Importance of Honor Code in Academics

The term ‘Honor’ is often used to refer to allude to people with high moral worth or a great accomplishment. An ‘Honor code’ is a set of ethical rules that promotes an academic community based on moral standards to develop a blind trust among people to ensure their respectable behavior within that community. I hereby take this opportunity to explain the different ways in which we illustrate honor in my home (Indian) culture and how I will reflect the same standards for as long as I stay and study in Valparaiso as it helps to live with integrity, trust and transparency and to stay confident without any fear.

The Indian culture is unique in its own way and has its own values and hence it is safe to say that the standards of honor in the Indian culture is very distinct compared to any other culture. It has become a regular practice in the Indian culture since long, to demonstrate honor in the aspects of Social hierarchy(evident in caste groups according to their wealth and power), interdependence(on families, clans, religious sentiments) to name a few. However, an academic honor code in India is something that most are unaware of , which is the reason why there are several cases nation-wide relating to cheating in exams and even to the extent of releasing the question paper beforehand in exchange for money. It is every individual’s responsibility to maintain academic integrity but then the education system in India is mainly at fault for this as it focusses more on the grades rather than the skills to be learned by a student which has been the case since my childhood. Hence, I strongly believe that it is extremely important to live with honor to develop characteristics like integrity, confidence, honesty, transparency, loyalty and to make a difference especially in students’ lives that encourages them towards becoming a responsible member of the community to safeguard their own academic integrity.

My first exposure to a clearly characterized honor code framework is in my first semester at Valparaiso University which made me realize that academic integrity is to be given utmost value. I understood pretty soon and changed my attitude towards understanding a new education system in the US and made sure to follow the honor code or else I risk debasing my Master’s degree that I am currently pursuing which also brings disgrace to my University. I will ensure to take the assignments and exams honestly and not be part of any plagiarism practice throughout the course of my degree which is morally and ethically wrong. Also, I will develop myself to be self-dependent, self-reliant, individual oriented, goal oriented and have a great regard to time and its value which I am sure I can achieve by demonstrating honor in my studies and stay at Valparaiso University, something that we were not really exposed to back in my home culture.

To conclude, I believe that it is extremely important to implement honor code in academics which will act as a stepping stone to nurture one’s personal life. To encourage honor code into a campus culture it is essential to foster an environment of trust in classroom, to help focus more on learning than on grades alone, ensure students abide by the honor code policies and by encouraging the development of good character. And finally, to emphasis on personal responsibility for demonstrating honor, in the words of Leonardo da Vinci: “He who sows virtue reaps honor”