Academic Honor Code

Academic Honor Code abruneau3

GEORGIA TECH HONOR CHALLENGE STATEMENT

I commit to uphold the ideals of honor and integrity by refusing to betray the trust bestowed upon me as a member of the Georgia Tech community.

GEORGIA TECH HONOR CODE

Click here for the history of the Academic Honor Code.

Graduate Students, please read the Graduate Addendum.

Article I: Honor Agreement

Article II: Academic Honor Code

Article III: Honor System

Article IV: Amending the Academic Honor Code

Appendix A: Graduate Addendum to the Academic Honor Code

Article I: Honor Agreement

Having read the Georgia Institute of Technology Academic Honor code, I understand and accept my responsibility as a member of the Georgia Tech community to uphold the Honor Code at all times. In addition, I understand my options for reporting honor violations as detailed in the code.

Article II: Academic Honor Code

Section 1. Statement of Purpose
The members of the Georgia Tech community believe the fundamental objective of the Institute is to provide the students with a high-quality education while developing in them a sense of ethics and social responsibility. We believe that trust is an integral part of the learning process and that self-discipline is necessary in this pursuit. We also believe that any instance of dishonesty hurts the entire community. It is with this in mind that we have set forth a student Honor Code at Georgia Tech.

Section 2. Objectives
An Academic Honor Code at Georgia Tech aims to cultivate a community based on trust, academic integrity, and honor. It specifically aims to accomplish the following:

Ensure that students understand that academic dishonesty is a violation of the profound trust of the entire academic community;

  • Ensure that students, faculty and administrators understand that the responsibility for upholding academic honesty at Georgia Tech lies with them;
  • Prevent any students from gaining an unfair advantage over other students through academic misconduct;
  • Clarify what constitutes academic misconduct among students at Georgia Tech and what is expected of them by the Institute, the faculty, and their peers;
  • Cultivate an environment at Georgia Tech where academic dishonesty is not tolerated among the students;
  • Secure a centralized system of education and awareness of the Honor Code;

Section 3. Student Responsibilities
Students are expected to act according to the highest ethical standards. The immediate objective of an Academic Honor Code is to prevent any Students from gaining an unfair advantage over other Students through academic misconduct. The following clarification of academic misconduct is taken from Section XIX Student Code of Conduct, of the Rules and Regulations section of the Georgia Institute of Technology General Catalog: Academic misconduct is any act that does or could improperly distort Student grades or other Student academic records. Such acts include but need not be limited to the following:

  • Unauthorized Access: Possessing, using, or exchanging improperly acquired written or verbal information in the preparation of a problem set, laboratory report, essay, examination, or other academic assignment.
  • Unauthorized Collaboration: Unauthorized interaction with another Student or Students in the fulfillment of academic requirements.
  • Plagiarism: Submission of material that is wholly or substantially identical to that created or published by another person or persons, without adequate credit notations indicating the authorship.
  • False Claims of Performance: False claims for work that has been submitted by a Student.
  • Grade Alteration: Alteration of any academic grade or rating so as to obtain unearned academic credit.
  • Deliberate Falsification: Deliberate falsification of a written or verbal statement of fact to a Faculty member and/or Institute Official, so as to obtain unearned academic credit.
  • Forgery: Forgery, alteration, or misuse of any Institute document relating to the academic status of the Student.
  • Distortion: Any act that distorts or could distort grades or other academic records.

While these acts constitute assured instances of academic misconduct, other acts of academic misconduct may be defined by the professor. Students must sign the Academic Honor Agreement affirming their commitment to uphold the Honor Code before becoming a part of the Georgia Tech community. The Honor Agreement may reappear on exams and other assignments to remind Students of their responsibilities under the Georgia Institute of Technology Academic Honor Code. 

Section 4. Faculty Responsibilities

Faculty members are expected to create an environment where honesty flourishes. In creating this environment, Faculty members are expected to do the following:

  • Make known to their class as specifically as possible what constitutes appropriate academic conduct as well as what comprises academic misconduct. This includes but is not limited to the use of previously submitted work, collaborative work on homework, etc.
  • Provide copies of old exams or lists of sample questions to the Georgia Tech library for Students to review;
  • Avoid the re-use of exams;
  • Include a paragraph containing information about the Georgia Tech Academic Honor Code on the syllabus for each class they teach;
  • Report instances of academic dishonesty to the Office of the Dean of Students.

In addition to the expectations listed previously, faculty have the authority to superimpose their own interpretations on some aspects of academic conduct including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Old exams for use during open-book exams;
  • Contents of formula sheets allowed on exams;
  • Use of calculators on exams;
  • Collaboration on out-of-class assignments;
  • Use of previously submitted out-of-class assignments.

Article III: Honor System

Section 1. Governing Bodies
The Georgia Institute of Technology Academic Honor Code recognizes the present bodies given the power to enforce the academic regulations of the Institute. The Academic Honor Code recognizes the Office of the Dean of Students to be the principal administrator to enforce Institute disciplinary measures as presently specified in Article XIX Section B, of the Rules and Regulations section of the current Georgia Institute of Technology General Catalog.  The Academic Honor Code also recognizes the Student Honor Committee as the body given jurisdiction to hear all cases of alleged academic misconduct as currently specified in XIX Section B, of the Rules and Regulations section of the current Georgia Institute of Technology General Catalog.

