Honor Board Ethics Course

This Ethics Course is designed for students convicted of an Honor System Violation. It is a learning experience which will provide the students with a chance for reflection and growth. The course consists of mandatory and elective tasks, and an Honor Board representative will be assigned to help guide the student through the process.

Before beginning the course, the student must contact the Honor Board and announce his intent to fulfill the course requirements. An Honor Board member will be assigned to serve as the student’s Mentor and advocate. The student must meet with the Mentor to create a proposal detailing his plans for completion of the course; the proposal will include the elective components the student has chosen. The Mentor will serve as an Advisor, answer the student’s questions, and clarify any uncertainties.

The Ethics Course consists of three components which are described in detail in the following sections. The components are:

1. An Ethics Journal kept throughout the progression of the course

2. A Reflection Paper following the completion of all other items in the course

3. Elective Tasks **

**Each Elective Task is weighted in accordance with its difficulty and opportunities for growth. The student’s proposal must include at least 12 points worth of elective tasks. The student must choose from the following list of elective tasks, but has the option to generate a self-initiated task subject to approval by the Honor Board Mentor.

The student must complete his proposal before beginning the course. The proposal must include three sections: intent, goals, and plan.

After the student has completed writing his proposal, he must sign it and give it to his Honor Board Mentor. The proposal is subject to approval by the Honor Board Mentor and Advisor.

If the Honor Board Advisor approves the proposal, the student will be notified and may begin completing his tasks. If the Honor Board Advisor does not approve the proposal, the student will have the opportunity to revise and resubmit it.

Throughout the Ethics Course, the student will be required to keep an Ethics Journal. The purpose of the Ethics Journal is to track the student’s progress in the course, provide an opportunity to reflect on each of the completed tasks, and provide an overall reflection of the learning experience. It is recommended that the student write in it at least once per week throughout the course. The journal may be in any format, but must include the following. 6

1. What task was completed? What was done to complete it?

2. What was learned from this task? Was it a good learning experience? How did it help the student grow as a person?

3. What is the student’s feedback about this task? (The student may choose to write negative things about the tasks in this journal. This is the Honor Board’s chance to get criticism or advice from the student about the course!)

The student may include additional entries of his choosing. A suggestion for further reflection is to comment on an ethical dilemma or difficult decision faced during this period. Some questions that may be addressed are:

1. What was the situation? Was it a hard decision to make?

2. What were the pros and cons of each option?

3. What option was chosen and why?

4. What was the impact of this decision?

1. The factors that led to having to complete the Ethics Course

2. Each task that was completed and how it contributed to the student’s learning process

3. What was learned and gained from taking the course and whether the personal goals set in the proposal were met

4. How the student plans to implement what he has learned into the rest of his life at Stevens and beyond

5. If the student has answered all of the above and still has more to talk about, additional thoughts can be recorded in the journal

This is a formal letter which must be written or typed using proper English and mailed or given (NOT emailed) to the professor. The Honor Board Mentor must approve the contents of the letter before it is sent or given to the professor. The letter should reflect a contrite and honest attitude towards the violation that was committed. This task is worth 2 points towards completion of the course.

If the violation involved treating another student or students without respect by "cheating" or "copying" off of them, or any other similar action, the student may choose to write a formal letter of apology. The letter must be written or typed using proper English and mailed (NOT emailed) or given directly to the student or students who were disrespected. If the violation did not hurt a specific student, a letter of apology may be sent to the entire class. If sending the letter to the entire class, it may be read aloud to the class. The letter should be at least two paragraphs in length and reflect a contrite and honest attitude towards the violation that was committed. The Honor Board Mentor must approve the contents of the letter before it is sent or given to the student(s) or the class. This task is worth 2 points towards completion of the course. 8

The student may elect to do up to 8 hours of community service as a part of the Ethics Course. Each hour that is completed is worth ¼ point towards completion of the course. The organization that the student chooses to work with must be indicated in his proposal along with an explanation as to how doing this community service will contribute to the learning and recovery process. The student should not be receiving credit for this community service for any other club, team, or organization. The supervisor’s name and contact phone number must be indicated in the proposal. When the student has finished his community service hours, both he and the Honor Board Mentor will sign this sheet.

