Mississippi State University recently approved a new honor code designed to push students and faculty members to a higher standard of conduct both in and out of the classroom.According to the university press release, the thesis of the code reads, “As a Mississippi State University student I will conduct myself with honor and integrity at all times. I will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor will I accept the actions of those who do.”
Bob Wolverton, president of the Faculty Senate, said he is pleased with the new code and thinks it will help spread equality and fairness across campus. He said the new code leaves no stone unturned and gets rid of any doubt in the system.
“The old system was so choppy, and it let every faculty member do his or her own thing because there wasn’t any fair system that applied to one and all,” Wolverton said. “The new code is uniform and can be fairly administered across campus. This does not mean it is a straightjacket for faculty, but it is a fair and uniformed guideline.”
Vice president for student affairs Bill Kibler said under terms of the new code, acts of academic misconduct are defined as: “the use of any unauthorized materials, including notes, study aids or information from unapproved collaboration; the falsification of research materials or data; multiple submissions of the same work, or representing group work as one’s own; plagiarism, including using another’s work, as well as failure to appropriately credit sources; complicity in knowingly helping someone else commit academic dishonesty; and violations of departmental or college rules regarding academic misconduct.”
Kibler said the policy has received positive feedback from faculty and students.
“It reaffirms our university’s commitment to the highest standards of academic conduct,” he said.
Thomas Bourgeois, assisstant dean of students, said the new honor code goes far beyond what the old academic misconduct policy tried to accomplish. He said one goal is to explain to students what honor and character are and this new code encompasses many qualities of those attributes.
“The old policy was built mostly on the enforcement aspect of this process. This new policy not only requires students to be honest, it implores them to be more honorable and respectable and to possess character,” he said.
Wolverton said the code not only sets up the guidelines for what not to do but presents a plan of action in the case that a student makes a mistake during his or her term at MSU.
The code involves an honor council made up of faculty and students from across campus. The members will be nominated from each individual college based on personal integrity and achievement.
Wolverton said after a student is accused of academic misconduct, the new honor council will hear his or her case similarly to the way a jury would hear a case. The council will then implement sanctions based on evidence found, he said.
The process of implementing the new honor code has been long but well-planned, he said.
“The proposed code was passed through not only the Student Association but also the Faculty Senate, and each added and removed articles according to what they believed to be best for the university,” Wolverton said.
He said the process has resulted in an outstanding code that places Mississippi State University in the ranks of other oustanding universities who have had similar ideals for years.
Bourgeois said the university hopes to have the new honor code in place by fall semester.