Section 6.01 Composition of Honor Council
Honor Council is an elected group of 16 students (four from each class) that manages the administrative aspects of the Honor Code on behalf of the community. Council may be required to resolve difficult situations and apparent violations of the community’s trust. Honor Council is charged with interpreting the sections of the Code that leave room for flexibility, are vague or have contradictory readings. Among the administrative responsibilities of Honor Council are the following: producing literature about the Code for prospective students; introducing first year students, transfers, new faculty members, administration and staff to the Code; publishing abstracts about past cases; advising faculty about specific situations they may discover; and informing the community of campus issues related to the Code.
Section 6.02 Responsibilities of Honor Council
(a) Responsibilities to the Community
(i) Abstracts
1) Abstract Release: In the interest of keeping the community informed, Honor Council will release abstracts with pertinent information about completed trials, Joint Student/Administrative Panels, SFPs, and potentially mediations. Abstracts must be released immediately upon Honor Council reaching consensus in approving an abstract for publication, unless one or more of the individual(s) involved in a trial, panel, or SFP requests that the abstract be delayed. (See a.i.2. Abstract Delay) The co-authors will complete the abstract within two weeks of receiving the chair’s report, unless they request an extension by the last Council meeting before the original deadline. The Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) may grant a one-week extension or assign an additional Council member who served on the jury to assist them. The chair of the trial will then cleanse the abstract of confidential information before sending the abstract to Council. Honor Council may have up to two weeks for internal review to revise the abstract. During this time the chair may also request jury members to provide feedback on the abstract. At the completion of this revision process, the tentative abstract will be submitted to all Honor Council members for approval at the next Honor Council meeting. At this time Council will approve this abstract or consent on a one week revision process if there are concerns with the abstract that cannot be resolved in a single Council meeting. After the abstract has been approved, Honor Council will then reach consensus on whether or not to delay the publication of the abstract. This entire process may take no longer than 9 weeks in which classes are in session. Honor Council will acknowledge its success or failure in meeting this timeline in each abstract it releases.
2) Abstract Delay: If an individual(s) involved in a trial requests that the abstract be delayed, Honor Council will weigh the importance of keeping the community informed with the effects of immediate release on the confidentiality of the involved individual(s). Honor Council will then reach consensus on whether or not to withhold the abstract. Abstracts will typically be withheld for no longer than one year. Alternate procedures are followed for Dean’s Panel abstracts. Abstracts are detailed enough to outline the issues, but vague enough to protect the confidentiality of the people involved. No names or revealing information such as specific dates, classes, instructors, or, in social cases, any detailed information which would identify any individual, are included. In cases where essential trial details threaten the confidentiality of the participants, the jury or the parties may request an additional delay from Honor Council. The delay will typically not exceed one semester beyond the participants’ graduation or permanent departure. A decision to delay may not be altered by subsequent Honor Councils.
3) Additional Abstract Procedure: Abstracts may be published for mediations and discussions as well if the Honor Council feels that the community could benefit from their distribution. All abstracts are kept on file in binders maintained by Honor Council and are left accessible to the entire community. Following the publication of the abstract, a community wide abstract discussion will be held by Honor Council so that community members can voice their questions and thoughts on the trial. Additionally, any member of the community who would like to speak to the Council about the trial can notify the Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) and attend the next Honor Council meeting to discuss the trial.
(ii) Distribution
Honor Council is responsible for making sure that an up-to-date and complete copy of the Honor Code and its guidelines are available to the community. Council is also required to address such issues as inconsistencies between written procedure and those physically enacted.
(iii) Involvement
Honor Council should be involved in the education of the community about social concerns such as alcohol abuse, sexual harassment, emotional stress and drug abuse. While Council members are not trained to be crisis counselors, Council can serve as a source of information where students can go for help. In addition, Council can serve as a consciousness-raising body, by holding discussions, sponsoring collections and lectures, and distributing queries about these sensitive issues.
