For Honor Educator Lane Clements, honor is about a bond of trust and acceptance. Recent changes made by the Honor Committee have expanded the role of Honor educators, encouraging Clements and his fellow educators to spread that bond of trust further.
According to the Committee’s bylaws, educators’ purpose is to assist the Committee and the vice chair for education through planning educational and orientation programs in the community, Committee Chair Jessica Huang explained. Previously, however, the vice chair for education was the only Committee member in charge of planning and coordinating outreach projects meant to inform University students about the honor code and honor offenses. The vice chair would enlist the educators’ help solely in the project’s execution. Under the new system, educators act as project leaders and can be responsible for everything from brainstorming an idea for an outreach event to the final execution of the project, Huang said.
Under the old system, the vice chair for education could focus only on one outreach project at a time. With the change, the Committee’s 40 educators are divided up into separate task forces, each of which has one or two project leaders. Depending on the size of the project, each task force can have two to 10 project assistants who help execute the project, Vice Chair for Education Ryann Burke explained.
By expanding the duties and responsibilities of the educators, Huang said, they can better use their knowledge, which, in turn, benefits the overall Committee.
“It’s putting more stress on our duty as honor educators and giving us more responsibility but also more room to give our own input,” Clements said.
Burke said the Committee has about seven or eight projects in the works, including ones that reach out to groups that have not been heavily targeted in the past.
“In the past, a lot of the projects that we worked on were very limited to specific groups,” Huang said. “Even the honor barbecue [that] was held in the Amphitheater — it was [for] students majoring in the humanities. Now that we’re not limited to this one specific project, we’re able to branch out and reach out to different communities.”
The Committee is currently focusing on cosponsoring events with contracted independent organizations on Grounds to ensure it is targeting a variety of students. Burke said the increased number of outreach projects will further the Committee’s goals of ensuring that students have an in-depth knowledge of what constitutes an honor offense and of making students feel that they are part of the community trust.
“Honor educators are the face of the honor system,” Burke said. “They’re the first preventive measure of students being accused of an honor offense.”
Burke added that the Committee’s outreach efforts are becoming more in-depth, as well.
“We’re not just passing out blue books with an honor statement on them,” Burke said. “We’re trying to have projects that are more interactive.”
Burke cited first-year orientation as an example. Last year, the Committee presented to first-year students in one large group. This year, however, the Committee focused on hosting small-group sessions with first-year students in addition to a large-group presentation, he said.
Senior Educator Teddy Wolynec, who is currently working on three projects, said the Committee’s new efforts include reaching out more to upperclassmen.
“In the past ... at times education got a little too focused on first-year [students],” Wolynec said. “With different projects, we have the ability to keep education going on through all four years.”
Second-year College student Mina Park said that from her perspective, the Committee has concentrated its efforts on first-year students, leaving upperclassmen out of the education process.
“I think it is stressed so much first year but after that people may ... not make that as high of a priority as it used to be,” Park said.
Wolynec recalled that last year after completing first-year student orientation, educators’ work responsibilities decreased.
“Last year it was sort of everyone getting out there completing a presentation for first-year [students],” he said. “After you got through that, it sort of dipped off a little bit.”
Some students, though, feel that the honor code is straightforward enough that more education for upperclassmen might not be needed.
“If you don’t know that you are lying, cheating, or stealing, then you should go back to the first grade,” said fourth-year College student Tyler Wright, emphasizing that she feels the honor code is simple enough for students to understand.
Regardless, the Committee is currently working to increase education throughout the University. Wolynec said the new system has not posed any major problems yet, but noted that it has taken some time for Committee members to used to.
“Getting events planned is a little difficult,” Wolynec said. “Everyone has to learn and get the hang of it.”
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