K-State Honor and Integrity System Definition of Terms
Alleged Violator(s) (AVs): Person or persons alleged to have violated the Honor Pledge.
Case: When a violation of the Honor Pledge is reported to the Director of the Honor & Integrity System, specific procedures go into play to resolve the issue. See the Honor & Integrity System Investigation and Adjudication Procedure link.
Case Review: A meeting between the Associate Director and the AV in which the case report, as well as supporting documentation/information, is reviewed. In the case of an OPTION 1 report, the student determines whether or not to contest the allegations in the report. The AV may not contest the sanctions made by the Reporter. In the case of an OPTION 2 report, the AV acknowledges viewing the report and is given information about coming procedures.
Case Review Board: 2 students and 1 faculty/staff member of the Honor Council who will meet together with the reporter, alleged violator, and any witnesses if the student contests the violation. Following the guidelines in the I&A procedures, they wil then make a decision if the student is responsible or not responsible for an Honor Pledge violation.
Development & Integrity (D&I) Course: An educational sanction given by some faculty and some Honor Council Hearing Panels. Some students who have been sanctioned an XF on their transcripts also wish to take the course. The F denotes failure in a course and the X denotes "due to dishonesty" or an Honor Pledge violation. In some cases of an XF, successful completion of the course may allow the X portion to be removed. The F physically remains on the transcript, however the course may be retaken for a grade which will be used in grade point average calculation.
Honor & Integrity System(H&IS): The entire assemblage of people, procedures, and processes helping to promote academic integrity at Kansas State. This includes the Honor Pledge, the Director, Honor Council members, office staff, constitution, investigation and adjudication policies and procedures, Honor Council committee work, Honor Council and educational presentations, pamphlets on integrity, etc.
Honor Pledge : Implied statement, whether written or not, that a student has neither given or received unauthorized aid on his or her academic work.
Honor Pledge Violation Reporting:
Honor Pledge Violation reports are submitted to the Honor System Director within twenty (20) class days of the violation or of the discovery of the violation. In certain situations, it is acceptable for a verbal notification to be given within the notification period. This situation might occur when a faculty member is conducting an internal investigation. A written report must follow the verbal report within a reasonable amount of time.
Option One: In a report of an Honor Pledge violation, allows a faculty member (Reporter) to conduct her/his own investigation and identify the specific sanction for the violation. In this situation, Alleged Violators may contest only the allegation. If they do so, the case is turned over to the Honor System for investigation and adjudication.Option Two: In a report of an Honor Pledge violation, allows a faculty member (Reporter) to turn the case directly over to the Honor System for investigation and adjudication. The faculty member may recommend a sanction. Alleged Violators may contest the allegation and propose an alternate sanction during the adjudication phase, but the Honor System Hearing Panel makes the final determination of the sanction.
Honor Council(HC): A 87-member council composed of faculty and staff representing each college on campus as well as the graduate school, Vice Provost for Diversity, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, the Library, and Information Technology.
Honor Hearing Panel: Five members of the Honor Council who hear all the information of Additional Sanctioning Hearings (ASH).
Honor Hearing Script: The Honor office prepares a hearing panel script to be followed during an Additional Sanctioning Hearing (ASH). The script includes a specific sequence for introducing information by each of the involved parties, the Faculty Reporter, the Alleged Violator, and the Case Investigators. The script is read by the Hearing Panel Chair.
Notification Letter: A letter sent to students who have been reported as violating the Honor Pledge.
Reporter(s): Person or persons who report a violation of the Honor Pledge. Although a Reporter is usually a faculty member or a Graduate Teaching Assistant, students may also report unethical academic behavior to an instructor OR the Honor & Integrity System office. ANYONE interested in maintaining high K-State academic integrity may report.
Sanctions: The standard sanction for an Honor Pledge violation is the assignment of an XF on the student’s transcript. If a sanction includes an XF, the Director contacts the Registrar’s office and authorize the grade of XF when the Violator does not contest the allegation, or the case has been adjudicated, or the time period for contesting the violation has expired and the Violator has failed to contact the Director. Other sanctions can range from a warning, to reduced grade on assignment/exam, the enrollment in and successful completion of the Development & Integrity course, recommendation to suspend, and recommendation to expel. Hearing panels also assign community service in some instances.
XF: The XF denotes failure in the course due to academic dishonesty – an Honor Pledge violation.