(iv) Signage
Honor Council should post signs and otherwise remind students that the form, content, and degree of difficulty of any examinations are not to be discussed during finals week. While this rule applies for all exams, it is especially crucial to remind students of the importance of exercising discretion and of not discussing examinations during finals week.
(v) Up-to-date Literature
It is the responsibility of the Honor Council to provide up-to-date and informative literature about the Honor Code for prospective students. The Council should keep the Admission Office informed of any changes or new developments that would be of interest to prospective students.
(vi) Customs Week
During Customs Week, the Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) and Honor Code Orienteers should spend a substantial amount of time discussing the Honor Code with first-year students and transfers. There should be an introduction about the Honor Code made to the entire group of incoming students, including an introduction by the Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s), and a historical perspective of the Code given by an appropriate community figure. Each Customs group should have at least one discussion with its Honor Code Orienteer(s). Honor Code Orienteers will be members of the community who have undergone at least one training sessions with the Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s).
(vii) Honor Council Member Participations
As student leaders and representatives of the community, Honor Council members are urged to participate in community-oriented activities such as Collection, special lectures, plenary, and community celebrations.
(b) Responsibilities to the Individual
(i) Confidence
All matters involving individual students which are brought to Honor Council’s attention must remain in strict confidence. No Council member shall discuss cases in progress with other students who are not members of Council. After an abstract has been released, Council members may discuss the case in abstract, but should be extremely careful not to reveal the identity of anyone involved.
(ii) Consideration
While precedent may be used as a guide in handling concerns, each case is still to be considered on its own merits.
(iii) Removal from Jury
If a case must be resolved in a trial, Council members who feel that they cannot be objective should remove themselves from the jury.
(iv) Procedure
Honor Council must follow the stated procedures for handling concerns. A breach of procedure will be grounds by which the confronted student, in the hope of altering the Council’s decision, may appeal to the President of the College.
(c) Responsibilities Within Honor Council
(i) Interpretation
Honor Council is charged with interpreting the sections of the Code that leave room for flexibility. It is, for example, Honor Council’s responsibility to decide if a situation warrants the convening of a trial or if it can be resolved on a less formal basis. It is the Honor Council’s responsibility to handle each case as a unique situation, yet keep in mind that it is also one of a number of similar occurrences, and will therefore serve as a precedent for future cases brought to the Honor Council. In interpreting the Code, it is the Honor Council’s responsibility to consider both the community and the individual involved, and to try to find the balance between what is best for both. Honor Council must never neglect following the full procedure.
(ii) Meetings
Honor Council meets on a weekly basis, to discuss current issues involving the Code and any individual concerns which members of the larger community have brought to the Council’s attention. These meetings are closed to the community at large, as confidentiality must be observed. However, anyone may attend the community portion of an Honor Council meeting. It is encouraged that people make prior arrangements with the Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) when planning to attend a meeting. In addition, minutes of meetings will be published and posted on a regular basis, to keep the community at large informed of Honor Council’s actions. The Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) can call special meetings in addition to the weekly meetings if it is necessary to do so.
(iii) Discussion
After trials, Council members who were on the jury will discuss the trial in detail with the rest of the Council, sharing their impressions, reactions, and reasons for reaching the decisions they did. This discussion is an important educational experience for both the jury members and the rest of Council. It is important that there be constructive criticism of the process and the performance of the jury so that improvements can be made. Notes shall be recorded of these discussions and made available to future Council members for educational purposes. Confidentiality will be honored when creating entries for this record.
(iv) New Council Members
New Council members are given a thorough introduction to the functioning of Honor Council. They should read the filed abstracts of past cases and be informed of policies and interpretations Council is adopting. This introduction should include, but is not limited to trainings regarding diversity, mediation and trial procedure. In choosing jury members, there should be a healthy mixture of experienced and inexperienced Council members, so that new members can gain experience while there is still continuity and overlap in jury membership.
(v) End of Semester Contingency
At the end of the second semester, Honor Council members may need to remain on campus for a few extra days to finish cases and hold trials, if they cannot wait until the next year.
