The Honor Council

Section I – Honor Council Membership

(a)     Faculty Members:

The faculty members of the Council will consist of two teaching faculty from each of the four academic divisions.  Faculty serve two-year terms that are staggered so that each division will elect one member on or before March 15 each year to serve a two-year term beginning the following fall semester.  The elected and standing faculty members will select one of their members as the Honor Council chairperson.  The Council chairperson will serve for a one-year term beginning that fall semester.  Once the term has expired, the sitting council chairperson cannot be re-elected to that position for a period of three years.

 (b)     Student Members:

 Each spring semester the Honor Council will appoint faculty and student members to a nominating committee to solicit names of candidates from the faculty, staff, and the student body.  The nominating committee should require of candidates, at minimum, the completion of twelve credit hours at the time of nomination and a GPA of 3.0.

If a student is willing to stand for election, he or she must present a statement of his or her qualifications to the nominating committee. The committee will then review the qualifications of these students and select a slate of potential members to be presented to the student body for election. Election of student members will be by vote of the student body.  Elections will be conducted by the nominating committee and will take place on or before April 15 of each spring semester for members for the following academic year. Student members will serve one-year terms.  The slate of candidates will be ranked in order of number of votes received. The top eight candidates will be members of the Honor Council and the next two candidates will serve as alternates.  In order to serve as a Honor Council member, the elected student must: (1) have completed twenty-four credit hours by fall semester, (2) have and maintain a GPA of 3.0, and (3) be a willing participant in Honor Council activities. If an elected student member is unable to serve or is disqualified, the alternate who received the most student votes will replace that student member.  If a case arises in which no alternates are available to serve, the nominating committee will appoint a new student member directly. After the election of new members, they will choose one student to be a faculty liaison.

Section II – Hearing Board Membership

A Hearing Board will consist of six members of the Honor Council: three faculty members and three student members.  The Council chairperson will select the members of each Hearing Board.  The Council chairperson will preside over each Board and will vote only in case of a tie.  If the Council chairperson cannot preside because of a conflict of interest or other exigency, he or she may appoint another faculty member to serve as temporary chairperson of a Hearing Board.

Section III – Appeals Board Membership

An Appeals Board will consist of two members of the Honor Council: one faculty member and one student member.  The Council chairperson will select the members of the Appeals Board, provided that none of these members is also on a Hearing Board.  The Council chairperson will preside over the Appeals Board and will vote only in case of a tie.  If the Council chairperson cannot participate because of a conflict of interest or other exigency, he or she may appoint another faculty member to serve as temporary chairperson of an Appeals Board.

Section IV – Ethics and Confidentiality

Every member of the Honor Council, Hearing Board, and Appeals Board is required to protect the privacy of the student(s) involved in a hearing and to maintain the standards of the Honor Code.  It is the responsibility of each member to observe the following standards:

(a)     All matters and communication concerning the student(s) or a   violation case (disciplinary status, proceedings, and the like) are confidential and, therefore, not to be discussed with anyone (colleague, spouse, roommate, friend, etc.) outside of the Hearing Board or Appeals Board;

(b)     Members of the Honor Council have the obligation to disqualify themselves from a Hearing Board when they feel they cannot be impartial in reaching a decision;

(c)     All members of a Hearing Board must uphold all decisions of the Board, even though there may be dissenting opinions;  

(d)     Throughout the entire proceedings, members of a Hearing Board must maintain an objective attitude.  Hearing Board members must refrain from making accusations or statements that cannot be supported;

(e)     Any decision reached by a Hearing Board must be based on evidence presented, not on extraneous information;

(f)     At all times the Hearing Board must respect the dignity of the student charged and the person bringing the charges;

(g)     No decision should be based on outside influence.  A Hearing Board member approached by any person whose intent is to influence the deliberation should report the incident to the Honor Council chairperson;

(h)     An accused, investigated, or dismissed student may waive his/her right to confidentiality at any time by providing written notice to the Hearing Board; however, only when he/she does so are all other participants released from their responsibility to maintain confidentiality with that student.

Section V – Reporting, Recording, and Record Keeping

During adjudication of an alleged violation, all documents and records relevant to the proceedings are kept in a confidential file in the Office of the Academic Dean and will be available to Hearing Board members and the student in a secured environment.

(a)     Hearings and oral notification to the alleged violator of the Hearing Board’s decision are tape-recorded and remain the property of the College.  The deliberations of the Hearing Board are confidential and are not tape-recorded;

(b)     If the charge is dismissed, the Honor Council will destroy all records and/or documents relating to the case unless they are relevant to another pending case;

(c)     If a case results in any sanction, all records are kept in a confidential file in the Office of the Academic Dean.  The file will be destroyed at the student’s graduation or two years after the last date of the student’s attendance;

(d)     In any case in which the sanction imposed is recorded on a student’s permanent record (transcript) and the student is subsequently exonerated, all records related to the sanction will be removed from the permanent record;

(e)     Honor Council proceedings will be reported in general terms to the College community at least once each year.  Such reporting will be done in a way that ensures the confidentiality of the proceedings and does not reveal the identities of involved individuals.  A permanent file of these reports will be maintained in the Office of the Academic Dean.