Some, but Not Many, Opening Lectures Talk Honor Code

It's days into the College's rollout of its first honor code, but many professors did not mention the policy in their course syllabi or during opening lectures on Wednesday, although some referenced the new document in introducing their courses to students.

Students filled the Science Center lobby during the first day of shopping period on Wednesday, Sept. 2. By George J Lok

The syllabus for French Aa: “Beginning French I,” for example, describes the honor code as a document that strengthens the academic integrity at the College and tells students that course instructors “will ask you to confirm your commitment to the Honor [Code] through an ‘Affirmation of Integrity’ on various assignments."

Paul Bamberg, a senior Mathematics lecturer, also touched on academic integrity in his course, Math 116: “Real Analysis, Convexity, and Optimization.”

“This is an issue about which I’ve worried quite a bit,” Bamberg said, adding that he has a special policy for his students about citing sources on exams. Building off Community Conversations he had with freshmen during their orientation week, he plans to lead a discussion about academic honesty on Thursday in Science Center A.

Other professors, however, chose to focus their lectures on Wednesday on course material and assignments rather than the College’s new academic integrity policy. Even Brett Flehinger—the secretary of the Honor Council, the new student-faculty body tasked with hearing cheating cases—did not explicitly mention the honor code in his opening lecture Wednesday.

Still, Flehinger, who is co-teaching teaching History 1063: “America and Vietnam: 1945-1975,” said the course will reference the policy later on, incorporating the principles behind the honor code through discussions about historians’ methodologies, assignments that require students to use a variety of sources, and conversations about how to take tests with honesty.

“We want honesty, accuracy, and effective use of sources to go together and we build this into the work throughout the semester,” Flehinger wrote in an email.

—Staff writer Melissa C. Rodman can be reached at melissa.rodman@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @melissa_rodman.