Woodstock Honor Council
Honor Councils have become a best practice for highly regarded schools throughout the world (see www.academicintegrity.org). For what some call the "cut and paste" generation (Pennsylvania Dept of Education) plagiarism is an area of concern not only for teachers but for the students themselves. Many students are not even certain of what might be labeled as academic dishonesty. The Woodstock Honor Council hopes to clear away all misunderstanding and looks to create an environment where academic integrity is the standard - 100% of the time.
Academic dishonesty includes such practices as:
- sharing exam questions with classmates
- not citing all sources of information
- using other people's ideas without permission or citation
- receiving improper assistance from friends and/or family
Students, becoming frustrated with these practices and wanting to encourage students to take pride in their own work, decided to take the initiative and reform the forgotten Honor Council created by the Woodstock National Honor Society years previously. Woodstock's new Honor Council is founded and headed by four seniors: two NHS leaders, Vedika Birla and Shahid Judge, and the two Stuco presidents, Rithambhra Garg and Monty Mehdi. Amy Seefeldt, history teacher, also lends her support this student-led initiative with her 5 years experience with the Honor Council at the Whitefield Academy, a private college-prep school in Atlanta, GA.
The student leaders reworked the honor code from Duke University in order for it to be more appropriate to the Woodstock environment (with appropriate citations, of course). Since the most highly regarded schools in the United States have similar programs encouraging academic integrity among their student bodies, there are numerous examples of honor codes that the Woodstock council has been able to review and borrow from.
The constitution of the Honor Council is still being determined and established, however there are certain finalized structures. The Honor council is made up of the 4 senior leaders, 5 junior members, one female teacher and one male teacher. The junior members applied in writing, were thoroughly interviewed and then selected to be on the council. Each paper and exam turned into teachers for assessment is signed by the student to guarantee that the work was solely his or her own work. If a complaint is made against a student by another student it must go through the teacher of the class in which the academic integrity is being questioned. The teacher has the freedom to handle the issue prior to it going to the Honor Council. Teachers can also raise concerns of their own. If the teacher determines that the complaint should be brought to the Honor Council, a written report must be submitted to the Honor Council. Upon receiving a written report of academic dishonesty, the Honor Council addresses the following two questions:
- What will help the student learn from this mistake?
- What will protect the community?
The Honor Council is not a disciplinary body; it is a restorative body with aims to educate fellow students about academic integrity and to address broader community issues stemming from academic fairness.
The Honor Council demonstrates that Woodstock staff and students support academic integrity at all levels and that academic integrity is foundational to the reputation of any academic institution. Woodstock students have created an environment that supports and honors academic honesty and transparency. As universities increase their intolerance for any form of plagiarism and even copyright infringement, Woodstock students will have an edge over other undergraduates by knowing how to be accountable for their academic work.
Being a student-initiated and student-led body, the student leaders have had to present and demonstrate the importance of the Honor Council to all of their high school peers. For the 4 senior student leaders and the 5 juniors, it has been an awarding but challenging endeavor; it takes courage and natural leadership to stand up for what is right amongst your peers. Click here for Aditya Todi's speech introducing the Honor Council to the High School at morning assembly.
All of Woodstock applauds the NHS leaders and Stuco presidents of the 2009 Tenacious class for taking on this difficult issue. We look forward to seeing the 2010 class keep the momentum and ensure the sustainability of the Woodstock Honor Council. Hopefully, the Woodstock Honor Council will become so effective it will never need to do its good work.