Honor Code Violation Resolution

Resolution Through Academic Honor Council

The Academic Honor Council investigates and adjudicates reported cases not resolved through self-referral.

Purpose of the Academic Honor Council. The Academic Honor Council hears cases of academic honor code violations, determines responsibility, and assigns academic penalties. The Academic Honor Council provides opportunities for student, faculty, and staff service. Faculty participation in the process is crucial for historical consistency and guidance, and the faculty will designate two advisors to the Academic Honor Council. An additional role of the Academic Honor Council is to educate the Rollins College community about the honor system.
Membership. The Academic Honor Council shall consist of fourteen student members who shall be selected through an application process administered by the Dean of the Faculty’s Office. The Dean of the Faculty [screens applicants for minimal GPA and conduct infractions and] forwards qualified applicants to the Student Government Association (SGA), which reviews the essays and recommends acceptable applicants to the Dean of the Faculty. In the event that there are more applicants than positions, the Academic Honor Council will conduct interviews and make recommendations to the Dean of the Faculty. Applicants submit a written application that includes a personal statement explaining why they believe academic integrity is important and why peer review is essential. In this application, students should explain any conduct infractions for which they may have been held responsible, and why such events, if any, should not remove them from consideration for the Academic Honor Council. All full-time College of Liberal Arts students are eligible. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required and the student cannot be or at any time have been on academic, disciplinary or community probation. The term of office is one year. A member may serve no more than two terms. Members who seek a second term must follow the application process. Students shall be removed from the Academic Honor Council if they are found to be in violation of the Academic Honor Code, or if they have been placed on academic, disciplinary, community, or resident hall probation. The Academic Honor Council will hold a required training session for members and advisors. This will be conducted to the end of the spring term. At that time, officers will be elected.
Officers. There shall be a Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary. These three officers, and the staff advisor, shall comprise the Executive Committee. The Chair must have served for one year on the Academic Honor Council (except during the transition year of this policy). The Chair shall preside over Academic Honor Council meetings and shall decide questions of procedure and interpretation. The decision of the Chair is subject to veto of two-thirds of the Academic Honor Council members. The Vice Chair serves as chair in the absence of the Chair. The Secretary shall keep a taped recording of all meetings, a record of findings and a brief summary of the facts of the case and penalties imposed. Both the Vice Chair and Secretary shall participate in discussions and shall be voting members of the Council. All communication to an accused student will come from the Academic Honor Council Chair, supported by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty. Annually, the Chair shall prepare a report of the activities of the Academic Honor Council and submit the report to the Academic Affairs Committee.
Faculty and Staff Advisors. The Faculty Executive Committee shall appoint two faculty advisors to the Academic Honor Council. They shall serve two-year terms, staggered if possible. The primary role of the faculty advisors is to participate in training of the Academic Honor Council members and to assist members of that Council in understanding and interpreting the application of the Honor Code as it pertains to academic exercises. Additionally, a designee appointed by the Dean of the Faculty will serve as a staff advisor, assisting in recruitment, selection and training of the members of the Academic Honor Council, and advising on issues of procedure.

Informal Resolution of Possible Violations

If a student does not self-refer before a violation has been reported, then he/she may resolve allegations of Honor Code violations through an informal resolution process.

If the Executive Committee of the Academic Honor Council determines, after a preliminary investigation, that a report of academic dishonesty is supported by reasonable cause, it will inform the accused student in writing of the charges, and shall offer him/her an opportunity for an informal meeting with the AHC board to review the case. The AHC informal hearing board will be comprised of at least one member of the executive board serving as chair and two at-large members from the Academic Honor Council. The staff advisor must be present at this meeting. The Executive Committee shall also provide the accused student with a copy of this Code and a statement of procedural rights approved by the Academic Honor Council. The accused student is entitled to select a Rollins College student, faculty, or staff advisor. The advisor may accompany the accused student to the informal meeting and may consult with the accused student prior to or during the course of the meeting. The role of the advisor in this meeting is limited to making sure that the accused student understands his procedural rights and responsibilities. The advisor may not question or challenge the nature of the evidence that led to the charges. If the student cannot select an advisor, the Council will appoint one in advance of the informal meeting.
- The student pleads not responsible and requests a full review of the case that may lead to a formal hearing (see section on Formal Resolution).
- The student acknowledges responsibility for committing a violation of the code and accepts the standard “HF” sanction.
- The student accepts responsibility, but requests a review for purposes of sanctioning only.
If the accused student selects option c. and has no prior record of academic dishonesty or serious disciplinary misconduct, the Executive Committee of the Council and the student, in consultation with the faculty member of the course, may reach an agreement concerning how the case should be resolved. The Council may impose grade penalties including a failing grade on the assignment, a grade reduction in the course in which the violation occurred, or a failing grade in the course. If the student receives a failing grade in the course as part of the sanction, it will be noted on the transcript as an HF (Honors Failure). Students found responsible for a violation of the Academic Honor Code are also placed on Academic Honors Probation and required to participate in and successfully complete an ethical principles seminar.
A written statement signed by the student and the Council must support any sanction agreed upon by the student and the Council. The Academic Honor Council shall inform both the student and the Dean of the Faculty of the sanction imposed.

