Reporting a Violation
If You Suspect a Violation:
NAVIGATE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR AN ACCUSATION TEMPLATE
• Send an email to the Honor Council (honor@rice.edu) describing the incident. Attach any relevant tests, papers, and any other material evidence you may have at the time, and feel free to include any questions about the Honor System process. Any email sent to the Council’s address above will be received by the four Council officers, and you should receive a response within 24 hours during the semester. In cases where students are suspected of copying an assignment, test, or coding project from one another (or from an external source), it is helpful if you save the submissions of every other student in the class. The Honor Council may request a set of submissions by other students to establish what degree of similarity and difference can reasonably be expected between other students who collaborated within the bounds of the Honor Code.
• Especially in upper level science classes, it is important that the accuser present a detailed explanation of the suspected violation to ensure knowledgeable decisions from Council members not familiar with the relevant field of study. During a hearing we may also call another professor or other additional expert witness to give the Council more information about difficult subject material.
• If you are responsible for determining an accused student’s grade before the Council has reached a decision, we request that you determine the grade as if there were no suspected violation. For instance, if your student scored a 100% on an exam during which you believe academic misconduct occurred, you should submit the student’s grade as if they had earned a 100% on the exam through their own legitimate work. If the Council determines that a violation did in fact occur, the Council may recommend a grade change to the Assistant Director of Student Judicial Programs, who will review our decision and enact any changes at that time through the Office of the Registrar. It is important that you do not change a student’s grade yourself because of a suspected Honor Code violation. Because it is the Honor Council’s exclusive role to adjudicate and sanction academic integrity violations, any additional sanction by a course grader means that a student will be punished twice for the same violation.
• Maintain the confidentiality of the accused. Do not tell the accused about the suspected violation; the accused will be notified by the Honor Council after we receive the letter of accusation.
• The Chair of the Council will inform you of the status of the case after the investigation into the matter.
• You may be called as a witness if the case progresses to a hearing. Both the accused and the Council will be allowed to ask you questions about the suspected violation. The presence of the accuser is usually only required for about half an hour.
• If you have any further questions about the Honor System in general or about the progress of your case, do not hesitate to contact the Honor Council (honor@rice.edu) or the Dr. James DeNicco, the Faculty Liaison to the Honor Council, jd46@rice.edu.