I. INTRODUCTION

The Mendoza College of Business provides an environment of teaching and learning that fosters the development of its students with those disciplined habits of mind, body, and spirit, which characterize and educate skilled and free human beings. Part of the mission of the College is also to nurture in each student a sense of moral responsibility. In turn, the Mendoza College of Business Graduate Academic Code of Honor represents a valuable educational tool for guiding both faculty and students in their efforts to create a sense of community and for expressing the values that are at the core of a Catholic university. As members of an academic and spiritual community, we work together to answer difficult questions, often collaborating to answer these questions, to solve problems, and to communicate effectively the knowledge we acquire through inquiry. This document calls attention to the responsibilities we have to one another in being faithful in our attempts to represent others= views, and it helps us to understand the responsibilities we have toward one another, students and faculty alike, as we try to uphold the moral standards of our community.   

II. PLEDGE TO ABIDE BY THE HONOR CODE

The graduate business students of the Mendoza College of Business, united in a spirit of mutual trust and fellowship, mindful of the values of a true education and the challenge posed by the world, agree to accept the responsibilities for honorable conduct in all academic activities, to assist one another in maintaining and promoting personal integrity, and to abide by the principles and procedures in this Graduate Academic Code of Honor.

A. Membership

The membership of the Mendoza College of Business Graduate Committee on the Academic Code of Honor (hereinafter "The Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee") consists of two student members from each of the four graduate programs within the College (MBA, EMBA, MSA, and MSACCT), who are appointed by the director of the respective programs, a faculty representative appointed by the Graduate Associate Dean and the current Graduate Associate Dean of the Mendoza College of Business (hereinafter "The Associate Dean"), who serves as Chair of the Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee.

B. Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee are the following.

1. Periodically the committee will review and as appropriate revise the Graduate Academic Code of Honor. 
2. Each member of the committee may be approached for consultation or advice about the Graduate Academic Code of Honor by any graduate student, staff or faculty member in the Mendoza College of Business.
3. Elect, by majority vote, a Graduate Student Honor Code Officer who will assist in orienting new graduate business students to the honor code, and promoting knowledge of and adherence to the honor code among all graduate business students. The Graduate Student Officer may be a member of the Committee or any member of the Mendoza graduate student body.
4. The Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee may undertake any other initiatives it deems useful to promote knowledge of and adherence to the Graduate Academic Code of Honor within the Mendoza College of Business.

The Office of the Dean of the Mendoza College of Business maintains the current membership roster of the Mendoza Honor Graduate Committee.

IV.  STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THE GRADUATE ACADEMIC CODE OF HONOR

It is the responsibility of the community of students and faculty to strive to assure honorable behavior in academic work.

8. If an instructor explicitly permits or forbids certain sorts of work with other students, such work is permissible or forbidden as the instructor indicates. An instructor = s explicit guidelines take precedence in determining whether certain actions are permissible.
9. It is a presupposition that ideas and expressions in a submitted paper or report originate from the writer unless otherwise indicated. Consequently, if ideas or expressions in written work originate from another, whether the person is an author or fellow student, that source should be cited in an endnote or footnote. If an idea or form of words arises from the common effort of two or more students in conversation, this fact should be cited.
10. If a student is unclear about whether certain forms of consultation or common work are acceptable or what the standards for citation are, the student is responsible for consulting his or her instructor.

Each student, as an integral member of the academic community, must make the ethical and moral commitment not to act dishonestly and not to tolerate academic dishonesty on the part of other students or faculty. If aware of a likely Graduate Academic Code of Honor violation, a student must take responsible action.

If the conduct involves a personal violation of the Graduate Academic Code of Honor, the student shall report him or herself to the instructor of the course or to a member of the appropriate Honesty Committee within the Mendoza College of Business.

If a student witnesses a violation of the honor code or otherwise has reason to believe that a violation has occurred, the student may use discretion to choose among several possible courses of action. These possible actions include:

11. Talking with anyone suspected of violating the Graduate Academic Code of Honor and urging the person to report himself or herself to the instructor of the course or to submit a written report to a member of the appropriate Honesty Committee of the Mendoza College of Business. If an observed act merits action under the Graduate Academic Code of Honor and the suspected student does not take what is believed to be the appropriate steps, then, as a further obligation, the student suspecting a violation must initiate formal procedures by speaking to the instructor of the course or by submitting a written report of the allegation to a member of the Honesty Committee.
12. Discussing the observed action(s) with the instructor of the course, not naming those involved, to obtain guidance and determine if, in fact, an observed act merits action under the Graduate Academic Code of Honor.
13. Reporting detection of possible dishonesty directly to the instructor of the course.
14. Submitting a written report regarding possible dishonesty to a member of the appropriate Honesty Committee of the department Mendoza College of Business. If the student reporting a suspected violation of another wishes to remain anonymous to the student under suspicion, the Honesty Committee will honor that request, if at all feasible, during the initial inquiry prior to a hearing. The extent of the inquiry into a completely anonymous report will be at the discretion of the Honesty Committee. If these procedures result in a hearing, the student reporting the suspected violation necessarily becomes known to the student under suspicion.

