The handbook of University of Tennessee includes different categories, such as general information, academics, student development and university services, campus life and student rights and responsibilities. The academics section includes the information regarding academic dishonesty in the institution. The Honor System includes the following sections that are called information about the purpose, jurisdiction, right to a hearing, duties and powers of the honor court, procedures of the honor court, failure to appear, honor court penalties, appeals that includes appendix and statement from faculty book.
In general, the handbook does not talk and provide a lot of information about the instances of academic dishonesty. Therefore, it is hard to identify what behaviors will be considered as inappropriate by the Honor Court. There is a little explanation about what is specifically intended as a misconduct. Appendix mentions plagiarism as one of the main reasons why students can get in trouble. However, at the same time the consequences and the processes that such behavior may cause are described in a lot detail. I think that the punishment for academic dishonesty fits the crime. If a student is not capable of producing unique content for his or her class, it is very likely that this student does not deserve a degree from the university. It is important for a student to give credit to a true author while using someone else’s ideas. I think it is a very positive aspect that students are allowed to explain themselves in front of the faculty before being expelled for their misdemeanor. Plagiarism was mentioned as an example of academic dishonesty. But I think some changes or explanations should be added. For instance, if the plagiarism was higher than 20%, there will be no appropriate way to defend and justify this action. I think the handbook should provide more details and examples of what they consider as instances of academic dishonesty. It provides a lot of details about the procedures, but at the same time a student may have questions what academic dishonesty is.
References
UTC Student Handbook. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2017, from
http://www.utc.edu/dean-students/student-handbook.php
