The Committee on Standards and computer science department behaved in the most appropriate manner considering the circumstances surrounding the recent cheating accusations in dismissing all charges against CS4 students. However, the College's Honor Code remains devalued. Although all students who had cheated could have been caught and punished, this could only have been accomplished at the expense of potentially punishing innocent classmates. Nevertheless, if the Dartmouth community chooses to move forward from this winter's scandal without making an effort to update the Honor Code, then the Code stands to lose any sense of integrity.
To truly incorporate the Honor Code into Dartmouth life, grey areas must be made more black and white. Students should not just have a vague notion of an Honor Code operating behind the scenes -- they should know exactly what does and what does not constitute cheating.
Visiting professors should be briefed clearly about the role the Honor Code plays. All members of the Dartmouth community, from incoming students to visiting professors, should be properly informed about the role that the Honor Code plays on this campus.
Various relationships on this campus also stand to be strengthened. Professors and teaching assistants are a team and must operate as such. Students and professors also need to work on better communication. Professors must delineate their expectations and students must seek clarification should questions still remain.
If professors just assume that students will raise any questions about the Honor Code and if students just assume that professors will outline their interpretation of cheating, then we have accomplished nothing. We leave open the opportunity for misunderstanding, and on a college campus such as this, that ambiguity should not be the standard.
The student should feel comfortable enough to approach a professor and resolve the question. The Dartmouth Honor Code is about trust. It is not a tool for professors to use in order to apprehend cheaters. As it stands now, the Honor Code is a passing fear. Freshman receive Sources and for about a week, they worry that somehow they are going to improperly cite an article and be brought before the COS for cheating. Then, the fear fades into a faint recollection that the College even has an Honor Code. The Dartmouth Honor Code should not just be a set of written rules -- it should be an inherent trust that stands strongly among all members of the community.