15. All members of the University faculty who teach in the Mendoza College of Business Graduate Programs are required to become aware of the policies and procedures as outlined under the Academic Code of Honor and contained in the Academic Code of Honor Handbook.
16. The faculty representative to the Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee, working with the Associate Dean, is responsible for developing a procedure to introduce new faculty to the Graduate Academic Code of Honor. The orientation procedures should, when possible, be done prior to faculty activities in the classroom. The faculty member in charge of a particular course is responsible for educating and establishing guidelines for the teaching assistants in the course.

17. Faculty are expected to explain the conditions under which students are to share their work, for example, outlines that can form the basis of an exam or paper, take-home exams, lab reports, and in-class examinations. Faculty should also offer guidelines when asking students to work in teams or groups, for example when inviting students to collaborate on problem sets, develop simulations, and the like—either inside or outside of class.
18. Faculty are encouraged to distribute a handout with information about what constitutes plagiarism when assigning writing in their courses, keeping in mind that our goal is to teach students how to use and document sources appropriately. Learning to do so is part of a lifelong on-going process.
19. In the event that students have not learned the conventions of documentation in early drafts of their work, faculty are encouraged to give students the opportunity to revise their work until any plagiarized material is eliminated.
20. Faculty are encouraged to take note of the principles articulated in section IV.B above, to re-enforce these principles in their discussions of the honor code with students, and to explain how these principles apply to the work in their class.

1. Each faculty member will strive to establish an environment in order to evaluate students in a fair and reasonable manner. The purpose of the Graduate Academic Code of Honor is not to test the students' ability to perform in a highly competitive and stressful environment, but to help them develop habits of moral character.
2. Both students and faculty share in responsibility for maintaining the above "fair and reasonable" learning environment. Faculty members may be present in classrooms during examinations, fostering an environment which does not create opportunities for dishonest action.  

21.  Anyone with the responsibility to teach or assist in a course will not tolerate dishonesty.
22. Faculty are expected to follow standard procedures in cases where they believe a violation of the Graduate Academic Code of Honor has occurred. Students have the right to a fair and complete inquiry into any such alleged violation.
23. If aware of a situation in which dishonest behavior may have occurred, faculty must take one of the following actions:  

1. Discuss the situation with the student(s) suspected of violating the Graduate Academic Code of Honor if the faculty member or teaching assistant feels that such a discussion might aid in evaluating the situation. If this discussion results in the decision that the initial suspicion was unjustified, no additional action need be taken. If there is still a reason to suspect dishonesty, regardless of the intent or severity, either the student(s) involved or the faculty member or teaching assistant must report the situation in writing to a member of the appropriate Honesty Committee of the Mendoza College of Business. The faculty member or teaching assistant may not penalize a student for suspected dishonest behavior independent of an Honesty
2. Committee hearing.
3. Submit, in writing, a formal report describing the suspected offense directly to the appropriate Honesty Committee of the Mendoza College of Business.

1. The number of allegations of honor code violations brought to the chairs' of Honesty Committees;
2. The number of cases in which an Honesty Committee hearing was required;
3. The number of cases in which a penalty was assigned.

1. The first stage in the preliminary inquiry might include, for example, an interview of the person submitting the report and any other identified witnesses and/or a review of any documents submitted in support of the allegation.
2. Before a hearing can be held, the member of the committee assigned to conduct the preliminary inquiry must inform the student that a report of a suspected violation of the Graduate Academic Code of Honor has been filed. At this point, the student should be provided with sufficient information to understand the nature of the report. (This information generally will not include the name of the reporting party if that party is a student.) The student will also be asked if he or she has any information that might help the committee in determining whether or not a hearing is warranted.

2. The chair of the Honesty Committee, in consultation with the faculty member assigned to investigate the report (if this person is different than the chair), has the authority to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant an Honesty Committee hearing. After review the case the chair of the Honesty Committee has two options:

1. He or she may decide that there is not sufficient evidence to warrant a hearing. If the chair reaches this decision, he or she shall so notify the student suspected of a violation, the instructor and the reporting student(s) (if any), and shall destroy all records related to the case.
2. The chair may decide that a hearing is warranted. He or she will then write a letter to the student(s) suspected of the violation. The letter shall describe the possible violation, state the known evidence (including witnesses and documents involved, if any), and state the time and place of the hearing. The letter shall also inform the student(s) under suspicion that he or she can bring to the hearing members of the College community for support and/or to serve as witnesses.

