UNLV Honors

Honors College Code of Honor

The Honors College Code of Honor | Enforcement Authority and Sanctions | Conduct Prohibited | Procedures and Reporting of Violations | Adoption and Amendment
 

I. The Honors College Code of Honor

The Honors College is a community of scholars and thinkers, including students, faculty, and staff, who seek wisdom, understanding, and honorable relationships with their associates in the community. This kind of community is achieved by persons who are committed to honesty and integrity in their dealings with one another and in their quest for understanding and academic achievement. The community is sustained by those who adhere to high standards of thinking and conduct and who reject dishonorable behavior which yields unmerited personal advantage. Members of the community should treat others fairly, respectfully and courteously, and should act to maintain this sort of community.

The college expects that everyone in the Honors College community will respect honest efforts to engage in open and free inquiry. All members of the community should feel free to raise questions and express ideas according to their creative intellects, and no one should suppress creative ideas and questions.

Honors College students have responsibility to conduct themselves honorably in relation to others and with respect to completing their academic work at UNLV. Students should be honest in all their declarations to their fellow students, to their professors, and to the Honors College staff. They should in addition do all their own work which they submit for grades, not plagiarizing or committing any other forms of academic dishonesty (described in section III of this Code).

Honors College faculty should exemplify the Code of Honor in their professional lives and in their work in the Honors College. They have an obligation, as important participants in the college community, to undertake appropriate investigation when they believe that violations of the UNLV Student Conduct Code or the Honors College Code of Honor have occurred. They should also report to the Honors College and the Office of Student Judicial Affairs cases in which the codes have been violated. The college staff will give advice, support, and assistance in order to help faculty support the Code of Honor.

The Code of Honor is not simply a set of abstract principles, summarizing ideals, but rather requires behavior conforming to the code. Certain acts, as described below, are proscribed, and are incompatible with the existence of the sort of community the Honors College is committed to having. Accordingly, conduct incompatible with the Code of Honor and the UNLV Student Conduct Code is described in part in section III of this Code.

Nothing in this Code of Honor is intended to negate the principles, enforcement canons, or sanctions of the UNLV Student Conduct Code, but is rather designed to complement it for the benefit of students in the Honors College.

Honors College students have responsibility to:

• Do their own original work on exams, papers or speeches submitted or presented for grades avoiding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.
• Give appropriate citations when using ideas which do not originate with them.
• Adhere to the precepts of the UNLV Student Conduct Code and the Honors College Code of Honor.
• Inform the Honors College, the dean or the associate dean, of any observed or otherwise known violations of the UNLV Student Conduct Code and the Honors College Code of Honor.
• Be truthful, honorable, courteous and civil in their conversations with others.

Teaching faculty in the Honors College have responsibility to:

• Teach students appropriate canons of citation in using various sources for their work.
• Act responsibly to model the principles and behavior described in this code.
• Be alert for cases of academic dishonesty, and undertake appropriate investigation in cases involving academic dishonesty.
• Report in writing cases of academic dishonesty and plagiarism to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs.
• Report to the college office cases of academic dishonesty, plagiarism, and violation of the Code of Honor or the Student Conduct Code.
• Act so as to prevent students from avoiding sanctions for violating the Honors Code or the Student Conduct Code.

Honors College staff members have responsibility to:

• Treat members of the Honors College community respectfully.
• Encourage honor and academic integrity among the members of the Honors community.
• Adhere to the principles in the Code of Honor and support those who work to sustain the principles in the Code of Honor.

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II. Enforcement Authority and Sanctions

A. Enforcement Authority
The dean of the Honors College is responsible for enforcing the Honors College Code of Honor, in cooperation with the associate dean of the college and the Honors Council, consisting of representative faculty and students. The dean is also responsible for implementing sanctions concerning student privileges in the Honors College.

B. Sanctions
Honors College students violating the Code of Honor or the UNLV Student Conduct Code will be subject to all applicable UNLV penalties and will as well be subject to dismissal from the Honors College and loss of all Honors College privileges, including Honors College graduation distinctions and Honors College scholarships. (Note: Honors College students found to have violated the principles of this code in any course in the university will be subject to the disciplinary sanctions described herein, since the Honors College will be informed of such violations by the Office of Student Judicial Affairs.)

The point of having the Code of Honor for Honors College students is to sustain a community in which participants do not undermine the academic and learning process. Therefore, it will be very rare for there to be cases in which students violating the Code of Honor are not dismissed from the Honors College. However, other sanctions are possible, including loss of scholarships and suspension.

