THE HONOR CODE

The Honor Code:

“As a member of the Catawba College Community, I will uphold the value of academic honesty that grounds our institution, and I will not lie, cheat, or steal.”

The Pledge:

“On my honor, I have not violated the Honor Code in completing this work.”

Effective with the 2016/17 academic year, there are significant changes in the policies and procedures for dealing with violations of the Catawba College Honor Code:

1. Faculty and staff members will use the newly-revised Settlement Form to report all academic instances of lying, cheating, or stealing to the Office of the Associate Provost for Student Academic Success on a timely basis. Individual faculty members determine the consequences for violations in their courses, which may range from a 0 on an assignment, to an additional partial or full-letter final grade reduction, to an F in the course.

A second violation of the Honor Code—in any course—results in a hearing with the Honor Board. The Honor Board may assign additional penalties—up to and including suspension from the College—as it sees fit. Typically, a second violation leads to suspension for the remainder of the semester in which the violation occurs, an F in the course in which the violation took place, and a W in all other courses. Suspended students must apply for re-admission to the College and be approved by the Honor Board. The Board and Associate Provost for Student Academic Success maintain detailed records of all Honor Code violations and subsequent hearings and penalties.

2. The Honor Board consists of two faculty members and a staff member appointed by the Associate Provost for Student Academic Success and two students appointed by the SGA president. The Board convenes as needed throughout the school year when a student declines to admit responsibility on the Settlement Form and requests a hearing to dispute an accusation or commits a second violation and faces suspension. Final appeals of Honor Board decisions will be directed to the Associate Provost for Student Academic Success. Honor Board verdicts are based on whether the accused student is more likely than not to have violated the Honor Code. Only members of the Honor Board will be present for deliberations after pertinent evidence has been introduced.

3. Accused students may request that a trusted member of the college community serve as an advocate and advisor in Honor Board hearings, which are not courts of law and may not be attended by parents, legal counsel, or other witnesses.

4. Faculty members have the option of requiring students to write out and sign the Pledge on their examinations or written projects.

Additional information concerning our policies and procedures can be found on the Catawba College website, catawba.edu/honorcode.