With next month's University-wide elections in sight, members of the Honor Committee discussed both the progress they have made this term and what work still needs to be done at last night's meeting.
Thus far, the Committee has focused largely on educating the student body at large about the honor system and improving the efficiency of case reporting. For example, Engineering representative Jack Valentine worked to develop a system that would allow online processing of reports.
"We will introduce some aspects this spring," Valentine said. "By the end of next fall, hopefully it will be a fully operating system."
Commerce School Representative Gordon Crenshaw spoke about the initiatives to reach out to prospective and new University students.
"We've been doing a lot of work on a small three-fold pamphlet about honor that we could give out during orientation or Days on the Lawn," Crenshaw said.
In addition, the Committee is working on proposing an honor-related question for the Office of Admissions to introduce into the application process.
The transition process to the next committee will begin in February with the election of new members. Nevertheless, Harris said he hopes to be able to touch on some issues that this Committee has not yet discussed before the term ends.
"The issue of informed retraction is something we did not get to this term," Harris said. "We were bogged down in other important issues. It is too late to pass an amendment on that front, but a discussion would be valuable."
Informed retraction, if implemented, could allow students who admit their guilt in violating the honor code within a certain time after accusation to return to the University.
Additionally, the Committee discussed its plan to publicize the two amendments that were passed Dec. 5. If approved by 60 percent of student-voters, the amendments would redefine 'intent' and 'triviality,' which are two of the three criteria to evaluate whether an act is an honor offense and are used numerous times in the constitution.
Harris believes the main concern about the changes is educating the student body about the new meanings, he said.
The biggest step the Committee is taking to reach out to students is through "exposure on the University website," Harris said. "We have a couple paragraphs on there explaining the issue."
Committee members also hope to host a number of 'town hall'-style meetings this semester, giving students the opportunity to ask questions and voice concerns about the changes.
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