Issue date: 9/16/04 Section: News

By Andrew Burleson

As Aggies returned to school this semester, a new addition was found on every syllabus across campus, regardless of major or year: "Know the Code!" With the creation of the Aggie Honor System Office (AHSO), Texas A&M now has a formal process for dealing with academic dishonesty. The AHSO officially opened this fall on Sept. 1.

"Before the Aggie Honor System was created, the only honor system was the Aggie Code," said Jeri Ann Henry, academic affairs chair for the Student Senate. "If someone was accused of cheating, there was no process of appeal, no way to defend yourself or even to clear your name. Everything was up to the specific departments and each individual professor.

As a result, it was students who suffered and got the short end of the deal, Henry said.

"Now, all faculty and students can anonymously report cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty to one centralized office," Henry said. "Cheating is clearly defined, a formal appeals process is now in place and students can anonymously report cheating incidents."

Henry said that during her freshman year at A&M, a girl in her math class was caught looking at her test. As a result, both she and the student who cheated received zeros.

"I was a scared little fish. I thought I would get kicked out of school," Henry said. "I tried talking to the professor, but she said that the zero would stand, and I had no way to appeal her decision, and I had to eat the zero."

Former Interim Vice President of Student Affairs Bill Kibler ran an anonymous survey among undergraduates last spring. More than 80 percent of those who responded to the survey admitted to have at some point been involved in some form of academic dishonesty throughout their college careers.

"If we want to be one of the top 10-universities in the nation, it is essential that we address this problem and fix it," Henry said. "We need to be able to know in our hearts that we did our own work when we were in college, and it should make our degrees even more valuable."

When the AHSO receives a complaint of cheating, it dispatches two members of the Honor Council to investigate whether there is sufficient evidence to hold a hearing. If it is determined that there is enough evidence for a hearing, then a panel of students is randomly selected from the Honor Council to serve as jurors for the hearing. If a student is convicted of cheating, he or she will receive an F* for the course, where the asterisk denotes the failure was due to academic dishonesty.

"If a student receives an F*, it goes on his permanent transcript," said Nicole Bradford, director of the Honor System Office. "Students have the opportunity to have the asterisk removed if they participate in a five-week rehabilitation course dealing with academic dishonesty and cheating."

Upon completion of the course, the asterisk is removed from the transcript, yet the failing grade remains. If a student is convicted twice of academic dishonesty, he is expelled.

Each Honor Council member undergoes a stringent screening and selection process as well as extensive training.

"This is a very prestigious position in the University and one that we take very seriously," Bradford said.

Analisa Gisin, a junior political science major, was one of the few students selected to serve on the Honor Council this year.

"We applied in April, and we were selected by the Academic Affairs Committee of the Student Senate and Dr. Bradford's Office," Gisin said. "We then attended a training day on a Saturday where we learned how to investigate a complaint, and learned about the many aspects of academic integrity and what we would be doing."

Gisin and her fellow council members listened to several speakers talk about numerous programs across the nation at other universities. Following the speaker, the council members had the opportunity to run through the entire process with a real case that occurred at another university.

"I think the Honor System is going to prevent people from cheating," Gisin said. "They're going to realize it's a lot more serious then it used to be, and an actual process is now in place, and there are real consequences."

For more information visit http://www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor/flyer.html

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