BY-LAWS

Article 1. Duties of Officers 

1. Chair: It shall be the duty of the Chair to preside at all meetings and hearings, to act as a procedural advisor to the accused, and to carry out any other duties delegated to the Chair in the Constitution of the Honor System and subsidiary documents. It shall be the duty of the Chair to see that the duties of the Honor Council are properly performed. 

2. Internal Vice-Chair: It shall be the duty of the Internal Vice-Chair to assume the duties of the Chair when necessary. It shall be the duty of the Internal Vice-Chair to serve as treasurer, and to assist the Chair in other areas as the Chair deems necessary. 

3. External Vice-Chair: The External Vice-Chair will be responsible for coordinating student and faculty Honor System orientations, and for the dissemination of all information concerning the honor system. 

4. Secretary: It shall be the duty of the Secretary to handle the correspondence of the Honor Council, manage all sound recordings, and notify members of meetings and cases on which they must serve. The Secretary shall keep and post minutes of all meetings. 

Article II. Meetings 

1. All meetings shall be open unless the Chair or three Honor Council members request a closed meeting. 

2. An open meeting shall be open to any interested party. 

3.  Meetings may be called by the Chair, three members of the Council, or by the Student Senate. 

4. There shall be public notice of all open meetings. 

5. At least one open meeting shall be held each academic year. 

6. No Honor Council member may miss more than three meetings per academic year without a valid excuse. Any member who does so will be automatically considered for removal. Graduate students' obligations will be noted. 

7. A quorum of the Honor Council shall consist of three-fourths (3/4) of the currently serving members. 

Article III. Consensus on Penalties 

Each successive Council should establish a consensus on penalties to be published in the Rice Thresher at the beginning of each academic year. This consensus would recommend particular penalties for different categories of violations in order to lend an element of consistency to the penalty-deliberation phase of hearings. These recommendations may be viewed as maximum penalties to direct Council discussion. 

Article IV. Orientation 

1. An online copy of The Honor System booklet will be available to every new student upon acceptance to Rice University. 

2. The pledge affirmed before registration shall read as follows: "I, the undersigned, signify that I have read the Constitution of the Honor System and hereby pledge my support to it. I understand what is expected of me as a student of Rice University, that my obligation to satisfy the requirements of the Honor System extend from my matriculation to my graduation, and that a plea of ignorance will not be accepted by the Honor Council." 

3. During Orientation Week, the Honor Council shall orient incoming freshmen and transfer students to the Honor System and administer the Honor Council Examination to them. 

4. The Honor Council shall orient transfer students and new graduate students at the beginning of each semester. 

5. The Honor Council shall orient new faculty to the Honor System at the beginning of each academic year. 

Article V. Budget 

The Honor Council shall adopt a budget consistent with its needs and with the funds available. 

Article VI. Elections 

1. Campaigning by candidates for Honor Council office shall be limited to 

a. writing a campaign statement for the Thresher; 

b. speaking at forums organized by blanket tax organizations and open to all candidates; 

c. making a statement at the S.A. elections rally; 

d. entering into discussions with other students regarding qualifications for and opinions on the Honor System. 

2. A person found in violation of the Honor System may not be a member of the Honor Council. 

3. Any elected position remaining open after the second round of elections may be appointed by the Chair with the majority approval of the Honor Council. 

Article VII. Turnover 

1. The Honor Council's cabinet turnover will occur within two weeks of spring elections. At that time newly elected officers will begin their terms. 

2. Newly elected members will assume their positions upon election. Graduating members will serve until graduation. All other members will continue serving as members until Turnover. 

3. After their election and before acting as full voting members, new members should participate in at least two hearings as members with a non-binding vote. 

Article VIII. Selection of Ombuds 

1. A committee consisting of the Assistant Dean of Student Judicial Programs and two nonvoting representatives chosen by the Honor Council shall convene once at the beginning of each academic year for the purpose of selecting ombuds. All three members of that committee must be present during the interviews of ombuds candidates. The Honor Council representatives may contribute to discussion regarding the ombuds candidates, but the selection is ultimately made by the Assistant Dean of Student Judicial Programs.

2. The selection committee shall interview all qualified candidates who apply for one of the Ombuds positions.  Responsibility for publicity about and sign-ups for the ombuds interviews shall lie with the selection committee.

3. The selection committee shall convene within the first four weeks of the academic year to choose at least two and up to six ombuds and three preferentially-ranked alternates. The selected students will serve as ombuds until the selections are made the following year, or until the graduation of the ombuds, whichever occurs first. If an ombuds is unable to complete his term, then an alternate may be named by the Assistant Dean of Student Judicial Programs to fill the vacancy. There shall be no restriction on the number of terms a student may serve as ombuds.

4. Before serving on a case, a new ombuds should observe at least one case and be observed by an experienced ombuds for at least one case.

5. In the event that the Honor Council must conduct an investigation or hearing when no ombuds is available, the Assistant Dean of Student Judicial Programs shall be empowered to appoint eligible students as ombuds on a temporary basis.

6. In addition to University regulations determining eligibility for an appointed office, a student serving as ombuds cannot be a current member of the Honor Council, and must not have been found in violation of the Honor Code.

7. An Ombuds will serve on each case on a rotating basis according to availability.

Article IX. Duties of Ombuds 

1. The Ombuds shall attend the investigation and hearing. 

2. During the investigation, the Ombuds shall inform the Investigating Committee if any investigating procedures are overlooked. 

3. The Ombuds shall indicate to the Council during hearings if procedural errors occur. 

4. The Ombuds shall interrupt the deliberative process if grounds for an appeal arise, and remind the Council of its obligation to recall the accused in light of future evidence. 

5. The Ombuds shall be bound to indicate to the accused if the deliberative process is defective, and present any grounds for appeal. 

6. The Ombuds shall interrupt the deliberative process if a Council member shows undue and prejudicial bias on a case and remind that member of the option to disqualify himself or herself. 

7. The Ombuds shall initiate an appeal only if based on a matter of defective deliberation, but he or she may be subpoenaed when a defendant appeals on other grounds. Otherwise, the defendant shall not be approached by the Ombuds concerning appeals. 

8. The Ombuds shall be subject to the same rules of secrecy as the members of the Honor Council. 

Article X. Suspension of a Member from the Ombuds Pool 

The Council, at its own discretion, may take a vote to recommend to the Assistant Dean of Student Judicial Programs that an Ombuds not currently involved in a case be removed from the pool. A vote of twelve members is necessary to pass this recommendation to the Assistant Dean of Student Judicial Programs. 

Article XI. Cooperation of the Honor Council and Faculty 

1. The Honor Council shall cooperate with the Faculty in the best interest of the Honor System. 

2. When necessary, the President of Rice University shall be required by the Honor Council to assist in securing Faculty cooperation with the Honor Council. 

Article XII. Annual Report 

Before the end of the academic year, the outgoing Chair will submit to the President of Rice University a report on the state of the Rice Honor System. A copy of this report will be kept with the Honor Council and the office of Student Judicial Programs.

Last modified Saturday, October 28, 2006 7:33 PM
Reach the Honor Council at honor@rice.edu