Formal Resolution of Possible Violations

The Investigation.
1. The Executive Committee shall appoint two Investigators from members of the Academic Honor Council for each reported violation. The appointments as Investigator shall be made on a rotating basis among the members of the council, except for the Chair. In addition to the investigators, the Executive Committee shall appoint five additional members of the council to be voting members at a particular hearing. In this way, all Academic Honor Council members, excluding the Chair, will be given the responsibility to be an Investigator or a voting member at a formal hearing.
2. Investigators will interview all accused students and witnesses and assemble all pertinent documents. Honor investigators should interview all witnesses together. It is the accused student’s responsibility to fully cooperate with the investigators.
3. Both Investigators review the case with the Academic Honor Council Chair in order to determine if there is sufficient evidence to recommend that a formal hearing be held. If it is determined that there is insufficient evidence of a violation, then the Chair will write a letter of clarification to the accused student and the case is dropped.
The Hearing.
1. If a formal hearing is required, then the Chair of the Academic Honor Council shall notify the student in writing of the possible times available to the Academic Honor Council to hold the formal hearing. The Chair will contact the accused student to explain the charges and the student’s rights, obtain a plea to the charges, and discuss all aspects of the process. If the accused student needs and requests support and assistance in preparing for the hearing, the Chair will arrange for that assistance, within reason.
2. Names of witnesses listed in the report will be edited out for confidentiality reasons and their testimony made available to the accused. All parties must understand that the investigation is confidential and its details, findings, and conclusions may not be released. Retaliation against witnesses as a consequence of statements they may make will be considered as a possible violation of the Code of Students’ Rights and Responsibilities.
3. The Chair schedules a timely hearing and again, notifies the student of the time and place of the hearing. The accused student is expected to be present during the hearing. The accused student may also bring witnesses to the hearing. If the student chooses not to attend, the hearing will still be held, and the student’s absence shall not invalidate the results of the hearing nor be in itself a reason to challenge the results of the hearing.
4. The order of the proceedings in a hearing shall be as follows:
  1. Presentation of the charge.
  2. Request for a plea.
  3. Presentation of evidence by Investigators.
  4. Opportunity for a response by the accused student.
  5. Closed deliberations by the Council.
5. The Academic Honor Council shall conduct hearings according to the following guidelines:
  1. Hearings will be conducted in private subject to the list of attendees noted below.
  2. Admission of any person to the hearing shall be at the discretion of the Academic Honor Council Chair, with advice, if needed, from the Council’s Advisors.
  3. The accused student is entitled to select a Rollins College student, faculty, or staff advisor to assist in preparation for the hearing. The advisor may accompany the accused student to the hearing and may consult with the accused student prior to or during the course of the hearing, but may not address the Chair or the Academic Honor Council.
  4. Persons to be present at hearings include the Academic Honor Council Chair, five members of the council, two investigators, advisors, the accused student, the accused student's advisor, and witnesses relevant to the case. The presence of all the appointed members of the council is required to hold a meeting. Relevant witnesses shall be present only during their own testimony, subject to questions from the Academic Honor Council; however, they may be required to remain available for the duration of the hearing. The witness making the accusation is not required to be present at the same time as the accused. The accused student does not have the right to cross-examine witnesses, unless permission is granted by the Chair.
  5. The Academic Honor Council, at the discretion of the Chair, may accept pertinent records, exhibits, and written statements as evidence for consideration. However, formal rules of process, procedure, and/or technical rules of evidence, such as are applied in criminal or civil court, are not used in Academic Honor Code proceedings. The accused student does not have the right to have an attorney present in Academic Honor Code proceedings.
  6. All procedural questions are subject to the final decision of the Academic Honor Council Chair. After the hearing, the Council shall determine by at least a four to one vote whether the student has violated the Academic Honor Code. If two or more voting members dissent, the accused shall be found not responsible.
  7. The chair of the Council is a non-voting member.
  8. The Academic Honor Council’s determination of whether the student violated the Honor Code shall be based solely on the standard of whether there is clear and convincing evidence that the accused student violated the Academic Honor Code.
  9. The staff advisor and at least one faculty advisor to the Academic Honor Council must be present at all meetings.
6. There shall be a single verbatim record, such as a tape recording or equivalent, of all hearings. The record will not include deliberations and will be used only for the appellate process. The record shall be the property of the College and destroyed seven (7) years after graduation or date of last attendance.
7. Any hearing may be postponed, recessed, or continued at the discretion of the Academic Honor Council Chair.
The Findings.
1. If the student is found not in violation of the Academic Honor Code, a letter will be written from the Chair to the student and faculty member informing them of the decision of the Academic Honor Council.
2. No finding of violation or setting of penalties may be based solely on the student’s failure to appear at the hearing.
3. If a violation of the Code is found, the Academic Honor Council will impose each of the following sanctions:
  1. The minimum penalty for a finding of responsibility by the Academic Honor Council is a grade of HF in the course; and
  2. Required participation in and successful completion of an ethical principles seminar; and
  3. Academic Honor Code Probation until graduation.
4. The finding and sanction (if applicable) will be communicated in writing to the student and the faculty member of the course in which the incident took place.