3. Honesty Committees ordinarily do not meet during the final examination period. However, if the student suspected of a violation is a graduating student during his or her final semester, the Honesty Committee must make every reasonable effort to meet prior to graduation.

1. If a suspected honor code violation is brought before an Honesty Committee, and a member of the committee is involved as one bringing the suspicion forward, or as one suspected of a violation, or as a witness, that person must recuse him or herself from the committee for that case. If any member of the Honesty Committee has a relationship with someone involved in the case which may compromise his or her objectivity, he or she shall recuse him or herself.
2. In the event of a recusal, it is the responsibility of the chair to ensure that the committee is appropriately constituted to give a fair hearing, and that it meets the conditions that the committee is chaired by a faculty member and the majority of its members are students. (See VI.A.1&2 above.) The chair may appoint new members to the committee to consider the case in question.
3. If it is the chair who recuses him or herself, the second faculty member on the committee has the responsibility of ensuring that the committee is appropriately constituted and, if necessary, appointing new members. That faculty member will then chair the Honesty Committee proceedings.

1. A minor offense is a less serious violation which normally carries the penalty of zero credit for the work with respect to which the violation occurred. Such an offense has some of the following characteristics: the dishonesty involved a more limited portion of the work submitted; it would not have considerably increased the student's grade in the course; and the student did not engage in extensive premeditation and planning prior to the act.
2. A major offense is a more serious violation which normally carries the penalty of an "F" in the course. Such an offense is one which has some of the following characteristics: the dishonesty involved a substantial portion of the work submitted; it would have considerably increased the student's grade in the course; and there is evidence of fairly extensive premeditation and planning prior to the act.
3. The committee may decide the offense was flagrant, which is a violation of an unusually grave nature, and in this case it may recommend suspension or dismissal of the student. A flagrant offense would be one which has all the characteristics of a major violation listed above (VII.D.2), plus further features which makes the offense more grave. For example, the student may have convinced a substantial number of classmates to participate in serious acts of dishonesty and led them in this endeavor; or the Committee may discover that the student engaged in several serious acts of dishonesty in the course in question, or serious acts of dishonesty in a number of courses.

4. The Honesty Committee, when it assigns a penalty, may also consider as a mitigating factor the degree to which the student was honest and forthcoming regarding the violation, or any other evidence of sincere contrition. The Honesty Committee should take into account penalties invoked in previous cases of a similar nature, and may find it helpful to consult the Faculty Representative on the Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee for this information.

1. If the Honesty Committee decides a student is guilty of a major or minor offense and assigns a penalty, the chair of the Honesty Committee notifies the student in writing of the committee's decision and of the penalty. The letter will explain the appeal process and make clear that a second violation of the Academic Code of Honor will normally result in suspension or dismissal from the University.
2. The student has the right to appeal the decision and/or the penalty to the Dean of the Mendoza College of Business . Grounds for appeal are limited to: evidence discovered after the Honesty Committee hearing which is relevant to the judgment that a violation has occurred or to the evaluation of its gravity; the presence of a procedural defect in the preliminary investigation or Honesty Committee hearing; or evidence of personal bias on the part of members of the Honesty Committee that likely influenced the committee = s decision that a violation has occurred or its assignment of a penalty.
3.  A student wishing to appeal must do so no later than seven days from the date notification of the decision and penalty was sent by the Committee. This deadline may be extended only by the Dean at his or her sole discretion.
4.  If the student does not appeal within the time specified herein, and has not been granted an extension by the Dean, the committee = s chair then notifies the instructor of the course of the decision and the penalty. The instructor of the course will execute the penalty that the Honesty Committee has determined to be appropriate. The chair then sends to the Faculty Representative on the Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee all documents relevant to the case.
5.  To initiate an appeal, the student must provide a detailed written statement of the reasons for the appeal to the Dean and to the chair of the Honesty Committee. Upon receipt of such notice, the chair sends all documents concerning the case to the Dean or chair.
6.  The student has the right to appear before the Dean to discuss his or her appeal.
7.   It is up to the Dean's discretion alone whether to allow witnesses or other parties to attend this appeal meeting, and whether to undertake any further inquiries to decide the appeal. The Dean should not conduct a new hearing on the original allegation, but should undertake only those inquiries he or she deems necessary to decide among the options below. However, before taking any of the first four options below, the Dean is required to speak with the chair of the Honesty Committee to understand fully the Committee's reasons for its original decision and to discuss the Dean's reasons for considering a change in that decision.
8. The Dean deciding the appeal has five options:

