Typically for most coding classes (like EECS 280 and ENGR 101) these reports are automatically generated by a code comparison software called MOSS (Measure of Software Similarity).

Due to the time involved in manually making submissions and gathering evidence, most Honor Code cases come from the EECS department due to their automated MOSS process.

Instructors have 2 months from the last day of classes each semester to submit reports. Websites such as Chegg and Coursehero often take over 2 months to send information to the Honor Council so as long as instructors submit accusation letter, evidence can be submitted after this deadline.

Typically an investigator will contact you via email within 1-2 semesters of your violation. If you do not respond within 48 hours to the initial email from your investigator you are assumed to be non-responsive and the case will proceed without you. Additional penalites may be imposed if you are found responsible and are not-responsive.

Your investigator will be randomly assigned and aid you throughout the whole case. They cannot vote in your case, and take notes during the initial meeting for the Honor Council. They also answer any questions you may have and schedule your subsequent meetings. All meetings are 100% confidential between you and the Honor Council so you do not need to worry about future graduate schools or employers finding out about a potential violation.

If this is a first-time violation and you admit to breaking the Honor Code you can fill out an Admission of Responsibility (AOR) form. An AOR allows you to lock in the lowest possible punishment for your case and skip the rest of the Honor Council process. Most students choose this option, and it is only available after an investigator meets with you. If you have an “I” on your transcript for the course, the typical first-time punishment is a 0 on the assignment and a 1/3rd letter grade decrement in the class. If you do not have an “I” then the punishment is most likely 10 hours of community service.

The investigator can also choose at this step to dismiss you from the case if they find there to be inadequate evidence or if other students involved testify that you were unaware of any wrongdoing. This is often reserved for cases where 2 students share code but their coding partners were unaware of the unpermitted collaboration.

After the initial meetings your investigator will send you some bullet points of the notes they took during the initial interview. If you would like modifications or additions you can let your investigator know and they will make those changes before sending the notes to the Honor Council.

After notes have been agreed upon, you will have a meeting with the full Honor Council. In this meeting, you will explain what happened just like in your first meeting, and you will be questioned further based on your initial interview testimony and any new evidence presented during the interviews of other students involved.

Lying during this meeting will result in additional punishments such as a mark on your transcript, so please be open and honest with us.

After questioning you will be asked to leave the meeting and the Honor Council will vote on whether they think you are responsible or not responsible of an Honor Code violation. If found Not Responsible you are dismissed from the case. If found Responsible the Honor Council votes on possible punishment (often following historical precedent from similar cases) and then your investigator will sign you up for a final meeting with the Faculty Committee on Discipline (FCD).

The final meeting is the Faculty Committee on Discipline meeting (FCD). This meeting will operate the same as the Honor Council meeting in step 3, but instead of students, it is comprised of 3 faculty members from different engineering majors. The FCD will look at the Honor Council’s decision and recommended punishment, and decide whether or not to uphold it or modify it. Just like the Honor Council meeting you will share your side of what happened and then answer questions from FCD. After this you will leave the meeting and the FCD will vote on their final recommendation. It is not uncommon that FCD changes the decision of the Honor Council.

FCD members voluntarily choose to serve and come from almost every department within the College of Engineering.

Students can appeal the decision of an Honor Council case within 2 weeks of the decision if one of the following criteria is met:

1. There is new evidence not presented during the initial investigation that exonerates you

2. The case was handled improperly by an investigator

3. You were initially unresponsive and can prove you’re not responsible and were unable to respond initially

After the case is closed your instructor is notified of the outcome and asked to change your grade. If you are found Not Responsible your grade should revert to whatever it should have been. If found Responsible and given community service, a follow-up email will be sent with specifics as to how you can complete the community service hours and how long you have to complete them.

When the case is closed the Honor Council no longer is involved, so if your grade has not changed that is between you and the instructor.

Sometimes professors will impose their own grade penalty regardless of the Honor Council decision, or without going through the Honor Council process. This is not allowed and if this occurs please contact the Honor Council.

If you are an LSA student then we have to inform LSA of the case outcome. In the case of 2nd time violations, they automatically suspend students for a semester. This is not an engineering policy or precedent, and we cannot do anything.