The student may retake the assignment on which his Honor System violation occurred. Retaking the assignment will NOT count for credit in the class. The student is expected to put his full effort into this assignment, as if it were to be graded. After completing the assignment, it is highly recommended that the student submit it to the professor as a way to show that he is serious about learning the material with integrity and honor. If the assignment is a quiz or homework assignment, the student will earn 1 point; if it is a test, exam, or paper, he will earn 2 points.

The student may choose to attend up to two seminars offered by the Academic Support Center. A list of the workshops being offered by the Academic Support Center can be found at www.stevens.edu/asc. Some of these workshops may require pre-registration, so the student must pay attention to all the details when viewing the available options. There may be other seminars offered throughout the campus, but not through the Academic Support Center. These seminars also may be acceptable if they relate to the personal 9

improvement goals outlined in the student’s proposal, and if they are approved by his Honor Board Mentor.

When the student attends the seminar must have the presenter of the seminar sign to confirm his attendance. Each seminar that the student attends will be worth 1 point towards completion of the Ethics Course.

• Why did Ivan conclude his life "was not the real thing?" (Consider his interests, values, aims, and his relationships with his family.)
•  Why did Ivan stop screaming? (Provide a specific quotation.)
•  What does Tolstoy have to say about the attractions of materialism? (Give an example from Ivan’s life.)

For 3 points towards completion of the course, the student can choose to give a speech on the Honor System to a group of his peers. It must be delivered to at least 10 other students who may be members of a club, sports team, Greek house, class, or any other group selected by the student. The speech must be at least 15 minutes long and may utilize any 10

appropriate audio/ visual aid. The student must state in the proposal who will be the audience for the speech and why he chose that group of students. The student may choose to use some of the following talking points in his speech or come up with his own:

• A history of the Honor System at Stevens
•  Duties of students and faculty as outlined in the Honor Board’s Constitution
•  The importance of having an Honor System
•  The student’s violation and his learning experiences as a result of the Ethics Course

A draft of the student’s presentation must be approved by the Honor Board Mentor prior to its delivery. Also, the student must alert the Honor Board Mentor of the time and place for the speech. It is required that at least one Honor Board Representative be present when the speech is made. If no Honor Board members are able to attend, the audience members must complete the official signature form at the conclusion of the presentation.

3 Courtesy of Dr. Frank Ardaiolo of Winthrop University

The student may choose to complete the Virtual Academic Integrity Laboratory (VAIL) Tutorial. This tutorial requires him to read through four learning modules and take a quiz on what was learned. The student must achieve a score of 65 to pass. He must print and turn in the certificate of completion to receive credit for the tutorial. The tutorial is worth 1 point towards completion of the Ethics Course. The tutorial is available at the following link:

A list of prompts is available in Appendix F of the ethics course manual, which can be downloaded above. The student may choose to write an essay response to one or more of these prompts. The response must be 3 to 5 pages in length unless noted otherwise and must be well-written with proper English grammar and citations, if outside resources are used. Each essay that the student writes will be worth 1 point, and he may submit a maximum of three responses. 12

The student may choose to do any other sort of task or activity as part of his Ethics Course. The student must discuss these plans with his Honor Board Mentor and be able to justify how the task will contribute to the learning process. The task must be indicated in the proposal submitted by the student and subsequently be approved by both the Honor Board Mentor and Advisor. When the student proposes a self-initiated task, additional guidelines will be determined by the student, Honor Board Mentor, and Honor Board Advisor.

It is the responsibility of both the student and the Honor Board Mentor to stay in regular contact with each other to ensure the student’s smooth progression in the course. Following the completion of each task, the student is required to submit all required materials to his Honor Board Mentor. The Honor Board Mentor shall be responsible for maintaining a folder of all material submitted. Once the student has completed and submitted paperwork for all mandatory and elective tasks in his proposal, he will sit down with his Honor Board Mentor for a final exit interview, at which time the Final Evaluation Form must be completed. During the final exit interview, the student and Mentor will discuss the student’s accomplishments and evaluate his overall learning experience.

The Final Evaluation Form and all other materials will be submitted to the Honor Board Advisor for her approval. The Honor Board Advisor will determine if the student has satisfactorily completed the Ethics Course. After reviewing the material the Honor Board Advisor may choose to meet with the student, or ask the student to redo or revise certain components of the course. When the Honor Board Advisor approves the student’s work and signs the Final Evaluation Form, the student is considered to have completed the Ethics Course.