Section 2. Reporting Honor Code Violations
In order for an Academic Honor Code to function, members of the Georgia Tech community must not tolerate violations of it by anyone. Community members are at their discretion to use any of three options to report suspected Honor Code violations:

  1. A student may simply desire to confront the fellow student with the perceived infraction. While this option is most likely to enact widespread change in attitude and behavior among students (because violators would understand that they are violating the trust of their peers and not some abstract body of people), it is still expected that an alleged violator be taken before the Student Honor Committee if he or she persists in academic misconduct.
  2. A student may choose to approach the professor of the class in which the alleged infraction occurred and seek his or her input on how to proceed. A result of a conference of this type would be the professor's awareness that the alleged violator needs closer monitoring to ascertain reasonable certainty of guilt before being brought before the Student Honor Committee.
  3. A student may choose to seek the advice of an honor advisor (see Article III., Section 3). Meetings with honor advisors shall address issues of policy and procedure only. Specifics of an individual case are not to be discussed. After a consultation with an honor advisor, a student may choose to submit a formal accusation of academic misconduct to the Office of the Dean of Students.

Section 3. Student Honor Advisory Council
Students composing the Student Honor Advisory Council are to become well versed in all aspects of the Georgia Institute of Technology Academic Honor Code and the procedures for reporting an honor violation as well as those procedures for the trying of cases of suspected academic misconduct before the Student Honor Committee. The Council is to act as an information resource to all members of the Georgia Tech community on issues related to the Academic Honor Code.

  1. Membership
    1. Members are to be selected by the Vice-President of Student Affairs or a designated person to carry out these duties.
    2. Members must be full-time students at Georgia Tech and must be in good academic standing.
    3. Once a member of the council, the student shall serve until he or she graduates, unless he or she resigns or is impeached.
    4. Impeachment procedures are to be specified in the rules and/or bylaws of the Student Honor Advisory Council.
    5. Membership shall be composed of no less than fifteen (15) students at any given time.
  2. Duties and Responsibilities
    1. To serve in an advisory capacity to any student(s) wishing to report an honor violation or any student(s) being accused of committing an honor violation.
    2. To continually educate and maintain awareness among the Georgia Tech community regarding the Academic Honor Code.
    3. To limit discussion with students to issues of policy and procedure.

    Article IV: Amending the Honor Code

    Amendments to the Georgia Tech Academic Honor Code may be proposed by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of both the Undergraduate Student Council and the Graduate Student Senate, or by a petition of ten percent (10%) of the total population (undergraduate and graduate) directed to both the undergraduate student body president and the graduate student body president. Amendments become part of this Honor Code upon ratification by two-thirds (2/3) of the votes cast in a special election open to the undergraduate and graduate students, provided that the proposed amendments have been published in the Technique at least one week prior to the vote by the student body and further provided that the amendments are approved by the Academic Senate. Appendices or amendments of appendices which pertain to either the undergraduate student body or to the graduate student body may be proposed by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the respective legislative body or a petition of at least ten percent of the respective student body directed to the respective student body president. These shall become part of this Honor Code upon ratification by two-thirds (2/3) of the votes in a special election of the respective student body, provided that the proposed appendices or amendments of appendices have been published in the Technique at least one week prior to the election, and further provided that the appendices or amendments of appendices are approved by the Academic Senate.

    Appendix A: Graduate Addendum to the Academic Honor Code

    1. Preamble
      The Honor Code recognizes that graduate students are involved in research and scholarly activities that occur outside the classroom. Integrity and academic honesty are as fundamental to research and scholarly activity as they are to classroom activity. Therefore, this Appendix to the Academic Honor Code is adopted to pertain to the academic activities of graduate students that occur outside of the classroom.
    2. Scholarly Misconduct
      Scholarly misconduct refers to misconduct that occurs in research and scholarly activities outside the classroom. It can include plagiarism, among other things. The consequences of scholarly misconduct are governed by Institute policy. The following definitions are taken from the Institute Policy on Scholarly Misconduct:
      • "Misconduct" or "scholarly misconduct" is the fabrication of data, plagiarism, or other practice that seriously deviates from those that are commonly accepted within the academic or research community for proposing, conducting, or reporting research or scholarly activity. It does not include honest error or honest differences in interpretation or judgments of data.
      • "Plagiarism" is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts of passages of his or her writings, or language or ideas of the same, and passing them off as the product of one's own mind. It involves the deliberate use of any outside source without proper acknowledgment. Plagiarism is scholarly misconduct whether it occurs in any work, published or unpublished, or in any application for funding.

    Allegations involving scholarly misconduct fall under the Institute's Policy on Scholarly Misconduct. This document details the procedures involved with reporting allegations and with the handling of cases. All graduate students are encouraged to become familiar with this policy, which is available from the Office of the Provost.

    This information cannot be duplicated and/or modified without written permission from the Office of Student Integrity.
    Office of Student Integrity, Office of the Dean of Students, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009.