Cocky Never Cheats: Academic Integrity & the Honor Code at USC

This presentation discusses the importance of academic integrity at USC. "Cocky Never Cheats" (CNC) specifically addresses the individual policies of the Honor Code, ways to avoid academic dishonesty (i.e. use of campus resources, building relationships with faculty members, etc), and how cheating impacts the USC community, as well as an individual student's reputation and value of degree. "Cocky Never Cheats" is an interactive educational presentation that uses iClicker technology to provide instantaneous, yet anonymous, feedback to the Academic Integrity (AI) quiz that is presented to the students. The AI quiz constitutes the bulk of CNC, both time wise and in content material.

Learning Outcomes

The Cocky Never Cheats: Academic Integrity & the Honor Code at USC presentation supports University 101 learning outcomes:

I. Foster Academic Success

• Recognize the purpose and value of academic integrity and describe the key themes related to the Honor Code at the University of South Carolina.
  Participants will be able to describe the University’s Honor Code and recognize the value and purpose of the policies.

II. Help Students Discover and Connect with the University of South Carolina
a. Identify appropriate campus resources and opportunities that contribute to their educational experience, goals, and campus engagement.
This presentation will explore multiple campus resources that can help students avoid academic dishonesty

• Develop and apply skills that contribute to building positive relationships with peers, staff and faculty.
  The presentation will discuss how developing relationships with faculty members can help a student avoid academic dishonesty and discuss how those relationships can help students in the future, like applying to graduate school/letters of recommendation

As a result of this presentation, students will:

• Be able to describe the University’s Honor Code.
• Be able to identify and locate resources related to academic integrity.
• Be able to evaluate the importance of academic integrity on the value of their USC degree.

Program Description

Presented by a professional staff member or a graduate student from the Office of Academic Integrity and a student member of the Carolina Judicial Council, presenters will have a power-point presentation that includes active dialogue between the presenters and the participants along with a case study for review.

Topics covered include:

• Introduction of the Honor Code and its rules
• Differences between the Carolinian Creed and the Honor Code
• Ways students can prevent cheating, including available resources on campus
• Discussion and clarification of typical "gray areas" of potential cheating
• Case study review - go over facts of case, get student input on what they think happened
• Review of the process of referral to the Office of Academic Integrity and the possible sanctions a student may receive for an Honor Code violation
• Discussion on how academic integrity (or dishonesty) impacts your education and the value of your USC degree

Program Description

"Cocky Never Cheats" is presented by a professional staff member, or graduate student, from the Office of Academic Integrity. Presenters will have a power-point presentation that includes active dialogue between the presenters and participants. CNC also uses iClicker technology for its "quiz" to provide instantaneous, yet anonymous, feedback to the quiz portion of the presentation. Student participants are encouraged to talk openly about academic integrity during this presentation and ask questions related to what can be considered cheating, and what is permissible academic behavior at USC.

Topics covered include:

• Introduction of the University of South Carolina’s Honor Code and its policies
• Differences between the Carolinian Creed and the Honor Code
• Ways students can prevent cheating, including use of available resources on campus
• Discussion and clarification of typical "gray areas" of potential cheating, like the use of old tests, previous original work, or collaboration among students
• Honor Code Quiz: hypothetical situations are presented to students and they are asked if the particular behavior(s) violate the USC Honor Code or not. If the behaviors are violations, students are further asked for rationale behind their decision.
• Review of the process of referral to the Office of Academic Integrity and the possible sanctions a student may receive for an Honor Code violation. Special care is taken to explain that the academic penalty (like failing the class or the assignment) is completely up to the professor, but that the Office of Academic Integrity can assign sanctions as well
• Discussion on how the lack of academic honesty in college impacts a student’s education, the value of their USC degree, and how those cheating behaviors can follow them throughout their professional careers after their time at Carolina.

Presentation Length
50 minutes or 75 minutes