The Honor Committee is considering changing the language of one of its bylaws so that students will lose their academic credits during the semester they are accused of an honor offense instead of the semester they are found guilty.
The topic was first brought up during the Committee’s faculty advisory committee meeting on Feb. 19. The FAC meeting occurs once a month and includes professors from each of the schools in the University, said Christina Polenta, Commerce representative and FAC chair. During the most recent meeting, several professors expressed concern that students can be found guilty the semester after they have been accused of an honor offense, Polenta said, and thus only lose credits for that semester. Professors found this to be a “philosophical problem” that a student does not lose the credit earned in the class for which the offense was reported if they are tried after the semester ends.
Under the current system, found in Section IV of the Honor Committee’s bylaws, “the date of dismissal shall be the date on which the guilty verdict is rendered.” For example, if a student is accused of an honor offense during the fall semester but is not brought to trial and found guilty until the spring, then he or she only loses credits for the spring semester.
If the current language is altered, there are still other potential options for the date of dismissal, said Justin Watkins, special assistant to the Committee. These possibilities include the day the case was reported, the day of the investigative panel accusation and the day the offense was committed, Watkins said.
This possible change is also in response to concerns raised at last week’s Committee meeting in regards to students postponing their trial dates. The change, discussed by Vice Chair for Trials Sophie Staples at last week’s meeting, would give the executive committee the power by a unanimous vote to appeal to the registrar to have the student’s credit for a given semester taken away if a student had significantly contributed to the delay of the trial and he or she were found guilty.
Currently, the registrar, rather than the Committee, is in charge of credit alterations, Watkins said. Therefore, the registrar will likely be included in discussion about the possible change with the Committee, although Watkins said he does not foresee any complications given the current system. If the bylaw is changed, students will lose credit for the entire semester in which they are accused and not just the class in which the offense was committed, Watkins said.
“The way it works now is you lose credit for the entire semester,” Watkins said.
Third-year College student Derek Cooper expressed concern with the possible change.
“It seems a little excessive in their use of power to deny people their credits,” Cooper said, noting that he would be especially concerned if a student’s reasons for delaying a trial date are valid.
As of right now, though, a specific change in the bylaw has not yet been formally proposed. If an amendment to the bylaw were to be written, it would have to be voted on by a majority vote of the Committee, according to the Committee’s Constitution.
Read More
Shots fired reported at 100 block of Harmon Street, no injuries reported
By Thomas Baxter | 3 days agoThis is the first community alert of June.
Full Board discusses financial aid challenges, medical research and entrepreneurship
By Thomas Baxter | 5 days agoBoard members discussed the Pan-University Entrepreneurship Initiative, a project that aims to help develop more entrepreneurial ventures at the University.
Finance Committee approves 2024-25 operating budget and Major Capital Plan
By Zackary Holt | 5 days agoThe proposed 2024-25 fiscal year budget for the Academic Division includes a 6.8 percent increase in spending over the previous year.