(d) Responsibilities of the Honor Council (Co-)Secretary(ies)
(i) The Honor Council (Co-)Secretary(ies)
The Honor Council (Co-)Secretary(ies) is a full member of the Honor Council and participates in all discussions and mediations, which occur in the Council as a whole. It is the specific duty of the (Co-)Secretary(ies) to take notes and publish minutes of Honor Council meetings, and to take care of the typing and copying of Honor Council publications. Since these tasks can be time-consuming, the (Co-)Secretary(ies) can be relieved of some other Honor Council duties, at his/her own discretion.
(ii) Election
Since the (Co-)Secretary(ies) and the (Co-)Chair(s) are elected on a staggered basis, it is also the responsibility of the (Co-)Secretary(ies) to aid the new (Co-)Chair(s) in adjusting to his/her office and to inform him/her of cases which have been carried over from the previous (Co-)Chair(s).
(iii) Additional (Co-)Secretary(ies) Responsibilities
The (Co-)Secretary(ies) is also responsible for the selection of juries in cases of trial. The (Co-)Secretary(ies) will also work towards the goal of achieving a more diverse jury or panel by ensuring that several of the members of the panel or jury will be representative of Haverford’s multicultural population as jury selection procedure stipulates. Keeping in mind a balance of gender and class, the (Co-)Secretary(ies) will request people primarily in the order they are presented. By no means are the (Co-)Secretary(ies) to prioritize calling people they know to serve on a jury.
The (Co-)Secretary(ies) should also reserve three community members beyond the number re- quired by the proceeding as alternate jurors who can replace a community juror should the need arise. If the number of jurors required by the proceeding has been reached, the proceeding should begin while the (Co-)Secretary(ies) continue to find alternate jurors until the fact-finding portion has taken place. At least one of these alternate jurors should self-identify as a student of color. At least one alternate juror should self-identify as male and at least one should self-identify as female. The (Co-)Secretary(ies) should try to preserve the multicultural composition of the jury to a reas- onable extent, while keeping in mind the need to begin a proceeding. An alternate juror may only replace a community juror before the fact-finding portion of a proceeding has been held. Once an alternate juror replaces a community juror, he or she will serve for the remainder of a proceeding.
(e) Responsibilities of the Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s)
(i) The Executive Council
The (Co-)Chair(s) is also a member of the executive council of the Students’ Association and is welcome, but not required, to attend Students’ Council meetings and take part in its activities as well as those of Honor Council.
(ii) Procedures
The (Co-)Chair(s) is responsible for seeing that all procedures are followed and that Honor Council’s responsibilities are carried out.
(iii) Participation
It is the (Co-)Chair(s)’s responsibility to see that all Honor Council members participate and share in doing the Council’s work. If some members of the Council are not doing an adequate job, he/she should talk to those members and voice his/her concern to them. If improvement is not noted, then the entire Council should discuss the problem. A continued deficiency can result in the Council’s forbidding (by consensus) a student to run for re-election to the Honor Council.
(iv) Report
At the end of his/her term, the (Co-)Chair(s) will submit a report to the next (Co-)Chair(s) which describes the Council’s activities (in brief) over the past year, and which gives hints about what to expect and how to deal with specific problems, which may arise. A collection of these reports is to be compiled to aid in the training of the (Co-)Chair(s) (regarding topics, such as how to properly mediate trials). The (Co-)Chair(s) are required to read and contribute to this record at the end of every term.
(v) Dean of the College
The Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) will keep the Dean of the College informed of cases that come to the Council’s attention. After every trial, the (Co-)Chair(s) will notify the Dean of the College of the recommendation of the jury within 24 hours of the trial’s completion. The (Co-)Chair(s) will subsequently have three weeks to submit a report to the Dean giving a reasonably detailed account of the trial and the resolution agreed upon by the jury. A cleansed copy of this report will also be submitted to the community member and Honor Council member in charge of writing the abstract for the trial. A file of these reports will be kept by the Dean of the College for only the (Co-)Chair(s) to review in cases of separation or the delay of releasing an abstract.
