Essay submitted by Deborah Craddock-Bell.
A Culture of Honesty states, “The responsibility of creating and maintaining an honest university belongs to the entire university community.”
In 1998, the unit of the Office of the Vice President for Instruction was responsible for “creating and maintaining an honest university.” It consisted of one full-time staff member and a part-time graduate assistant responsible for scheduling hearings for the 67 cases of suspected dishonesty reported, speaking to first-year students at summer orientation about academic honesty and preparing the academic honesty annual report, which is mandated by the policy.
In 2008, the same unit of the Office of the Vice President for Instruction grew to two full-time staff members who:
• Scheduled meetings for faculty and students for the 329 cases of suspected dishonesty reported.
• Spoke to first-year, transfer, international and graduate students and parents at orientations; hundreds of teaching assistants through GRSC 7770 courses and the Center for Teaching and Learning’s new TA program; freshman college participants; and faculty at departmental meetings-a total of many thousand people.
• Prepared and posted to the academic honesty Web site (www.uga.edu/honesty) the annual report along with information related to the academic honesty policy and procedures, resources for students and faculty and semester statistical reports.
• Trained faculty and staff to serve as university academic honesty facilitators, and faculty and students to serve as academic honesty panelists.
• Advised the UGA Student Academic Honesty Council-a thriving council of undergraduate and graduate students who serve on panels, make presentations, meet regularly, sponsor campus speakers, plan Academic Honesty Awareness Week activities and spearheaded the effort to hang honesty plaques in all instructional classrooms.
• Received support from the UGA Parents and Families Association for travel to the Center for Academic Integrity’s annual international conference where UGA students and staff shared our successful model for resolving possible dishonesty and discussed the Student Academic Honesty Council.
• Co-sponsored with the UGA Alumni Association, the Center for Teaching and Learning and Food Services, a packed Academic Honesty Forum which included UGA President Michael F. Adams; Jere Morehead, vice president for instruction; Mark Richt, head coach of the football team; Anita DeRouen of the English department; and Rhodes Scholar Deep Shah as panelists.
• Initiated a collaboration with the Office of International Student Life, the department of English’s Writing Center, the Graduate Student Organization and the Division of Academic Enhancement to develop literature and workshops on academic honesty for international students who face “high-risk” consequences, which may result in the loss of a visa when a violation is confirmed.
The Office of the Vice President for Instruction takes its responsibility in this area very seriously, but creating and maintaining the academic integrity of the university must be a collective responsibility. Everyone, regardless of rank or classification, can play a role in protecting our culture of honesty at UGA.
• Faculty might consider revising your syllabi. Review your syllabi from the student’s perspective. If you have some ideas or classroom best practices that might benefit others at UGA, send them to honesty@uga.edu, and we will add them to the university’s academic honesty Web site. Shelby Funk, computer science; Kristen Miller, biological sciences; and Katherine McClain, department of banking and finance, have created additional handouts for their students to ensure that there is no misunderstanding of what is expected on group assignments. These handouts are posted on the honesty Web page under “Faculty Resources.”
• Faculty can volunteer to become trained to serve on academic honesty panels. Faculty and professional staff members might consider becoming trained to serve as academic honesty facilitators. If you want information about training, please contact me at honesty@uga.edu.
• Visitors Center guides, orientation leaders and residence hall assistants can encourage visitors and newly enrolled students to consider what it means to “earn” a degree from the University of Georgia.
• Everyone can encourage students to apply for membership to the Student Academic Honesty Council and join them in Academic Honesty Awareness Week activities scheduled for April 6-10.
Faculty and staff serve as role models for our students. We set and help maintain standards of honesty and integrity.
Finally, let us adhere to the academic honesty policy and process that is in place. This not only protects the student’s due process rights and interests of instructors, but also the integrity of the university and the value of a University of Georgia degree. And, after all, that is what A Culture of Honesty at UGA is all about.
