Harvard Faculty Members Approve College’s First Honor Code

Members of Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences have approved Harvard College’s first honor code, The Harvard Crimson reported. The code is likely to take effect in the fall of 2015. A Harvard committee worked on the policy for four years but refocused its efforts after a highly publicized cheating scandal in 2012. The newspaper said that students at the college, which is Harvard’s main undergraduate division, will be required to make “a regular affirmation of integrity,” with the specifics of that affirmation to be determined next year. Harvard’s full faculty will vote on the final details later.

The honor code will not include a requirement that students report cheating that they observe. Examinations will continue to be proctored. Michael D. Smith, Harvard’s dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, called the move a “big step” but said there was “a lot more work to be done.”

Nick DeSantis