In a groundbreaking effort to dispel faculty misconceptions about the University Honor System, the Honor Committee now will permit faculty members to sit in on honor trials, according to Honor Committee Chairman Christopher Smith.
The Committee sent out an e-mail last night informing faculty members of their new opportunity to witness live honor trials.
"This really shows that students in the Honor Committee really value the faculty as a part of the system," Smith said. "Even though [the Committee] is a self-governing body, we value the faculty as members of our community of trust as well."
Smith said he proposed allowing faculty members to sit in on honor trials to alleviate misconceptions and concerns that faculty might have about the Honor System.
"Most [concerns] flow from the confidentiality that the Committee must maintain," he said. "Members of the Committee are proud of the system. If faculty members can witness trials, they can realize too that the system works."
While this new decision is one method for strengthening faculty ties to the Committee, Smith said the Committee also has undertaken other measures to further build faculty support. This year's Committee published the first faculty honor handbook and also consults the Faculty Advisory Committee, which brings faculty concerns to the attention of the Honor Committee.
Lucien Bass, Commerce School professor and Faculty Advisory Committee member, said he supported the idea of allowing faculty to attend trials.
"It is advantageous to the Honor Committee for the faculty to see how it works," Bass said. "It will help faculty to understand the whole process."
Charles Tolbert, astronomy professor and also a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee, agreed that the decision will be beneficial for faculty members but expressed doubts about how many faculty members will be interested in attending honor trials.
"I think it is very useful to let faculty know they have this option, even if they don't really take advantage of it," Tolbert said. "Some honor trials can last 12 hours -- how many faculty will be able to sit through that much of a trial I don't know."
Those faculty members who are interested in attending an honor trial need only to contact the Committee and find a suitable date to attend. The Committee will require faculty members to sign a confidentiality agreement before sitting in on a trial, Smith said.
The Committee must then notify the student scheduled to be on trial, who must then approve of faculty attendance. In the event the student asks that the faculty member not attend his or her trial, the faculty member will be assigned to sit in on another case, Smith added.
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