Survey: Few know honor code

A University Honor Council survey says that 6 percent of students are familiar with the official code's rules. A mere 6 percent of students actually know the rules of Penn's Code of Academic Integrity, according to a survey conducted by the University Honor Council released this week. The survey, which was completed by 1,689 undergraduates, showed that 54 percent of students believe copying homework is cheating. And 93 percent of students said their personal values would discourage cheating, despite the fact that almost all the students surveyed were unaware of the formal code. "The students, for the most part, are unaware of the Code of Academic Integrity," said UHC Chairwoman Rikki Tanenbaum, a College junior. "Some education, or at least awareness, needs to be in order." The University Honor Council is made up of 13 undergraduates who serve on disciplinary panels involving academic honesty offenses, educate students on issues involving academic integrity and advise the provost and the Office of Student Conduct on policy. Tanenbaum said the goal of the survey was to look at cheating quantitatively. "Cheating, everybody knows, is a problem at Penn, as it is, probably, at every university," she said. Tanenbaum also explained that the "core of the survey" was the question concerning what students believed constituted cheating. Sixty-one percent thought fabricating lab data was wrong, while 78 percent of students disapproved of using cell phones, pagers and similar devices during an exam. Also, 76 percent believed that storing notes on a calculator would be cheating. The survey also asked students whether they would report cheating. According to the responses, 61 percent would not report an offense to the Office of Student Conduct, 51 percent would not tell a professor and 49 percent would not tell a teaching assistant. The UHC will also be surveying faculty members and teaching assistants on cheating. Tanenbaum said her group is working to bring attention to the issue of academic integrity. The UHC hopes to hold an "Academic Integrity Week" during the fall semester. Tanenbaum said that the event is still in the planning stages, but will probably involve workshops and the distribution of materials on Locust Walk to publicize the Code of Academic Integrity. She said the UHC hopes to coordinate the event with other area universities and perhaps hold a meeting of honor councils from various schools. Tanenbaum is also planning events for New Student Orientation. She said she has been asked to organize a mandatory program for first-year students on academic integrity. The program will include a segment on computer ethics, which is being coordinated with the Office of Information Systems and Computing. The UHC recently acquired the duties of the University Conduct Council. This change means that UHC will sit on disciplinary hearing panels for student conduct in addition to those involving academic honesty violations. Tanenbaum said that UHC will be making changes in its structure next year to accommodate its new responsibilities.