The Emory College Honor Council unanimously approved revisions to the Honor Code, stipulating that the same Honor Code be applicable to all undergraduate students. All enrolled undergraduates in Emory College are eligible to vote on the proposal from April 18-20.
The proposed revisions aim to establish one Honor Code for Emory College, the Goizueta Business School, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Oxford College, according to the March 29 email announcement from Associate Dean and Director of the Honor Council Jason Ciejka (11G, 17L). Each undergraduate school currently administers its own Honor Code with different procedures, which Ciejka explained has historically been the case for Emory’s schools.
“Emory is fairly decentralized as a university and as an institution,” Ciejka said. “This is a good move, at least for the undergraduates, to get us all on the same page, so that you all have consistency and you know what's expected.”
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs Pamela Scully asked the schools to create a unified Honor Code in 2019, according to Ciejka. In response, Ciejka convened a working group of students, faculty and staff from all four schools to consider how to create a single set of procedures for undergraduates.
Associate Director of the Honor Council Blaire Wilson said if approved, the vote in the ECAS will affect only students within the College if approved.
“The other undergraduate schools are proposing votes through their own governance structures as outlined in their current Honor Code. If approved, all undergraduates will have the same Honor Code,” Wilson said.
Ciejka said that the revised honor code would help students to avoid confusion about different Honor Code expectations when moving between schools, such as graduating Oxford to attend the College or enrolling in the business school. Ilakkia Anabayan (22C), co-chair of the Emory College Honor Council, agreed with Ciejka.
“It just adds a lot of consistency and this one place to look for information that's going to be even across the board,” Anabayan said.
If these changes get approved, the new Undergraduate Academic Honor Code will be enacted for the fall 2022 semester. Ciejka told the Wheel that even if the new Honor Code is enforced, each school would still have separate honor councils. Honor councils investigate all reports of academic misconduct and play a role in the resolution of each case.
Separate honor councils would give the undergraduate schools “a greater ability to coordinate across the schools and create a more consistent experience for students,” Ciejka said.
The revisions also seek to make the Honor Code more accessible by using clear and concise language in the hopes of tackling confusion expressed by students over the years.
One notable change would be to recognize the informal resolution meeting (IRM) process. Ciejka explained that IRMs began as a way to provide quicker resolutions for students accused of an Honor Code violation. These meetings allow students who accept full responsibility for violating the Honor Code to bypass the investigation and formal hearing of their case.
“This has been an opportunity to have productive conversations with students about the Honor Code and the importance of academic integrity, but also a space for students to share about extenuating circumstances or challenges they may be facing that are important context for making decisions in many cases,” Wilson said.
Ciejka added that students currently have to sign a waiver acknowledging that they will not go through the entire investigation and hearing process to have an IRM, so officially adding the IRM process to the Honor Code would make it more accessible.
“That's helpful because students will see it in the code, they'll know to ask for it,” Ciejka said. “It'll be clearer for that.”
Emory College Dean Michael Elliott authorized the informal resolution process, according to Wilson. IRMs were instituted in spring 2020 due to pandemic-related circumstances like the transition to remote learning, Wilson added.
The Honor Council last revised the Emory College Honor Code in 2017 after voting in favor of including the electronic device policy and testing policy. The electronic device policy prohibits students from using electronic devices during examinations unless previously approved by the professor. The testing policy gives professors the autonomy to institute policies to protect the integrity of online examinations.
Wilson said she believes the Honor code’s policies should continue to be reviewed “regularly.”
“As the field of academic integrity changes over time, so should the policies that cultivate a culture of integrity,” Wilson said.
