In class Thursday, we discussed the application of the Rhodes Honor Code to not just the students at Rhodes, but the entire Rhodes community. Which raises the question--should everyone at Rhodes (students, faculty, staff, administration) have to sign some version of the honor code?
Obviously, one would hope that professors would not need to promise not to lie, cheat, or steal--but what about respecting the code that students take part in? Should professors sign a promise to have faith in their students and expect that they are not lying, cheating, or stealing unless the situation strongly suggests otherwise? For instance, I recently had a friend have to go to the hospital for several hours when she blacked out the night before a biology exam. When she emailed her professor about the situation, she was told that unless she had a doctor's note that said she was too unwell to take the exam, there was no way she could reschedule the exam. Clearly, the professor did not trust that the student was being honest, and was more concerned with "busting" dishonest students then trusting honest ones.
With Rhodes’ new addition of turnitin.com, the administration very clearly does not believe that the code be more or less mutual between students and professors. Students must promise to be trustworthy, but professors are in no way required to be trusting. Without faculty, staff, and administrators promising to trust in students, is there any value in the students’ honor code? Why have us promise not to lie, cheat, or steal if it will be assumed that we will do so anyway?
Is this what we signed up for freshman year? Sure, being able to leave your bag at the Rat without fear of it being stolen is great, but I would much rather feel that my professors truly trusted me than know my $5 tote bag is safe from other students. What do you think?
Grace, I really like your proposed question about "mutual trust" on campus. I do think that faculty and staff should also have some form of agreement to accept and respect the pledge we all make. It is nice to have some professors who trust you, but when a professor doesn't trust their students or is constantly questioning the quality of their work, the student-teacher relationship greatly suffers (and those professors get an awful reputation). Respect is a mutual thing, in my opinion. I respect Rhodes, my professors, and my peers, as evident by my signing the Honor Code way back in 2008. I feel that, because I pledged myself to a Code, that Rhodes, professors, and my peers should respect me as well. Leaving my school bag in the Rat is great and all, but doesn't really compare to having professors trust and respect you. I don't really want to go too into your comment about the friend who blacked out before an exam, but to be honest if I was that professor I wouldn't be too enthused about that situation if she was that irresponsible. Put that's not the point I'm making. Glad she's ok, though.
ReplyDeleteAn honor code creates this beautiful invisible line that the school would like for each student to walk on, but the truth is that isn't always the case.
ReplyDeletelet us use the example you gave (and by the way, I hope your friend is doing better now). Your friend blacked out, and had to go to the hospital, afterwards the emailed the professor to let her know, and the professor being an honorable person, believed her and took her word for it. Now this is what we would expect every time right? only you know that, it doesn't always happen that way, in fact it MOSTLY doesn't happen that way. What usually happens is that the student is overcome with test anxiety that they are too scared or make themselves sick, or that they studied too late in the night (or into the morning, depending on how you look at it) and slept right though the exam. If these students were in a world you described in your post do you not think they would take advantage the professor's "honor"? I know I would.
Now this isn't to say that professor should also be honorable in honoring the honor code we signed (gosh! so much honor!), but let us not be so quick as to dub her dishonorable. who knows maybe she wasn't thinking that your friend was being dishonorable and was just following school's regulation to allow her to make up her exam.
Now for the "turnitin.com," though i am not fond of it, I understand why the school would use it, regardless of whether it is honorable school or not. A school like ours is great, the professor can trust most of the students, and the students can trust some of their professors. Here, a lot more than just learning takes place, therefore, we must have in place a system and a set regulation to maintain peace and justice. Which is why the school's implementation of "turnitin.com" is not offensive, but understandable. It is meant to allow the students that were honorable to continue being so, an the the ones that were not so honorable, just have a harder time getting away with their little injustices.
https://www.writecheck.com/static/home.html allows students to essentially run a plagiarism check themselves. In fact, write check is run by turnitin.com. This service cost $7 per paper and it basically runs a plagiarism check on it for the student identical that a teacher would see. Turnitin and writecheck advertise themselves as protecting the integrity of an institution and its students by discouraging plagiarism.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast, the Rhodes website describes the honor code as follows: The Honor System is a tradition which has been valued by the Rhodes community for nearly a century. It allows the fullest possible expression of individual life in harmony with community life. It is a principle which members of the Rhodes community believe to be fundamental in ethical life, both during and after college.
Does the honor code of Rhodes uphold the integrity of the degree that we pay so much money for, or do websites like turnitin.com keep that diploma so elusive?
If we use turnitin, I would like to withdraw my enrollment at Rhodes. I signed up for an institution that trusts me as much as I trust it. If they revoke their trust in me, the I will do the same and attend a large state school where tests are proctored, doctors notes are required, and teachers assume I will cheat.
Nellie,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate what you are saying about turnitin.com being a tool for justice, but I still believe that it is redundant and offensive. As others have said many times, by using turnitin the college demonstrates that it does not trust us to adhere to the honor code - it does not think that we are honorable enough to do so. So, the question becomes, why does the college still require us to sign the honor pledge? If signing the pledge has no bearing on our honor, then it seems to me that it is merely done as a publicity stunt, so that the college can brag that it has a century old honor code tradition.
If that's not offensive, then I don't know what is.
I agree with Colin in the sense that by using turnitin.com, the professors are proving that the signing of the honor pledge is somewhat futile. What purpose does it serve then if we are not trusted by our professors. I really liked what Colin said in that "the college can brag that it has a century old honor code tradition." It seems that the honor pledge serves only that purpose: A tradition of Rhodes. It is quite unfair.
ReplyDelete"You can learn every day"... I didn't know that only the students at Rhodes have to sign the Honor Code. Honestly, I really can't understand this practice and as you can see, it surprises me pretty much. I heard everybody, especially Professors talking about the Honor Code as a great mean to create a trustworthy community but I wonder how a community can be created on a a code that is not mutual. What is presumed is that every Rhodes student is a lier and every Professor is an honorable person. Of course, we all know that the truth is in between these two extremes :)
ReplyDeleteThe debate about turnitin.com deal with this assumption, too. Therefore, I agree with Colin and Ivonne.