(vi) Faculty Meeting
At the first faculty meeting of every semester, the Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) will report to the faculty a summary of the past semester’s Honor Council academic concerns, and social concerns if they so choose. At the beginning of every year, an orientation for new faculty members will be held. All new faculty, and those who have been away for a year or more, will be expected to attend.
(vii) New Faculty Orientation
In addition to an orientation for new faculty members, an orientation for the new staff and administration of the college will be held each year.
(viii) End of Term Report
At the end of his/her term, the Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) will submit a written report to the President of the College, reviewing the past year’s cases and Honor Council activities. The President of the College will refer to this report before he/she decides to renew the policy of student administration of the Honor Code for the coming year.
(f) Responsibilities of the Librarian
(i) Librarian Status
The Librarian of Honor Council is not a full member of Honor Council, but appointed by Students’ Council for a one-year term during the second semester of each academic year from among the student body. The librarian will not be a current-serving member of Honor Council.
(ii) Responsibilities
The Librarian of Honor Council is responsible for maintaining an updated, documented record of all changes made to the Honor Code over the course of his or her term. This record should also include all major publications (i.e., committee findings, letters of concern to/from the administration and faculty, Spring Plenary Packets, etc.) regarding the Honor Code. This record will remain accessible to all community members so that they can view the history and changes of the Honor Code.
(iii) Additional Responsibilities
The Librarian is also responsible for analyzing and interpreting previous Honor Codes, trial abstracts and all other relevant documentation to distinguish and report trends and precedents to the (Co-)Chair(s).
Section 6.03 Honor Council Elections
(a) Honor Council Composition
(i) Honor Council shall be made up of sixteen (16) students, four (4) from each class. The Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) and the (Co-)Secretary(ies) are elected by the entire student body, and the other representatives are elected by the members of their classes only.
(ii) All council members serve one-year terms, except all first-semester and two (2) second-semester first-year students, and seniors elected for the second semester.
(b) Honor Council Nominations
Nominations and elections will be restricted to members of the Students’ Association who intend to be enrolled at Haverford College for the duration of their term in office. Nominations for the office of Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) will be open the second Friday of April. Those nominated for Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) or (Co-)Secretary(ies) may consist of no more than two Students’ Association members.
(c) Election Procedures
Elections shall be staggered to allow overlap in Council membership of new and experienced members. Elections will run concurrent with the Students’ Council Elections unless unusual circumstances arise.
(i) Semester One Election Procedures
In the first three (3) weeks of September, four (4) first-year students and two members from every other class, or the number required to adequately fill all of the respective class positions shall be elected. The first-year students will serve for only one (1) semester.
(ii) Semester Two Election Procedures
The Honor Council (Co-)Secretary(ies) is/are to be elected in December, for a one-year term. The first-year class again will elect four (4) members in December. The two (2) with the greatest number of votes serve one-year terms. The other two (2) serve one-semester long terms. If any freshmen is currently serving as (Co-)Chair(s) or (Co-)Secretary(ies), or is elected to either position in the second semester election, then only the remaining number of representatives needed to fill four (4) freshmen positions shall be elected, with priority placed on having freshmen representatives serve a full year term. The other classes will elect two (2) members for one-year terms, except the Honor Council Chair(s)’s class and the (Co-)Secretary(ies)’s class, which will elect as many members as needed to balance the respective class allocations.
(iii) Following Year Elections
Elections for new Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s), to assume office the following year, shall take place in April in conjunction with Students’ Council Executive elections.
(d) Special Elections
If at any time, Honor Council needs to fill a position due to resignation, nominations shall be opened with all due haste by the Students’ Council (Co-)Secretary(ies), in correspondence with Honor Council. Normal voting procedures shall apply. Honor Council has the right to appoint temporary members until a new member has been elected.