Together We Protect the Value of Our Degrees
Option 1: Report to the Professor
The best way to handle a violation of the Honor Code is to make sure the professor is aware of the situation. A professor will then take it in their prerogative on how to respond.
Option 2: Report to the Dean of Students Office
You will be directed to the Honor Council Graduate Assistant or Dean Wilson, Assistant Dean of Students. Please note, we do not allow anonymous reporting. We believe that the accused student has the right to face their accuser.
Option 3: Report to an Honor Council Member
Honor Council members are always around campus willing to help. Please feel free to contact us on Facebook!
Adjudication process
Adjudication process begins with the complaint. The complaint is a detailed, factual account of the purported violation and is turned into the Honor Council office with any appropriate accompanying documentation.
Then, two Honor Council members serve as investigators and meet with the accused, the complainant, and any witnesses to ascertain the truth regarding the alleged violation and write a formal Investigation Report.
Secretary of the Honor Council (Dean of Students Ricardo D. Hall) then reviews the evidence and Investigation Report. If probable cause is found to hear the case, a hearing date is set and a hearing panel is selected. A panel consists of five Honor Council members, one of which will be designated as a speaker. At this point, the student is brought in to speak with the Dean and is formally charged.
The hearing itself consists of two phases. If the accused pleads not guilty, the hearing moves into an evidentiary phase, where evidence will be heard regarding the accused's guilt or innocence. At the end of the evidentiary phase, the panel will retire to deliberate. A supermajority (four out of five) is necessary to find either guilt or innocence.
If the accused is found or pleads guilty, the hearing moves into the mitigation phase. Here, the accused gets a chance to present any mitigating circumstances surrounding the violation. After mitigation, the panel retires to determine a sanction. A simple majority of the panel (three out of five) is required to concur to a sanction.
