Picture this: You are a teaching assistant in a large politics class. You witness an incident of cheating in your section. You go to the professor to ask if you should bring the case to the Honor Committee and are told it is not worth your time. You let the incident go and feel you can no longer trust your students.
Disillusionment with the honor system was just one of many concerns voiced by a panel of graduate students in an honor forum co-sponsored by the Graduate Student Council and the Honor Committee in the Rotunda last night.
According to Graduate Student Council President Tom Bryan, it is unclear to many graduate students where they fit into the big picture of honor.
Graduate student Gavin Reddick said in the eight semesters he has been a TA, he has not had a semester when at least two students have not cheated in his class.
"It seems to happen a lot more than people think," he said.
Reddick expressed concern about the time-consuming nature of filing honor charges and said he found the trial process to be both stressful and confrontational.
Economics TA Maria Fitzpatrick said she thinks graduate students who initiate honor cases need more assistance from honor support officers in guiding them through what tends to be a long, drawn-out process.
"There's nobody in the first couple days telling you, 'This information could be helpful,'" she said.
Fitzpatrick also said many graduate instructors do not think it is worth their time or effort to get involved in an honor case.
"I think that's because right now, the burden of proof falls completely on the person who reports it," she said, adding that many professors do a "cost-benefit analysis" in deciding to file honor charges and ultimately conclude it is not worth their time.
Spanish TA Diane Gigantino said she has encountered problems with dishonesty on a small level because most cheating occurs on "minor" homework assignments. Gigantino said these minor incidents of cheating go unreported because many instructors do not know what to do about them.
"I felt very frustrated in that this was a lack of feeling like I could become involved in the system," she said.
In response to the issues raised by the panelists, Committee Chair Meghan Sullivan said the Committee is aware of and sympathetic to many of their concerns and hopes to improve graduate students' overall perception of the honor system.
"We hope that within reason we can earn their trust and that they'll meet us halfway and also respect that this is the system students have decided to live under," Sullivan said.
Read More
Virginia General Assembly demands answers about Ryan's resignation in Aug. 1 letter
By Brendon Bordwine | 7 hours agoIn a 10-page letter obtained by The Cavalier Daily, State Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, demanded written responses and documentation from University Rector Rachel Sheridan and University Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson regarding the lead up to and fallout from former University President Jim Ryan's resignation.
Weighing their place in U.Va. presidential search, students hope for leader with integrity
By Mia Tan | 2 days agoWith the search for the University’s 10th president underway, students are voicing cautious hopes for a leader who will prioritize transparency, integrity and the needs of the University community
Honor Committee discusses potential changes to its sanctioning process
By Bertie Azqueta | 3 days agoAny changes to the role of counsel could significantly affect how sanctioning is pursued by the reporter and the University community against those who committed Honor offenses.
