Cheating is an issue prevalent in educational institutions nationwide; the role of the student honor code and the upcoming events is to help reduce this number at Mississippi State University.
Monday was the start of Academic Integrity Week at MSU.
Academic Integrity Week is hosted by MSU’s Honor Code Office, library and several other departments throughout campus.
The purpose of the week is to educate students on the importance of following the Honor Code and to show students proper ways of following the Honor Code to avoid violations.
The events end Thursday at 7 p.m. at Taylor Auditorium in McCool Hall.
Symone Bounds, first year graduate student obtaining a master’s in public policy and administration, is the assistant program coordinator of Academic Integrity Week.
Bounds said this is the first year MSU is having a week dedicated to educating students of the honor code.
The idea of having a week dedicated to promoting the Honor Code started when the department looked at other universities such as Texas A&M, University of Virginia, Duke University and Maryland University.
 James Orr, director of the Honor Code Council, said since the Honor Code was installed at MSU in 2005, keeping up with students who have violated the Honor Code has been more organized because there is a central location to keep up with sanctions.
“The idea behind having an honor code at MSU is not  to punish students for violating the honor code,” Orr said. “With the Honor Code we are also looking to educate our students and promote outreach program which can help students avoid violations and academic misconduct.”
The Honor Code at MSU sets the university apart from other colleges. MSU is the only public university in Mississippi that has system set up to keep track of violations.
Bill Kibler, vice president of Student Affairs, said having the Honor Code at MSU and educating students about the importance of following and respecting the Honor Code is beneficial to the student and the university.
Kibler said the ultimate goal for the honor code is to have students realize the importance of integrity once they graduate and begin their careers, so they will be aware that cheating will not be tolerated at their jobs and also the students’ actions will reflect the university from where they graduated.