We at Converse are proud of the fact that the basis of campus life is the Honor Tradition. The Honor Tradition is a system which encompasses all areas of student life and is built on trust which prevails not only among students, but also between the administration and faculty, and the students. This trust places upon each student the responsibility of their own actions, as well as those of their classmates. If a student at any time violates a principle of the Honor Tradition, they are honor bound to turn themself in. Likewise, if they are aware that a fellow student has violated a principle of the Honor Tradition, they are honor bound to ask the violator to turn themself in within 24 hours. The Honor System is not destroyed by infractions of the rules; it is damaged when violations are tolerated.
A. Principles of the Honor Tradition:
- A student does not lie.
- A student does not steal; a student respects the property of others.
- A student does not cheat.
- A student is honor bound to report any violation of the Honor Tradition.
B. Procedures for Reporting Honor Violations for Graduate Students:
If a member of the faculty or administration suspects a violation of the Honor Code, they should approach the student whose actions are in question. This meeting should always terminate by the member of the faculty or administration telling the student that either no action will be taken on the basis of present information or that the student has twenty-four hours from the end of the meeting to report the violation to the department chair. After the twenty-four- hour period has expired, the member of the faculty or administration should check with the Dean of the Graduate School to insure that the accused student has reported the incident. If the student has not reported the suspected violation, the accuser will file a report with the department.
C. Graduate Standards Committee and Procedures:
- Committee Members: Dean of the Graduate School, Chair, three members of Graduate Council, and a graduate student appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School.
Procedures:- Members of the committee are expected to remove themselves from the proceedings if a conflict of interest arises.
- The hearing will be recorded. The deliberations of the committee will not be taped.
- The decision of the committee will be based on a simple majority vote.
- It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Graduate Standards Committee to notify the student in writing of the committee’s decision.
- The Graduate Standards Committee is authorized to hear all cases involving alleged honor violations during the period prior to exams, and during exams.
- A student may appeal any graduate honor code decision to the Provost. Such appeals must be presented within 3 days of receipt of the committee’s written decision.
D. Rights and Responsibilities of the Accused:
- Rights of the Accused:
- The accused has the right to be informed of the charges against him or her prior to the hearing.
- The accused has the right to a fair, impartial and confidential hearing before the Graduate Standards Committee.
- The accused has the right to a minimum of 24 hours advance notice of the case hearing.
- The accused shall be presumed not guilty until proven guilty by a preponderance of the evidence presented at the case hearing. This means that the Graduate Standards Committee must find the evidence supporting the charge against the student more compelling than the contradictory evidence in order for the student to be found guilty of the charge.
- No student shall be brought to a hearing for a violation that occurred more than one year before the charges were made.
- No student shall be tried twice for the same case unless new evidence comes to light.
- The Chair of the Graduate Standards Committee shall inform the accused in writing of their rights, the time of the hearing, and the procedures that will be followed.
- The Chair shall advise the accused that they may seek advice and assistance from any member of the Converse community in preparing their case; however, the accused must present their case to the committee by themself. The accused has the right to request a meeting with the Chair to have the process explained to them.
- The accused shall not be required to testify against themself, but the Chair may call other students or faculty members to testify against them.
- The accused has the right to be informed of all evidence against them.
- The accused may request any witnesses, either character or circumstantial, to testify on their behalf, if their testimony is deemed relevant by the Chair. The accused must present a list of those persons to the Chair twenty-four hours in advance of the hearing, and state the reasons for calling each one to testify. The Chair reserves the right to limit the testimony of the witnesses if no new information is being presented.
- The accused may elect to remain in the room while witnesses and the accuser(s) involved in the case are questioned. If the accused elects to remain in the room, they must notify the Chair twenty-four hours in advance.
- After the examination of each witness by the Committee, the accused has the right to question the witness. Afterwards, the Committee may ask questions of the witness, or call any witness back at a later point.
- After the examination of the accuser(s) by the Committee, the accused has the right to respond to the testimony. Afterwards, the Committee has the right to ask additional questions of the accuser(s), or call the accuser(s) back at a later point.
- The accused has a right to be present during the entire hearing, with the exception of judicial deliberations. If they fail to appear, the hearing may be held in their absence.
- Responsibilities of the Accused:
- The accused is honor-bound to tell the truth.
- The accused is responsible to read and understand the case procedures and student policies and regulations as stated in the Graduate Student Handbook.
- The accused has the responsibility to attend the case hearing and notify the Chair of any time conflicts within twenty-four hours of the designated time of the hearing.
- The accused has the responsibility to complete sanctions by the stated deadline.
- The accused has the responsibility to conduct themself in a respectful manner.
E. Possible Sanctions Included but are not Limited to:
Warning; Failure of assignment; failing grade in course; suspension (length to be determined); expulsion from the University.