House votes in support of creating an honor code task force
By Emily Turner
Staff Reporter

The House of Student Representatives voted Tuesday night to support a resolution proposing a student-led task force to spearhead the first-ever honor code at the university.

The task force of students, faculty and staff will eventually develop an honor code and construct and help to implement an honor agreement, said Katie Gordon, the academic affairs committee chairwoman and author of the resolution.

Gordon, a senior electrical engineering major, said the honor code could take until fall 2004 to complete.

“I don’t know what kind of road blocks we will run into,” Gordon said. “Making such a huge step takes time.”

Melanie Peterson, a graduate instructor of English and a commuter representative, said she sees plagiarism as a problem and thinks the honor code will reduce cheating.

“If there was a judiciary board and a student who violated the honor code had to appear in front of their peers, I think perhaps it would be effective,” Peterson said.

She added that currently students who violate rules are merely dropped from the class and not held accountable in any other way. There is no way for students to know, for example, if plagiarism occurs, she said.

Lindsay Sorensen, a sophomore psychology major and a commuter representative, said she is not against the honor code, but does not think it will be effective.

“I want to be an honest person because that’s who I am,” Sorensen said. “I am not honest because someone wrote it down and told me to be.”

Gordon said she altered her plan calling for the task force to write an honor code this semester after realizing that increasing academic integrity at the university would be a long process.

“A whole code of rules is the not the best place to start,” Gordon said. “The best place to start is with the people.”

The creators of the task force will meet next week to discuss plans to begin their campaign to increase academic honesty at the university, Gordon said. She said Student Government Association President-elect Brad Thompson will hopefully choose the task force members before Winter Break.

The task force is the first step in making a change, Gordon said.

“We see this as the starting point to raising awareness of how critical integrity is to every area of campus life,” Gordon said.

Emily Turner