1. The Dean may overrule the finding of the Honesty Committee that a violation occurred and may dismiss the charge against the student in its entirety. In this case, the charges are dismissed and the Dean shall notify the student, the instructor, and the chair of the Honesty Committee of his or her decision and rationale. The Dean then sends all records of the case to the Faculty Representative on the Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee in the college, and comments upon any features of the case which may merit the attention of the Mendoza Graduate School Honor Committee. The Faculty Representative then writes a report as described above in VII.C.11. 
2. The Dean, either because of new evidence or procedural defect, may remand the case to the original Honesty Committee for a new hearing or other follow-up. In such case, the Dean shall notify the student of his or her decision and inform the student of the next step to be taken by the Honesty Committee on remand. 
3. If the Dean decides that there is evidence that personal bias may have affected the original Committee = s decision, he or she may constitute a new Honesty Committee to consider the alleged violation. In this case, the Dean or chair notifies the student and the chair of the original Honesty Committee. The Dean may constitute the new Honesty Committee in any way which she or he deems appropriate, provided that it includes both faculty and student representation. The hearing of the new Honesty Committee proceeds as described above in VII.C&D, except that the preliminary investigation may be dispensed with. 
4. The Dean may agree with the decision but not with the penalty imposed by the Honesty Committee, and may decrease the severity of the penalty. In this case, the Dean or chair shall notify the instructor of the course of the decision and the penalty, and the instructor shall execute the penalty if applicable. The Dean shall then forward all records to the Faculty Representative on the Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee. 
5. The Dean may agree with the decision and the penalty, and affirm the decision in all respects. In such case, the Dean shall notify the instructor of the course of the decision and the penalty, and the instructor shall execute the penalty. The Dean shall then forward all records to the Faculty Representative on the Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee.

9. If the semester's grade must be submitted before the necessary hearing procedures and appeals are completed, an "I"(Incomplete) grade will be authorized by the Dean's office.
10. A finding of guilt with regard to a particular course will void any earlier withdrawal from this course.

1. If the committee decides the offense is a flagrant one which merits suspension or dismissal, it proceeds automatically on appeal to the Dean. The chair informs the Dean of the Committee's decision, and sends all records of the case to the Dean.
2. The chair of the Honesty Committee notifies the student in writing of the Committee' s decision and of the recommended penalty. The letter should state that the case has been sent to the Dean on appeal and it should explain the appeal procedure.
3. The student has the right to appear before the Dean to discuss the appeal, and the case proceeds as described in VII.E.6-10 above. The Dean has all the options present in any appeal, as set forth in VII.E.8 above.
4. If the Dean agrees with the Committee's decision and penalty, all records of the case are sent with the Dean's recommendation to the Faculty Representative on the Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee, and the case proceeds as described in VII.G.3-6 below.

1. All documents related to a violation are kept in the by the Office of the Dean. That office will retain such records for seven years after the student = s graduation and will reveal their contents to others only with the written approval of the student or if required by law, or to any member of a sitting Honesty Committee for purposes of considering the imposition of a penalty. (This does not apply to a "case report" of cases in which it is not found that a violation has occurred. [See VII.C.11 above.] These may be kept for as long as the Mendoza Graduate Honor Committee deems them useful.)
2. When the above office receives a report that an honor code violation has been established, that office checks honor code files to determine if the student has a previous violation. If the student has a prior offense, the Dean assigns a further penalty for the repeated offense. The standard penalty for a repeated offense is suspension or dismissal from the University.

1. Suspension is separation from the University for at least one semester. The student is eligible to apply for readmission to Notre Dame, but readmission is not automatic.
2. Dismissal is permanent separation from the University with no opportunity to apply for readmission.

3. It is the responsibility of the Dean to notify the student and the Registrar of the suspension or dismissal of a student.
4. In order to be readmitted to the University, a suspended student must submit an application for readmission. Readmission must be approved by the Dean.
5. In any case involving dismissal from the University, the student has the right to a review of the case by the Office of the President of the University. A student may request a review of any aspect of the case for any reason. A written request for a review, identifying all issues to be reviewed by the Office of the President and giving the reasons for requesting a review, must be submitted to the Dean within three business days of being notified of the decision. Decisions of the Office of the President will be based on a review of the written file and are final.
6. In the case of suspension for an honor code violation, a student's transcript will read "Honor Code Suspension"; in the case of dismissal, it will read "Honor Code Dismissal."