In June of 2002, the Faculty unanimously adopted an Honor Code for the Upper School.  A faculty and student committee wrote the code after a year of researching honor codes and consulting with students and faculty through advisory meetings and open forums.  Certain definitions of terms (cheating and assignment) were taken from the William and Mary Honor Code (http://www.wm.edu/so/honor-council/code.html).

Introduction

Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart is committed to educating its students in a manner that is consistent with the Goals and Criteria of the Sacred Heart.   To clarify the application of these principles to academic work, the Duchesne community finds it desirable to establish a uniform Honor Code that will eliminate any ambiguity about the responsibilities of the students, faculty, and administration in supporting these goals, especially Goal 2, a deep respect for intellectual values, and Goal 5, personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom.  Pursuing these goals requires personal integrity and honesty, which necessarily lead to both academic honesty and honor.  This Honor Code serves merely to clarify and reaffirm the responsibilities implied by these goals.

Violations of the Honor Code

In order for the educational process to be meaningful, the administration, faculty, staff, and students must work in an environment in which the integrity of each person’s word and deed can be assumed.  This document describes the types of behavior that cannot be tolerated within a community of trust. 

Definition of Cheating:

Cheating is the act of wrongfully using or taking the ideas or work of another in order to gain an unfair advantage.  The term assignment includes any work submitted to a faculty member for evaluation.  Cheating includes but is not limited to:

• Plagiarism
• Giving unauthorized aid to another student or receiving unauthorized aid from another person on tests, quizzes, assignments, or examinations
• Using or consulting unauthorized materials or using unauthorized equipment or devices on tests, quizzes, assignments, or examinations

Examples of cheating include:

• Bringing outside information into the testing room
• Storing on a calculator information that has been prohibited by the teacher
• Sharing calculators during a test or quiz
• Talking or any other form of communication during the test or quiz
• Asking or giving answers to test or quiz questions
• Looking on another student’s paper
• Communicating contents of a quiz/test to a student who has not yet taken quiz/test
• Opening a book or other materials about the topic being tested when the teacher has not authorized the students to do so
• Using cheat sheets during a quiz or test

A student who knowingly aids another student in violating the Honor Code will be subject to the consequences stated below.  If a student witnesses a violation of the code, she is strongly encouraged to report the infringement to a teacher or administrator, who will take such reports very seriously. 

A Mutual Commitment

For an Honor Code to be effective at Duchesne, both faculty and students must share responsibility in creating and maintaining an environment that encourages academic honesty.

Faculty members are responsible for:

• Including an Honor Code statement in the course syllabus
• Teaching students how to cite correctly to avoid plagiarism
• Communicating the extent to which collaboration is permissible on a given assignment
• Communicating the extent to which study aids, books, data, calculators, formula sheets or other information can be used to complete an assignment
• Taking reasonable steps during tests, quizzes, and exams to reduce the possibility of cheating

Students are responsible for:

• Understanding violations and consequences of the Honor Code
• Consulting with faculty to clarify meaning of plagiarism and to learn to cite information properly
• Understanding each teacher’s syllabus with respect to cheating violations and requesting clarification of rules if necessary
• Not divulging information about a test/quiz to others who will be taking the same test, or asking about information on a test/quiz to be taken in the future   

·         Encouraging their peers to refrain from dishonesty 

Consequences for Violating the Honor Code

For certain egregious offenses, the Head of the Upper School or the Headmistress has the right to ask the student to leave Duchesne Academy after the first infraction of the Honor Code

The offenses stated below are cumulative throughout the high school career.

First offense consequences will include any or all of the following:

• A grade between a zero and a sixty on the assignment
• A chance to redo the assignment at the discretion of the teacher
• A talk with the teacher and with the Dean of Students
• A call by the teacher to the student’s parents
• A note in the student’s file describing the infraction

Second offense consequences will include any or all of the following:

• A grade between a zero and a sixty on the assignment
• A call to parents from the student in the presence of Head of School
• A meeting with the student, parents, teacher, and Head of School
• Letter of reprimand by Head of School
• A note in the student’s file describing the infraction
• Resignation from class office if applicable
• Disqualification from running for class office for the following year
• Ineligibility for consideration for National Honor Society

Third offense consequences can include any of the following:

• Failure for the quarter or semester at the discretion of the teacher and administration
• Suspension
• A choice between withdrawal or expulsion

A student has the right to appeal any decision by the teacher or Head of School concerning the cheating allegation.    The final decision on the appeal will rest with the Headmistress.     The student has the right to ask an advisor or another faculty member from the Duchesne community to be present at the appeal.