor Donald McCabe, who has studied academic dishonesty among college students and how honor codes influence student behavior, has shown that, among students at colleges without academic honor codes, the incidence of dishonest behavior is higher than among those at schools with honor codes. As part of the process of educating the Colgate community while the honor code was being considered, McCabe was invited to campus to present his findings.
Rebecca Mervis, a member of the Class of 2000 from Pittsford, N.Y., was one of the student leaders involved in developing the language for the honor code. She said she hasn’t seen a ‘cheating culture’ at Colgate, but remarked, ‘Once the honor code is instituted, I think it will be taken very seriously and will create more interaction between students, faculty, and administrators, to help make a stronger university.’
In order to be eligible to vote in the referendum, students were required to attend information sessions to ensure they could make an informed decision about the honor code.
Following passage by the student body, the code was approved overwhelmingly by a vote of the faculty, and in the final step of the process, the Board of Trustees voted in favor of adopting the code at its meeting on May 15.
‘The code represents a rather significant change in how we will be doing business,’ said Alan Glos, associate dean for administrative advising. Glos was involved in earlier efforts to implement an honor code at Colgate and was proud to note that passage of the code ‘shows that students can change the place if they put their minds and energy to it.’
As a means of phasing in the Academic Honor Code, the class of 2004 will be the first class required to sign the pledge; upperclass students will not be required to sign the pledge but will be expected to abide by the requirements of the code.
‘This is a triumph for Colgate,’ said Jane Pinchin, provost and dean of the faculty. ‘Colgate’s honor code, the result of student initiative and tireless work, will make this college a finer institution.’
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