Honor Code
The Honor Code at the University of the Pacific calls upon each student to exhibit a high degree of maturity, responsibility, and personal integrity. Students are expected to:
1) Act honestly in all matters;
2) Actively encourage academic integrity;
3) Discourage any form of cheating or dishonesty by others;
4) Inform the instructor and appropriate university administrator if she or he has a reasonable and good faith belief and substantial evidence that a violation of the Academic Honesty Policy has occurred.
Sanctioning
As faculty and reporter of the violation, you have a say in what the course of action taken by the Student Conduct Office. The report form provides you with a place to indicate what action(s) you have taken and what further action(s) you would like taken, including "no further action". In some cases, prior violations of University policy by the student may result in more serious sanctioning than requested by faculty.
Sanctions for academic honesty violations often include referrals to campus resources. For example, a student found responsible for plagiarism may be sanctioned to re-write the paper (for no credit) with the help of the Writing Center Tutor. Students may also be referred to Student Advising to address issues of time management, test preparation and study skills or to the Counseling Center to address personal issues that may be affecting their academic performance and decision-making.
Communicating Expectations
The Student Conduct Office is available to speak to your class at the start of the semester to discuss the importance of academic honesty and the potential consequences associated with a violation. Please contact the office for additional information.
Cheating Prevention
- Require students to turn off cell phones and put away notes, books, and all electronic devices inside their backpacks and have their desk or table clear.
- Require students to put all bags and backpacks at the front of the classroom during an exam.
- Prohibit talking or other communication during exams. Questions must be directed to you.
- Do not allow students to leave exam room without permission and have them turn in their exam while they are gone.
- Allow only one student at a time to leave to use the restroom.
- Use test formats requiring short-answers, essays, or problem solving, rather than multiple choice.
- Use two or more exam versions, scrambling the order of questions or answers, or changing key variables or terms; use different colored paper for each version, so you can prevent students sitting adjacent to one another from having the same version.
- Give no credit for correct answers, unless all work is shown.
- If other tools such as calculators are needed provide them to the students for the exam.
- Use alternate seating and spaced seating as much as possible.
- Have students remove and put away hat and sun glasses.