By Larry B. Dendy
Work will soon be under way to implement a new academic honesty policy designed to impress upon every student that honesty in all academic work is a core value of the University of Georgia.
The University Council’s approval of the policy on March 30 set in motion an effort to  “change the culture” of the university regarding academic honesty, says Robert Boehmer, chair of the task force that developed the policy.
Titled “A Culture of Honesty,” the policy requires students to perform all academic work submitted for evaluation “without cheating, lying, tampering, stealing, plagiarism, receiving unauthorized or illegitimate assistance from any other person, or using any source of information that is not common knowledge without attribution.”
The policy also sets out specific examples of prohibited acts, such as damaging computer equipment, falsifying the results of laboratory or experimental work, and altering grade, lab or attendance records.
The policy features an aggressive educational program aimed at reinforcing the importance of academic honesty from the day students apply for admission until the day they graduate. It includes new procedures for processing academic dishonesty cases and harsher penalties for those found guilty of cheating.
Responsibility for administering the policy will lie in the Office of Academic Affairs, which will soon establish a budget to provide for training, investigations, hearings and publication of educational materials.
Boehmer says a first step in implementing the policy is developing educational materials and presentations that must be ready for freshman orientation this summer. The educational materials will also be incorporated into recruiting information and the application process for new students.
Information about the policy, along with suggestions for ways to continually remind students of the importance of academic honesty, will be distributed to faculty members before the start of fall semester.
Under the policy, trained student “solicitors” will investigate accusations of dishonesty and present the university’s case before a hearing panel composed of three students and two faculty members. The panel will be chaired by a non-voting “hearing officer.”
As originally drafted, the policy said students who have personal knowledge about an allegation of dishonesty involving another student would be required to testify at the hearing. University Council amended the policy to say students are “expected” to testify but can’t be penalized for failure to do so.
Boehmer says plans for training solicitors, and selecting and training hearing officers, will be developed during the summer so the new procedures can be instituted with the start of fall semester.
At 28 pages, the new policy also differs in many other respects from UGA’s previous process for dealing with academic dishonesty. Boehmer says the changes are “designed to streamline the process, involve students more in the process and make it more fair to faculty and students.”
Among the changes: dishonesty charges must be reported within 15 days instead of 90 days; if a student is notified of a hearing (as required in the policy) and fails to attend, the panel can proceed even though the accused student isn’t present; an accused student can have no more three advisers present at the hearing, and they may not address the hearing panel or question witnesses; a two-tiered burden-of-proof is established in which the first standard for proving dishonesty will be “preponderance of evidence,” while “clear and convincing” evidence is required if more serious penalties are imposed; and an accusing faculty member can make a written recommendation for a penalty.
Students found guilty of violations will receive the lowest possible grade for the work on which they are accused of cheating. They will also receive one of three minimum penalties: a notation on the grade transcript that the student was “found in violation of the academic honesty code,” suspension for a semester, or permanent expulsion.
For first offenders, the penalty imposed by the panel could also include community service, restrictions, probation or revocation of a previously awarded degree. For repeat offenders, the minimum penalty is permanent expulsion.
The main points of the new policy are included in a one-page document called a “Plain Language Summary” that will be a major tool for educating students and faculty about the policy. The full policy is posted on the university’s Web site (www.uga.edu/vpaa/polproc/ahpol/main.html).
UGA 2000 calendar
The university is trying to find a way to make its spring break coincide with spring break for the Clarke County school system.
 Paul Kurtz, chair of the University Council Educational Affairs Committee, told the council at its March 30 meeting that his committee will try to work with public school officials to schedule spring recess for the same week beginning in 2001.
When the university was under the quarter system, spring break usually fell around the last week in March, and Clarke County schools took the same week.
But this year--under semesters--UGA’s spring break was the second week in March. Clarke County stayed with its usual date, which disrupted some vacation plans and created problems for faculty parents who had to work when their children were out of school.
Kurtz said it might be possible for the university to hold its spring break a week or two later, and for the school system to move its break up.
“We can’t coordinate with every school system in northeast Georgia, but we hope we can work something out with Clarke County schools,” Kurtz said, adding that neither the university nor the school system has adopted calendars for 2001.
Kurtz had planned to seek council approval of a UGA calendar for 2000-2001 that includes a fall break on the Thursday and Friday before the Georgia-Florida football game in 2000. But he requested a delay in order to pursue the spring break question.
The council will adopt a 2000-2001 calendar at its April 29 meeting, the last council meeting of this academic year.
Sabbatical policy
In other action, the council approved a resolution from its Faculty Benefits Committee asking President Michael F. Adams to investigate the possibility of starting a sabbatical leave program for faculty. Adams said he and Provost Karen Holbrook will pursue the matter, though he noted that state legislation might be required to permit sabbaticals.
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