(This is the third in a four-part series examining the way members of the University view the honor system.)
University faculty members initiate more than 50 percent of all honor cases. Students initiate only one-third of the cases, and teaching assistants or administrators start most of the rest.
Faculty members are not bound by the honor system like students, but many faculty members say the honor system is as much a part of their everyday lives.
"The honor system ratchets up the sense of trust between faculty and students," Economics Prof. Kenneth G. Elzinga said.
"It's a real benefit to be able to take a student at his or her word," Elzinga said.
"I think it's a positive reflection of the culture at U.Va. that professors talk about honor as much as students," said David Brogan, an assistant professor of computer science.
Despite the high number of cases brought by faculty, professors like students are not required by the honor system to initiate charges if they observe a case of lying, cheating or stealing.
Professors may discuss such instances with the students themselves or initiate an investigation.
Faculty members also may use the faculty grading option, which allows them to assign any grade they deem appropriate, including an F, on an assignment if they believe cheating has occurred.
|
"If it looks like cheating, it is probably best to try to form a solution first," said Gavin Reddick, a graduate student in the College and a teaching assistant in the government department. "But obviously, if it really is cheating, the only way the honor system will be upheld is if it is used and enforced."
Maura Tarnoff, a graduate student in the College and a teaching assistant in the English department, said that although she has never encountered a case of cheating, she felt bound by the honor system to initiate charges if she does witness an offense.
"I don't feel comfortable with that," Tarnoff said. "Cheating in any form is serious, but the idea that you could kick someone out for one little mistake is somewhat Draconian."
The results of a 1999 survey sponsored jointly by the Honor Committee and the Faculty Senate showed that nearly 70 percent of the respondents said they believe the honor system deterred academic dishonesty. The survey was issued to 1,552 faculty members from all of the University's schools.
"The degree of trust it gives inculcates virtue," Reddick said.
But "if honor works, it works in spite of the system," Tarnoff said. "I don't think it deters people from cheating, especially if they're in a desperate situation."
"As an undergraduate, I thought the system had more of an influence," said Brogan, who received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University in 1992. "Now, I think it is more realistic to assume cheating happens whether there's an honor system or not," Brogan said.
"But cheating doesn't happen here as much as at other schools because the culture of honor is so pervasive," he said.
Associate Economics Prof. Ronald Michener also said the honor system does not effectively deter cheating.
"I think the most important effect of the honor system is the self-selection of who actually comes to the University," Michener said. "On the whole, the University student is pretty well behaved."
Students who cheat realize "the risk of getting thrown out on an honor charge isn't much greater than that of getting drunk and falling out a window," Michener said.
More than 60 percent of respondents to the survey favored a multiple sanction system over the current single-sanction Honor system.
"I think there should be alternatives to the single sanction," Tarnoff said, explaining that the system was too "all-or-nothing."
Reddick, who is a TA for a course on constitutional law, said the single sanction raises the question of proportionality of the punishment to the offense.
"The single sanction is something to think about," Brogan said.
"I'm prepared to believe the honor system is not as strong as it was when I was a young pup on the faculty," said Elzinga, who has taught at the University for more than 30 years.
Still, "the honor system is a constant reminder that there is a value to honesty and integrity," Elzinga said.
(Next week's article will examine the perspectives of fourth years on the honor system.)
Read More
U.Va. to seek external firm in search for 10th president
By Brendon Bordwine | 20 hours agoExternal search firms are often retained by universities to identify and recruit candidates for top leadership positions.
Travel 101: How out-of-state students travel to and from Charlottesville
By Bertie Azqueta | 2 days agoThese students have had to find efficient and affordable ways to travel across several states just to get back home or back to school.
Who is Interim President Paul G. Mahoney?
By Brandon Kile | 3 days agoThe former Law dean joined the University Law School faculty in 1990 and served as academic associate dean of the School of Law from 1999 to 2004.
