Honor Code vote postponed
A vote on a proposed Honor Code to decrease academic dishonesty was postponed Monday at Utah State University’s Faculty Senate meeting.
Bonnie Glass-Coffin, professor, said E-mail glitches made the revisions to the Student Code hard to understand which was the reason behind many faculty members asking for the vote to be postponed until next month. This would leave more time for them to read and understand the proposal.
The Honor Code proposal dealing with academic dishonesty has been in the works for the past two years and is designed to collaborate students and faculty in dealing with academic dishonesty.
ASUSU Academic Vice President Andy Haws is behind the proposed Honor Code.
“What we’re really trying to accomplish is increased student participation in fighting academic dishonesty,” Haws said.
The student code presently describes disciplinary processes for non-academic and academic problems on campus. The new Honor Code would rename a few articles in the student code and designate them as a violation of the Honor Code.
The Honor Code would set up a Student Honor Board which faculty could refer cases of academic dishonesty to.
The Student Honor Board would be made up of mainly students and a few faculty members. Haws said research shows such honor codes are very effective in cases of cheating which is on the rise on most campuses, including USU.
“If it’s student-run it will become part of the culture here on campus,” Haws said.
One reason for the effectiveness of an Honor Code is because students are more strict and harder on their peers than faculty.
Also, students are more afraid of reprimand in front of their peers, Haws said.
Although Haws was frustrated by the delay in the vote, he said he feels it’s important for faculty to understand and believe in the Honor Code because they will be the ones to refer the cases to the Student Honor Board.
“The faculty buy-in on this is really important,” Haws said.
The Faculty Senate will vote again on the Honor Code next month.
Also discussed at the meeting was pending legislature regarding money given to higher education from the state of Utah. President Kermit L. Hall said decisions on the budget will be made by the legislature and governor of Utah in the next two weeks.
President Hall also said he sees the best way to secure money at USU is through retaining more students and attracting more graduate students.
The Cultural Activities Council also announced Monday that it will not dissolve.
Elizabeth Grobsmith, council chair and dean of the college of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, said although the Performing Arts Series is now obsolete at USU, the council will continue to try to increase artist events on campus as well as increase community and campus involvement.