Examining the Role of the Honor Code Three Years after the Onset of the Pandemic
By Katie Oglesby, Editor-in-Chief
Honor Code sign in a classroom (Photo Eric Lippe/The Gettysburgian)
Gettysburg College has had an Honor Code since 1957, though it has undergone revision since then. The version that students see in their classrooms, and are expected to adhere by, says: “I affirm that I have upheld the highest principles of honesty and integrity in my academic work and have not witnessed a violation of the Honor Code.”
According to Sam Arkin ’23, a member of the Honor Commission and a student worker with the Office of Student Success, “The honor commission in the year of 2021-22 has experienced the lowest amount of reported violations since 2012-13.”
This follows what he called an “extremely stressful time for students and faculty” in the academic years of 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 when the pandemic was in full swing. Multiple members of the Honor Commission told The Gettysburgian that reported violations increased during the beginning of the pandemic while classes were held online.
Arkin explained this recent drop in Honor Code violations, saying, “As a student I find that post covid I have more take home exams than I had pre covid. I think this is indicative of the faculty perspective that students may still be able to learn if not do a better job with more resources and more time. I concede that this may open the possibilities for cheating, but I…theorize that students feel less of a need to cheat with take home resources.”
He also noted that the Honor Commission is still working on collecting data for the current academic year.
While Arkin spoke with optimism about the current state of academic integrity on campus, going so far as to say, “I truly believe that the position students and faculty are in reflect a greater care for the academic integrity of the college,” some faculty members thought differently.
Assistant Professor of Sociology Alecea Standlee said, “As a sociologist, I wonder if there is what’s known as an ‘intervening variable’ here. Rather than the decline in reports being an indicator of only what students are doing, I think it›s the result of what faculty are doing too. The pandemic made us think creatively about how we assess our students, and I suspect some faculty may be using new assignments that they developed during the pandemic, like my open note tests, that make cheating less rewarding. I do think students are thinking more deeply about what they want out of life, in the wake of the pandemic, and maybe this too has influenced what’s going on.”
Assistant Professor of Political Science Lindsay Reid noted, “ I do worry…that it’s increasingly tempting to cheat with access to the internet and AI, and I think the Honor Commission and faculty need to work on a plan to address the changing nature of resources available to students (AI specifically).”
Co-Chair of the Honor Commission Spencer Ashnault ’26 noted that the Honor Commission is concerned about new technology, saying, “In my role, I am aware of accessibility to resources like Open AI, phones, smartwatches, and others that are available to students. The Honor Commission is currently in the process of updating our Honor Code to reflect current times.”
Reid said that she has kept her exams open-note despite classes being back in person.
“As we transitioned back to a more “normal” learning environment,” Reid said. “I realized I tended to like a couple aspects of take-home exams. Specifically, I like that they move away from the memorization model (memorize for exams and immediately forget information post-exam) and they give space for more critical thinking and deeper responses (because students have access to the readings).”
Reid also said that she made the exams open-book and open-note with the understanding that students would probably use those resources anyway, even if it were a violation of the Honor Code.
However, Reid said, “In the real world, people generally have access to resources (books, notes, etc.), so I’m increasingly comfortable with students having some access to them for exams.”
Standlee similarly has chosen to have open-note and take-home essay exams.
Standlee said, “ My motivations for designing the assignments like that are rooted first in the idea that an essay is the best way for students to show they understand the complexity of sociology. I acknowledge that different subjects might require different kinds of evaluation, but for me, that is the best. I do think the Honor Code policy influenced my decision to some degree. I worried that the students who choose to disregard the Honor Code would learn less than students who didn’t but might still get high grades. This seemed like a source of inequity.”
Bella Hoffman ’23, who has taken two classes with Standlee, spoke on the benefits of open-note exams when it comes to the Honor Code.
“I think open note exams are a great way to test students,” Hoffman said. “Not only does it help prevent honor code violations as students know they can access their notes, I think it has countless other benefits. For me, when I know professors are giving open note exams I take more detailed notes and have less testing anxiety. I think for many students, they prefer open note testing, partly because we don’t have to worry about there being an honor code violation.”
Member of the Honor Commission Drew Lemon ’24 attributed increases of Honor Code violations during the pandemic to “COVID-19 related academic learning styles.”
He continued, “As students were taking exams outside of the classroom, they would utilize open book resources and other online platforms to answer questions. However, as we have returned to campus and have begun to take tests back into a traditional format, these honor code violations have decreased. I attribute these decreases in the traditional forms of test taking as students are required to memorize a test, sit in person and take an exam in the pre-covid format.”
Ashnault said he believes students respect the Honor Code.
“It seems that most cases presented to the Honor Commission are first year students who are not as well versed in the Honor Code and its principles,” he said. “Also, we understand as a commission that resources are becoming widely available for students. I feel as [if] it is the job of the commission to help promote a culture of honesty and integrity.”
Despite this, Will Oehler ’26 questioned the value of the Honor Code now.
“The Honor Code is out of date because no matter the rules, people are going to cheat,” he said. “It’s not this omnipresent person that is looking over everyone. An organization functions best when the rules work not for the one percent that act out but for the respect and betterment of the whole.”
This article originally appeared on pages 16 to 17 of the March 2023 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
