The Honor Code
The Honor Code is the fundamental principle of conduct for all members of the Caltech community. It applies to all academic, social, and professional activities. As members of the Caltech community, graduate students are obligated to uphold the honor system. The Honor Code (HC) states that
"No member of the Caltech community shall take unfair advantage of any other member of the Caltech community."
The Graduate Honor Council
The Graduate Honor Council (GHC) is a student-run entity that holds graduate students accountable to the honor code.
The GHC is led by two chairs and is made up of students with a broad distribution of academic interests and who are in good academic standing with the Institute. GHC chairs and members must attend trainings and meetings and serve on campus when called. When considering honor code violations, 7 members of the GHC will be selected to hear the case by the chairs. The total council will be 21 members or three times quorum.*
Reporting a Violation
Any member of the community may report a potential honor code violation to the co-chairs of the GHC by emailing GHC@caltech.edu. Reports should not be made to faculty, the Graduate Studies Office, teaching assistants, or other community members. Failure to report an honor code violation or interfering with the reporting process are honor code violations.
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If you believe that an honor code violation has occurred, please report the suspected violation to the GHC by emailing GHC@caltech.edu, along with a summary with your concerns.
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You do not have to determine if a violation of the honor code has taken place; that is the work of the GHC, instead contact the co-chairs and let them investigate your concerns. One of the chairs of the GHC will follow-up as soon as possible.
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Examples of honor code violations include but are not limited to plagiarism, violations of the collaboration policy in a class and/or using resources that were strictly prohibited for homework.
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Once the GHC co-chairs have learned about a concern, they will do an initial investigation by interviewing the people involved, reviewing documents and/or considering other information.
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If you are reported to the GHC for a violation of the honor code, the co-chairs will meet with you and discuss the allegations against you.
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If it appears that a violation may have taken place, a hearing of the entire council will be scheduled. The person accused may be called to respond to questions of the GHC and will be given an opportunity to present information to support his or her version of the events. The accused will also be provided with an opportunity to provide a list of witnesses who should be interviewed by the GHC.
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Other relevant parties also may be called to respond to questions. If there is reason to believe, after running an investigation, that a violation may have taken place, a hearing of the Graduate Honor Council will be scheduled. The person accused may be called to testify at this hearing.
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The GHC will complete its investigation and determine if it believes a violation has taken place. If the GHC does not find that an honor code violation has not occurred, the issue is dropped and all records of the case are destroyed.
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In the event of an honor code violation, the GHC will recommend the appropriate actions to the dean. The dean will meet with the co-chairs of the GHC to hear their recommendations and finalize the process.
Role of Faculty
Cooperation of faculty with the GHC and honor code system is the single most important facet of preventing violations and ensuring proper reporting and functioning of the HC. Some of the specific roles of the faculty include: creation of a collaboration policy for each class they teach, distribution of that policy to students at the start of every term and to the Registrar as a matter of record, reporting of suspected violations to the GHC in a timely manner, and cooperation with the GHC during the case process. Faculty members that report suspect violations from their classes will be informed of the outcome of every case.
