Dear Faculty,
I hope you all had a good summer and are getting ready for an exciting year. As you are all finishing your syllabi and preparing for the opening of classes next week, here’s a reminder to incorporate a reference to the Honor System. Below is an example of what you might include. Also included is a reference to an excellent tutorial on plagiarism that the library offers.
The Instrument of Student Judicial Governance, which contains the provisions of the Honor Code, states that students have four general responsibilities under the Code:
- Obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code;
- Refrain from lying, cheating, or stealing;
- Conduct themselves so as not to impair significantly the welfare or the educational opportunities of others in the University community; and
- Refrain from conduct that impairs or may impair the capacity of University and associated personnel to perform their duties, manage resources, protect the safety and welfare of members of the University community, and maintain the integrity of the University.
The Honor System’s “Honor in the Syllabus” page includes the following suggested “affirmation of the Honor Code”:
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has had a student-administered honor system and judicial system for over 100 years. The system is the responsibility of students and is regulated and governed by them, but faculty share the responsibility. If you have questions about your responsibility under the honor code, please bring them to your instructor or consult with the office of the Dean of Students or the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance. This document, adopted by the Chancellor, the Faculty Council, and the Student Congress, contains all policies and procedures pertaining to the student honor system. Your full participation and observance of the honor code is expected.
The Instrument defines plagiarism as “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.”
In addition, the Honor System suggests that all written work should be submitted with the following pledge: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment.”
If you need additional assistance in regards to plagiarism or appropriate citation methods, please see the UNC Libraries’ tutorials page for excellent tutorials on these topics. I also encourage you to make use of the Writing Center’s resources.
Jan Boxill, Ph.D
Chair of the Faculty
Director, Parr Center for Ethics
Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3125
Office Phone 919-962-3317
Cell Phone 919-270-6815
Fax: 919-962-3329
web: parrcenter.unc.edu
