The first Honor Code Celebration takes place this week, featuring programs, speakers, discussions and events promoting academic integrity.
According to geography professor Mike Kerwin, the celebratory week comes after the realization over a year ago that the honor code was not very well well regarded, respected or even known among the DU community.
“We are very well aware of the dishonest and unethical decisions made everyday. I was asked by the provost to get a committee together to recommend changes to make ours a more effective honor code,” Kerwin said. “It may very well be a slow process to get that tradition started. That is the reason for the celebration week, to promote change. DU got funding and the ability to invite speakers and guests to promote a higher profile honor code.”
The week kicked off Monday with a faculty lunch with Bill Taylor, a retired political science professor from Chicago, discussing the problems of cheating and the challenges of living with integrity.
“He has quite a reputation and is a leader im the field. We thought he would be a perfect guest speaker, targeted toward students to have them think about making the right choices,” said Kerwin.
Throughout the rest of the week, additional discussions regarding campus policies, procedures and honor code expectations will be held as well as a movie screening of “The Town.”
Wednesday evening, former Colorado Supreme Court Judge Rebecca Love Kourlis is scheduled to speak.
“We wanted a unique perspective on what ‘integrity for life’ means,” Kerwin said. “We thought that she would have very interesting personal stories about integrity.”
DU’s Honor Code states that the responsibility to observe and uphold particular ethical goals and values in relation to academic integrity falls on the university’s entire community.
The honor code was established to keep the university’s honesty and behavior in check.
A committee of 12 people have been working for the last 15 months to revamp the honor code.
“Over the years, I, like many other professors, had problems with plagiarism and cheating in my classes. I became frustrated with how violations were handled at the university,” said Kerwin.
Based on survey comments and recommendations, the majority of the DU community is aware of the Honor Code, however, feel the school could provide more education and accountability in accordance with the content of the code.
Academic misconduct includes but is not limited to plagiarism, cheating and fabrication or falsification of school-work submissions.
“We have seen a slight increase in Academic Integrity violations, but I attribute that more to better education of faculty to know who and where to turn such violations in so this was not the reason for the Celebation week,” Olson said.
The Honor Code Task Force Committee has explored changes in hopes of simplifying language and providing more concrete examples of violations that were previously thought to be missing.
The code includes the Pioneer Pledge, a more active statement which incoming freshman are required to sign, specifically upholding values of integrity, respect and responsibility.
The endeavor to make the Honor Code more effective coincided with the 10-year anniversary of the code’s development.
“We’ve got this great statement that students and faculty created 10 years ago,” Olson said. “How relevant is it? At this point, we’re a school of an honor code, not an honor code school, more in theory than in practice. Tangibly thinking, it will probably take us a good four or five years, but students should be able to rattle off the words ‘respect, responsibility and integrity,’ when asked about the code. As folks become more aware, it becomes more the fabric of the institution.”
In future years, the Task Force hopes to focus on the other two pillars of the code: respect and responsibility.
“This week makes the Honor Code more accessibly by showing people the importance of living an honorable life,” said Honor Code Advisory Committee member, sophomore Matt Markham. “It’s not just words on paper, but a way of life.”