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III. Conduct Prohibited

The following conduct is inconsistent with the Honors College Code of Honor, and may result in disciplinary action, including dismissal from the Honors College, loss of scholarships, and the right to graduate with various kinds of honors affiliated with the Honors College: academic dishonesty; misrepresentation; wrongful use or procurement of goods, services or information; and unlawful conduct.

A. Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination (using unauthorized aids to answer questions on an exam); stealing examination questions; taking an exam for another person or having someone take an exam for you; violating the procedures of any examination; falsifying or inventing data for one's academic work; and plagiarizing. Plagiarism is copying or paraphrasing the words or ideas of someone else in a context which makes it appear as if they were a product of one's own creativity. Plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional, and it is thus important for students to take special care not to manifest this in any of their academic work.

B. Misrepresentation

Misrepresentation includes, but is not limited to, supplying information to the Honors College, to professors, or to UNLV which a student knows or believes to be false; falsely representing one's qualifications on a resume, in an interview, or in any application; forging or altering transcripts or other university documents; signing another student's name or initials; falsely accusing a student, professor, or staff members of violating the Code of Honor; and any misrepresentation or deception by which a student gains or tries to gain an unfair advantage from the university, faculty, students, or staff.

C. Wrongful Use

Wrongful use or procurement of goods, services, or information includes, but is not limited to, stealing, destroying, damaging or hiding library materials; stealing, destroying or damaging university property or the property of other students, faculty, or staff and unauthorized use of any research resources.

D. Unlawful Conduct

Unlawful conduct includes, but is not limited to, the commission of any felony or misdemeanor (excluding misdemeanor traffic violations), whether defined by state, federal, or local law; or violating the UNLV Student Conduct Code. Unlawful conduct may result in disciplinary action under the provisions of this code.

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IV. Procedures and Reporting of Violations

A. General Procedures

All Honors College students will familiarize themselves with this Code of Honor, and sign an agreement indicating that they will abide by its provisions. Any student, staff member, or faculty member teaching in the Honors College will also receive a copy of this code and will have an obligation to inform the college office of violations of the code, by reporting to either the dean or the associate dean, who will in turn advise the person reporting the violation and help undertake an investigation.

College faculty members have an obligation to investigate suspected violations of this code, gather appropriate evidence, and report to the college office.

The dean or associate dean of the Honors College will arrange for all violations of the Code of Honor or the Code of Student Conduct to be reported to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. The dean will furthermore implement a system whereby the Honors College can be informed of violations of these codes known to the UNLV Office of Student Judicial Affairs.

All Honors College students have an obligation to report to the dean or associate dean suspected violations of the Honor Code.

B. Specific Procedures

1. The college will receive regular reports from the Office of Student Judicial Affairs regarding violations by Honors College students of the UNLV Student Conduct Code. Since violations of the UNLV Student Conduct Code are considered violations of this Honor Code, the Honors College will investigate and implement sanctions as appropriate.
2. The college will arrange for the investigation and review of all reported cases of violations of the code. The dean or associate dean will take into account reports of violations, consult all involved parties, including the student or students claimed to have violated the code, and decide special sanctions over and above those specified in the Student Conduct Code, including dismissal from the Honors College. The dean or associate dean will send a letter to the student accused of violating the code, informing him or her of the disposition of the case from the point of view of the Honors College.
3. If a student is informed that because of a violation of the code he or she will lose some or all of the privileges of being an Honors student, and the student chooses to object to the sanction or sanctions, the student may appeal to the Student Judicial Code Officer. The dean or associate dean will consider subsequent recommendations made by the officer, and reaffirm or alter the Honors College sanction in question. In case a student then believes that he or she does not deserve the sanction or sanctions in question, and thinks that he or she is able to justify that belief, the student may request a special hearing by a panel of 3 members of the Honors Council, including two faculty representatives and one student representative. The college shall then convene such a panel, and request a timely decision from the panel. The decision of the panel will be final.
4. The Honors College will act in accord with all applicable state and federal laws in following procedures in this code.

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V. Adoption and Amendment

This Honor Code policy is subject to adoption and amendment by the Honors Council, a representative body of faculty and Honors College students.

Download the Honors College Acknowledgement and Acceptance (PDF)

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Related Links

• Download the Honors College Acknowledgement and Acceptance (PDF)