Letter from the Chancellor
Dr. Howard Cohen
Integrity is the idea of living consistently so your actions are in harmony with your professed principles and beliefs. We live in a society where failures of integrity have become all too common: corporate executives using company funds for personal gain, athletes on steroids, journalists fabricating stories, doctors accepting gifts to promote certain drugs, and students buying term papers. Failures of integrity fall into two categories, neither of which is very appealing. Hypocrites are people who claim certain values but do not live them – the IRS agent who cheats on taxes. Cynics renounce values when they are inconvenient. They believe that “rules are for fools.”
The mission of a university is to educate the next generation to carry on our society and advance it to the next level. Hypocrites and cynics can not do that because they are self-serving. They cut corners and don’t care much about the rest of us. That is why integrity is important to a university. When Purdue Calumet educates a student who will be a teacher, a nurse, and engineer, a systems analyst, a financial advisor or anything else, our society is counting on that person to practice that profession well. None of us wants to put ourselves in the hands of a professional who has cheated for a grade rather than learned the material. We count on one another’s integrity.
The public relies on Purdue Calumet to produce graduates who, personally, have the knowledge and skills we say they have when we grant their degrees. If the public thought our graduates could get through our programs without actually learning, they would place little value in our degree. In other words, our students’ integrity is Purdue Calumet’s guarantee of quality.
Letter from the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs
Dr. Ralph Rogers
I expect all faculty and students to recognize and accept the responsibility to ensure that the standards of academic integrity are valued and functional on our campus. All faculty and students will promote and reinforce these standards of academic integrity embodied in Purdue University Calumet’s Honor Code.
I challenge all to become familiar with 1. the Honor Code, 2. Explanation of the Honor Code, and 3. Values of Integrity & the Honor Code. The values reflected in our Honor Code are valued not only in higher education, but also in every aspect of life outside the university.
As you begin your studies, I also expect you to embrace the values of academic integrity in the conduct of daily life. Seek to understand what is required of you in your coursework. Prepare well, research, analyze, keep your promises, show respect for others and realize your ambitions by coming to class ready to learn. Prepare for all tests and exams. Assume responsibility for your own work and always give recognition for the work of others. If you make a practice of incorporating these values into the everyday routine of student life, you will have developed a solid foundation for living the rest of your life responsibly and ethically.
As you nurture and develop an ethical approach to your studies, you will take away with you, not only your diploma, but also highly developed fundamental values that will serve you well throughout your life.
Letter from the Chair of the Honor Council
Dr. John Rowan
There are two main points I wish to stress to all members of the university community. First, instructors have the right to identify instances of alleged dishonesty among their students and, correspondingly, assign penalties they deem appropriate, up to and including assigning to the student a failing grade for the course. Second, students have the right to challenge their professors’ allegations of dishonesty, in the same way they have the right, through the grade appeal system, to appeal a grade received in a course.
Each party should take steps to minimize misunderstandings. Instructors should be very clear, on their syllabi and in their course materials, about what is (and is not) permissible practice for the coursework they assign. This is especially helpful to students, who encounter among their instructors a wide range of acceptable limitations in their various courses. Students, meanwhile, should understand clearly that plagiarism and other forms of dishonesty need not be intentional. Students are therefore advised to consult with their instructors whenever there are questions about appropriate guidelines for their coursework.
As Chair of the Honor Council, my responsibilities include facilitating student appeals, ensuring that the rights of all parties are respected and recognized, and acting as a resource for students, faculty and all members of the university who have questions about the process.
