Quest University Canada is an educational community committed to the fundamental principles of honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, and respect as they apply to both academic and non-academic endeavours. As members of this community, students, faculty, and staff accept personal responsibility for the integrity of their work and the consequences of their behaviour. Each member agrees to behave honourably and to uphold the highest standards of intellectual and social conduct in the interests of sustaining a vibrant and supportive environment in which to live, learn, and work.
I. Social Conduct
With respect to your social conduct, the Quest Honour Principle charges you to:
These principles are based on common sense, safety, and the Golden Rule. You may consult the Quest Residence Guide for a comprehensive set of regulations governing life in the dorms. Community agreements allow students living in the residences a large measure of autonomy for establishing rules for their suites or floors, as long as their agreements conform to overall University policy and to any applicable laws.
When discouraging inappropriate social conduct in others, you must use your own judgment about how best to proceed, but you should also realize that you need not act entirely on your own. The residence staff, tutors, officers and other employees of the University, as well as student government - all can help sort out conflicts at the suitable level. The more responsibility that the student body can take for governing its own conduct, the more authority it will have to do so. Your self-reliance informs and engenders a true sense of community.
Nonetheless, the Director of Student Life, and ultimately the President, have the official responsibility to discipline inappropriate social conduct. Although the Honour Principle sets out normative guidelines for social conduct, the Honour Council does not govern the discipline of inappropriate social behaviour.
II. Academic Conduct
At the beginning of your academic career, the University will ask you to publicly sign the following statement. It reads:
On my honour, I pledge that I will not engage in any dishonest or unethical behaviour in the conduct of my academic work at Quest University Canada, nor will I condone such behaviour in others.
In addition, you will sign an attached or incorporated statement on every major assignment (according to your tutor's direction) that says:
On my honour, I have neither given nor accepted unauthorized assistance in any form in the completion of this assignment (examination, paper, report, etc.).
Your signature in front of the community means that you accept the Quest Honour Principle for academic conduct. It charges you to:
These principles are based on commonly accepted standards throughout the global academic community. They do not mean that you should never discuss assignments with your friends, or that you can never ask a classmate to proofread your work. On the contrary, the faculty hope that you will often do so. Living in a residential university means that you have a special opportunity to carry on the class conversation outside the limits of the classroom, and that you will be able to ask your friends for their advice and help on your homework. Classroom discussion, as well as late-night bull sessions, are understood to be the common property of those who participate in them.
No one expects you to footnote a conversation you had with your roommate, but obviously your roommate can't write your paper for you, or give you all of your main points. You must document your sources if you do research and if you use those sources in your assignment. You can find helpful guidelines about when and how to document your sources in Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference, under the chapters "Managing information; avoiding plagiarism" and "Choosing a documentation style. " The internet offers an especially great temptation to find the published ideas or work of others - and the list of topics you can Google is virtually infinite - but again, if you use those published ideas or copy that published work, you must cite your sources.
Simply put, the Honour Principle means that the community expects you not to cheat on your assignments, or to help anyone else to cheat. Moreover, you are a member of that community. If you witness cheating of any kind, you have a moral obligation to discourage it, but the principle does not compel you to inform on classmates. How you discourage academic dishonesty in others will require mature judgment on your part. Once again, you need not feel that you must act alone; you may seek advice from, and enlist the help of, the faculty or members of the Honour Council.
Under the Honour Principle, responsibility for academic integrity lies with you. Exams will not necessarily be proctored, and the tutors will normally trust you to do your work honestly and fairly. Tutors have a duty to set out their expectations for the application of the Honour Principle in their courses, but if they do not, you have the responsibility to ask them.
III. The Honour Principle Constitution
Responsibility for administering the Quest Honour Principle for students rests with the Honour Council, a representative body consisting of students and faculty. The Honour Principle Constitution sets out in detail how cases of academic dishonesty will be handled, including the framework of the Honour Council that adjudicates those cases. You can find the full text at the following on-line link:
http://www.questu.ca/questhonourconstitution.php
It is your responsibility to read the constitution; failure to know it does not absolve you from any of its precepts. What follows is an abbreviated description of how the judicial mechanism works.
Wherever possible, alleged incidents of academic honesty should in the first instance be resolved by mutual agreement between the instructor of the course and the student. Depending on the case, this agreement might involve the simple clarification of a misunderstanding, or it might stipulate a punishment or a grade change. If they can agree, the tutor may at his or her discretion send along a copy of the agreement to the Honour Council to be recorded. In other words, it is up to the tutor to do so if he or she wishes, but the constitution does not mandate it.
If the student and the tutor cannot agree, however, the case gets referred to the Honour Council.
The Honour Council consists of five members - four students, and one faculty advisor who only votes in case of a tie. (There are also two alternate student members who may be called upon. ) The Council chooses its own student chair who runs the meetings and sets the agenda. It may also set up rules and by-laws as needed. Following the guide for conducting hearings, the Council will investigate the allegations, determine cause, hear witnesses, record evidence, and make a judgment according to the "balance of probabilities. " Members of the Council are enjoined to strict confidentiality; any breach of that confidentiality is itself considered a violation of the Honour Principle.
Students accused of cheating have some important rights:
Furthermore, at the hearing they may benefit from the advice of an "attendant" (e.g. , a friend or faculty member), but that attendant may not speak for them. They have the right to call their own witnesses, including character witnesses. Failure to show up for a hearing does not constitute a defence against the accusation, and might result in a negative summary judgment.
In the case of a negative judgment, students may appeal if they have substantial new evidence to bring forward, if the Council made a serious procedural mistake, or if a member of the Council was demonstrably biased. In those cases, the Chief Academic Officer will pick a new Council from the student body at large, and will appoint a member of the faculty or administration who will chair their meetings. In cases of an appeal, the decision of the appeal board is final.
If a student is found guilty of cheating, the Council may hand down a minor, intermediate or major sanction. A minor sanction is appropriate where the offence was not grievous, or if the student has no previous record of cheating. It might involve a warning, or the assignment of a lower or failing grade in the class. An intermediate sanction means that the University may withhold its degree from a graduate until some conditions are met. The letter recording minor and intermediate sanctions will stay in a student's file for five years.
A major sanction is appropriate in cases where the offence was grievous. It might involve suspension, dismissal, or expulsion from the University. A major sanction gets recorded on a student's transcript, and stays part of the permanent record forever. It requires the approval of the President or another designated officer of the University.
As the University grows, and as experience shows the Council where changes are needed, the Council may petition the Board of Governors to amend the Constitution.
IV. Service
The Honour Principle will only work if students live up to their duties. If you would like to serve on the Honour Council, you should submit a letter of application and a brief statement of interest to the Chief Academic Officer, Mr. Thomas Wood, by September 15. He will name a panel of three students and two faculty members. It will review the applications, conduct interviews if necessary, and select four student members and two alternates by the end of September. The Council will receive training and help educate the rest of the student body about the Honour Principle. Service on the Council offers you the opportunity to take serious academic matters into your own hands and learn about the rights and responsibilities of a self-governing community.
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