11.3. The Academic Nature and Scope of Our Honor Code

Our honor code is an academic one. The code proscribes cheating (as defined above) in general terms and also in any of its several specialized sub-forms (including but not limited to plagiarism, lying, stealing and interacting fraudulently or disingenuously with the honor council).

The honor code applies to all behavior related to the academic enterprise. Thus, it extends beyond the boundaries of particular courses and classrooms per se, and yet it does not extend out of the academic realm into the purely social one.

Examples of cheating include but are not limited to:

11.3.1.

The unauthorized possession or use of notes, texts, electronic devices (including, for example, tablets, computers and smartphones), online materials or other such unauthorized materials/devices in fulfillment (or in an attempt at fulfillment) of course requirements.

11.3.2.

Copying another person’s work or participation in such an effort.

11.3.3.

An attempt or participation in an attempt to fulfill the requirements of a course with work other than one’s original work for that course.

11.3.4.

Forging or deliberately misrepresenting data or results. Submitting results of an experiment, at which one was not present or present for less than the full time, as one’s own.

11.3.5.

Obtaining or offering either for profit or free of charge materials one might submit (or has submitted) for academic credit. This includes uploading course materials to online sites devoted, in whole or in part, to aiding and abetting cheating under the guise of providing “study aids.” There is no prohibition concerning uploading exemplars of one’s work to one’s personal website or to departmental, divisional, University or professional society websites for purposes of publicity, praise, examination or review by potential employers, graduate school admissions committees, etc.

11.3.6.

Violating the specific directions concerning the operation of the honor code in relation to a particular assignment.

11.3.7.

Making unauthorized copies of graded work for future distribution.

11.3.8.

Claiming credit for a group project to which one did not contribute.

11.3.9.

Plagiarism, which includes representing someone else’s words, ideas, data or original research as one’s own and in general failing to footnote or otherwise acknowledge the source of such work. One has the responsibility of avoiding plagiarism by taking adequate notes on reference materials (including material taken off the internet or other electronic sources) used in the preparation of reports, papers and other course work.

11.3.10.

Submitting one’s own work for a course that was previously submitted for the same course, or another course, without proper citation.

11.3.11.

Lying, such as: Lying about the reason for an absence to avoid a punitive attendance penalty or to receive an extension on an exam or on a paper’s due date; forging or willfully being untruthful on documents related to the academic enterprise, such as on an application for an independent study, a registration form or a purported transcript.

11.3.12.

Stealing, such as: Stealing another’s work so that he/she/they may not submit it or so that work can be illicitly shared; stealing reserve or other materials from the library; stealing devices and materials (such as computers, calculators, textbooks, notebooks and software) used in whole or in part to support the academic enterprise.

11.3.13.

Fraudulent interaction on the part of students with the honor council, such as: Willfully refusing to testify after having been duly summoned; failing to appear to testify (barring a bona fide last-minute emergency) after having been duly summoned; testifying untruthfully.


Willful failure of a student to report an incident of suspected cheating shall be considered to be a breach of the code of student conduct, Sec. B.14. Such cases will be referred to the chief conduct officer.