How it Works

The Smeal College of Business Graduate Programs Honor Code Process is an initiative started by MBA students and expanded to all graduate programs in the College.  The Honor Code Process has evolved and is continuously reviewed for improvements to the process.  Everyone is expected to comply with all aspects of the process to ensure that the Code is a living document that we all abide by. 

The Process involves three major steps –

First, a report is filed with the AI office.

This report can come from a student, faculty or staff member.  The report is reviewed by the AI Officer who determines if there is probable cause to send the case to investigation and notifies the accused student of the report that was filed.  The College AI Officer’s role is to facilitate the process, and is not to be a decision maker.   The AI Officer attends and facilitates investigations & review boards, ensures that the proceeding is handled according to guidelines, questioning is fair, and that all parties understand their roles and what is required of them.  If there is no probable cause to send the case to investigation, no further action is taken.

Second, if the AI Officer finds that there is probable cause to move the case forward, the case will move to the Investigation Stage.  

For the Investigation, one graduate student from the accused student’s program of study and one faculty member will serve as investigators and ask the student involved in the report to answer questions regarding the incident. Students and faculty members who take part in this process are selected from the Graduate Programs Honor Board.   These are volunteers who have undergone training related to the AI process and investigating cases.   In order to separate powers and maintain a system that is most fair to accused individuals, no member of the College Honor Committee may be Pool members.  There will also be a recorder present to document the investigation.  The findings of the investigation can warrant three results – the student can be cleared and a report will be filed with the AI Officer; the Investigation team determines that the case moves on to the Review Stage within the College; or, when egregious violations have occurred, the case can be referred to University Judicial Affairs (JA).

Finally, if the case moves to the Review Stage,

Two graduate student from the accused student’s program of study and one faculty member will serve as the Review Committee and ask the student additional questions regarding the initial report and information that has been discovered through the investigation.  The individuals who serve on the Review Board cannot have been investigators of the case they are reviewing.  The findings of the Review Committee can warrant two results – the student can be cleared and a report will be filed with the AI Officer or a violation can be confirmed by the Review Committee and a sanction will be imposed.

All Graduate Honor Code cases that proceed to the Investigation Stage and beyond are included in the Disclosure Notice that is released at the end of each semester.  No identifying information is utilized in the notice to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.

It is important to note that the Graduate Programs Honor Code Process does not involve accusatory proceedings.  The purpose of the process is to understand the incident at hand and clarify the situation.  Students who are being reviewed should know that they are welcome to have an advocate present for them throughout the process and that the AI Officer is available to answer questions and assist in any way possible.  Additionally, students should rest assured that confidentiality is of the highest importance during and after the process.