Even though it’s week seven, the other day in class was the first time that I was told to sign my name and write the statement “I affirm that I have carried out my academic endeavors with full academic honesty.” This was my first time writing the statement because all of the other tests I’ve taken so far this term had been administered by tenured professors who didn’t buy into this questionable honor system that Union has adopted.
This statement is supposed to be a new step toward ensuring that my peers and I don’t cheat– all part of the new, improved honor code. I wonder how many cheating students actually think twice about it due to this statement—probably none. It’s not like a student is going to say to himself or herself, “man after writing that statement I feel morally obligated to not cheat.”According to the school website, faculty and administrators have been working on this system for the past six years. Six years? What were they working on? I don’t notice a difference in Union’s academic climate except for the fact that I have to deal with the nuisance of writing some statement at the top of my tests and essays.
It’s not like we have a true honor system. My friend goes to Haverford College in Pennsylvania—there they have a true honor system. Tests are take home, the cafeteria doesn’t swipe IDs, and there are no campus police looking to write up students. Everyone is on the honor code—and it works for them. Be that as it may, our school does not have a real honor system. So why have it at all?
This is another classic example of the Union administration wasting time and money to create a system that doesn’t, in practice, work. These systems are created for the sole purpose of drawing in prospective students. The school should worry less about that and more about the actual problems this school is facing such as the fact that more recent Union graduates are unemployed than the national average.
I do understand that attracting new students is important; however, nobody is going to choose Union College solely based on the fact that we have an honor system. People choose Union because they want to go to a small school with girls that got an A on College Prowler and because they didn’t get into Colgate.
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I agree with Bryan Grover. Well said.
Bryan,
First, I believe your last comment, “People choose Union because they want to go to a small school with girls that got an A on College Prowler and because they didn’t get into Colgate”, sounds somewhat cynical, and I hope it’s more of a sarcastic statement than a jaded generalization for why our fellow students choose to study at Union.
When applying to Union, many students do not look at ratings on College Prowler, but rather we research the academic, athletic, social, and economic options that Union offers to us. Additionally, Union is not a back-up school for many students at Union, relating to your comment regarding rejections from Colgate. There exists major differences between the two institutions, one of which being that Union offers engineering degrees while Colgate does not. Students at Union have applied to schools on par with the reputation Colgate holds and have gotten acceptances into these institutions, but there are a wide variety of factors that go into choosing a school that’s the right fit.
Additionally, the Honour Code at Union sets students up for the future. There must be consequences for one’s actions of plagiarism, cheating, falsifying data, etc., and there is no better time in a student’s academic career to instill these values of integrity than during these 4 years at Union. Many students move on from Union to write post-undergraduate theses, analysis reports for companies, and many other documents that require honesty and trust among the colleagues/bosses/professors that they will work with.
Lastly, while signing a test or an essay stating that one will carry out their academic endeavours with full academic honesty may not deter those who cheat or plagiarize, I believe it’s more of a reminder for students that they are responsible for their actions, and that they will accept whatever consequences result from a dishonest mistake.
I disagree that if there’s no honor code culture then we shouldn’t be promoting one – you can’t change a culture in one easy step.
Proud Union Student (I was too; now I’m a proud Union alum): Don’t take his last paragraph too seriously. I know the young man and he’s always had, for lack of a better word, an *interesting* sense of humor.
This writer clearly has ignored the emails, fliers, Concordy articles, and promotions in Reamer the past 4 years. Union’s Modified Honor Code was written by students and faculty members, it is designed for academics (not social life), and was written understanding that change is gradual.
He should have attended one of the info/comment/hearing sessions and pointed out his concerns. Similar schools to Union have some type of academic honor code and we were lagging behind in that area. I suggest the writer re-read past Concordy articles–they could be insightful. Remember–this honor code was passed by the students and faculty by a vote.
was this entire articl writen in sarcastic?
I agree that the last paragraph is just distasteful. It is that kind of statement that demeans the education here and it’s just unnecessary considering the topic. The Honor Code is trying to make Union a better place academically and with the support of its students and teachers, we can have an honest culture here and become a school on the level of Colgate- which by the way has an honor code (most schools do and have no problem kicking a student out immediately for plagiarism). If people are honest, it shouldn’t matter if an Honor Code is put in place because the student doesn’t have to change what they are doing. However, plagiarism is a growing national academic issue and it would be lacking of the college to not do anything about it, attracting students or not. Why would you pay $50k to go here and cheat? And anyway most of the teachers scan for plagiarism, the Honor Code statement is just a reminder to students about the consequences of cheating.
I agree with Bryan – I don’t notice any difference with this honor code. Also to SEM: if I’m paying over $50k to go here, I should be able to do whatever I want; even if that means having the professors take my tests for me.
The unfortunate truth is over the last 10-20 years cheating has become rampant in many places. Union is just trying to address these issues in the least intrusive way possible. Would you want a doctor to treat you who had cheated on his school work.
Let me state that maeby, just maeby, instilling an honor code is actually a good idea. After all, where would the world be without honor? I’ll tell you: cousins hooking up with cousins, grown men afraid to ever get completely nude and no idea how to actually imitate a chicken. Perhaps it is time that Bryan Grover takes a good hard look in the mirror and finally admits, “Oh Bryan, you blowhard”.