As part of the Tulane University community, all undergraduate students and faculty within Newcomb-Tulane College are expected to support by the basic principles of academic integrity. Academic integrity is a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to five fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. From these values flow principles of behavior that enable our community to translate ideals into action (McCabe, 2001).
All students and faculty should be familiar with and should abide by the Code of Academic Conduct.
This office was established within Newcomb-Tulane College to support the mission of developing ethically minded students, who are prepared to impact the world beyond Tulane. We oversee the Code of Academic Conduct, the Honor Board processes, provide education for students and faculty to eliminate cheating behaviors, and support a culture of integrity in all academic pursuits. Source: McCabe (2001) Cheating in Academic Institutions: A Decade of Research
Contact Rachel Champagne
Reports of alleged violations of the Code of Academic Conduct are reviewed by the Newcomb-Tulane College Honor Board. The board is composed of a select group of students and faculty who consider evidence, determine responsibility and recommend sanctions for violations as appropriate. The Dean of Newcomb-Tulane College is the authority of the Code and has designated the Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs with general oversight of the Honor Board process. Hearings are chaired by trained student leaders and panels also include faculty members who receive annual training to evaluate academic misconduct. The faculty chair of the Honor Board serves as the chair of the Committee on Academic Integrity within NTC in addition to selection and training of Honor Board members.
Contact the NTC Honor Board
Anyone can report academic misconduct or alleged violations of the Code of Academic Conduct. We prefer that the faculty member of record (issuing the grade) for the course in question submit the report whenever possible, however, if this step is skipped we will communicate with the professor once the report is received. The online reporting form does ask for all available evidence of the misconduct and the course syllabus to the uploaded. This is necessary for the Office of Academic Integrity to move forward with the case. If you would like a consultation, please contact the office. *Reports may be submitted anonymously, however, there is no investigation of an anonymous report without evidence. Named reporters may ask for confidentiality, but are needed for initial follow-up.
Attention Faculty: You will receive an initial confirmation email when submitting a new report. Please review the next steps in the message and await a letter from our office within a few days. If you need to send a video or document separately, please send to NTCHonorBoard@tulane.edu in a DOCX, PDF, JPG or MP4 format only.
Students who are reported for allegedly violating the Code of Academic Conduct will be contacted once all of the information is received regarding evidence and course documents. Sometimes a professor notifies the student prior to submitting a report. Please be patient and check your Tulane email address for communication from our office. Once a report is ready to move forward, students are contacted with a letter identifying what happened, the evidence available and options for resolution. The letter is sent via the Maxient system and requires authentication to retrieve it - this is not spam. All students will have a process or pre-hearing meeting scheduled to discuss questions they have at the beginning of a case. Students who have no prior violations may be offered the opportunity to accept responsibility and waive a hearing. Please review the NTC Code of Academic Conduct above for greater details.
In this section, you can review the reports of case types, frequency and sanctioning strategies of the Honor Board as reported by the NTC Committee of Academic Integrity.
Honor Board Report (Fall 2020)
If you are applying to graduate school or a study abroad program, you may be informed that you need to have a Dean's Certification form completed. The Office of Student Conduct works in conjunction with the Academic Deans' Offices to complete all certification forms. Many students inquire as to what information will be released as a part of this process. As outlined in the NTC Code of Academic Conduct on page 12, records of a responsible finding in academic misconduct cases are maintained internally for seven years from the incident date (suspension and expulsion files are maintained indefinitely). Other than a potential grade impact or WF grade, internally maintained records do not include a transcript notation. Suspension, expulsion and degree revocation are noted on the transcript indefinitely.
Students are encouraged to visit the NTC Student Success writing resources for citation and avoiding plagiarism, as well as the Academic Writing Center for all writing needs. Additionally, students should:
For specific guidance on research skills and citation assistance, view the Tulane University Libraries' online guides.
Faculty are provided support on engaged teaching through CELT, where there are also invaluable resources to create a culture of academic integrity in your courses. Some specific resources include:
****Faculty Tool-kit available here. This document includes: overview of the Honor Board process, reporting, cheating prevention, syllabus statements, paper writing resources you can give to students, etc.
