HONESTY:
Begins with oneself and extends to others. In the quest for knowledge, students and faculty are honest with themselves and with each other whether in the classroom, laboratory or library or on the playing field. Cultivating honesty in the institute has laid the foundation for lifelong integrity, developing in each of member the courage and insight to make difficult choices and accept responsibility for actions and their consequences, even at personal cost.

TRUST:
People respond to consistent honesty with trust. Trust is also promoted by faculty who set clear guidelines for assignments and for evaluating student work; by students who prepare work that is honest and thoughtful; and by the institute that set clear and consistent academic standards and that support honest and impartial research. Only with trust we believe in the research of others and move forward with new work. Only with trust we collaborate with individuals, sharing information and ideas without fear that our work will be stolen, our careers stunted, or our reputations diminished. Only with trust our communities believe in the social value and meaning of an institution’s scholarship and degrees.

FAIRNESS:
Fair and accurate evaluation is essential in the educational process. For students, important components of fairness are predictability, clear expectations, and a consistent and just response to dishonesty. Faculty members also have a right to expect fair treatment, not only from students but also from colleagues and their administration. All campus constituencies have a role in ensuring fairness, and a lapse by one member of the community does not excuse misconduct by another. Rationalizations such as “everyone does it” or “the curve was too high” do not justify or excuse dishonesty.

RESPECT:
To be most rewarding, teaching and learning demand active engagement and mutual respect. Students and faculty have a respect for themselves and each other as individuals, not just as a means to an end. They also respect themselves and each other for extending their boundaries of knowledge, testing new skills, building upon success, and learning from failure. Students show respect by attending class, being on time, paying attention, listening to other points of view, being prepared and contributing to discussions, meeting academic deadlines, and performing to the best of their ability. Being rude, demeaning, or disruptive is the antithesis of respectful conduct. Members of the faculty show respect by taking students’ ideas seriously, providing full and honest feedback on their work, valuing their aspirations and goals, and recognizing them as individuals. All show respect for the work of others by acknowledging their intellectual debts through proper identification of sources. Once again, the interdependence of the values that constitute academic integrity becomes apparent. Part of respecting people involves fair and honest treatment, and all of this supports an environment of trust.

RESPONSIBILITY:
Every member of an academic community of the institute — each student, faculty member and administrator — is responsible for upholding the integrity of scholarship and research. Shared responsibility is distributed the power to effect change, helps overcome apathy and stimulates personal investment in upholding academic integrity standards. Being responsible the institute’s member is taking action against wrongdoing, despite peer pressure, fear, loyalty, or compassion. At a minimum, individuals are taking responsibility for their own honesty and are discouraging and seeking to prevent misconduct by others. This may be as simple as covering one’s own answers during a test or as difficult as reporting a friend for cheating, as required by some honor codes. Whatever the circumstances, members of institute do not tolerate or ignore dishonesty on the part of others.