Honor System & Standards of Academic Conduct
Virginia Commonwealth University is committed to the intellectual and academic success of a diverse student body; research and discovery that advances knowledge, inspires creativity, and improves human health; and the global engagement of students, faculty, and staff that transforms lives and communities. In pursuit of these goals, the university’s core values are accountability, achievement, collaboration, freedom, innovation, service, diversity, and integrity.
Academic honesty, truth and integrity are vitally important to advancing knowledge and promoting student success. All students and employees (including faculty) of the university must conduct themselves according to the highest standards of academic integrity. This is first achieved through education and awareness. Faculty, university and academic professionals, classified staff and students are expected to learn and understand the Honor System and Standards of Academic Conduct, promote awareness of its provisions, and proactively explain how the policy applies to their courses and activities. Students are expected to inquire about how to complete their work in order to conform with this policy.
All students and employees (including faculty) of the university are required to:
a. Adhere to the Honor System and Standards of Academic Conduct and its procedures.
b. Report any suspicion or knowledge of possible violations of the Honor System and Standards of Academic Conduct.
c. Answer truthfully during any part of the adjudication under the Honor System and Standards of Academic Conduct.
d. Maintain appropriate confidentiality related to matters involving the Honor System and Standards of Academic Conduct.
e. Refrain from harassing, pressuring, or intimidating any reporting party, respondent, or other party involved in a pending matter.
The Honor System and Standards of Academic Conduct aims to ensure the fair resolution of allegations and the appropriate sanction of violations so as to hold students justly accountable, remedy the effects of misconduct, and encourage future behavior that meets the university’s standards of academic honesty, ethics and integrity.
Students charged with academic misconduct under this policy are responsible for seeking guidance from their academic program about the potential application of any program standards to a particular violation in the event they are found responsible through this process.