Graduate Honor Council

Adopted by the Graduate Student Council, June 12, 2025
And endorsed by the Graduate Faculty Council, June 27, 2025

The Honor Code at Vanderbilt University (Vanderbilt) represents a compact of mutual trust between each student and the members of the faculty. Every student is bound by the Honor Code to present only their original work as their own. Faculty members, in turn, evaluate students academically relying on it being the student’s original work. The purpose of the Graduate Honor Council is to preserve and perpetuate this system of mutual trust. It is therefore an organization of graduate students for their own protection. It seeks to protect the honor of all graduate students by vindicating those falsely suspected of dishonest acts and penalizing those responsible of dishonest acts, according to the procedures set forth in this document.

Vanderbilt students pursue all academic endeavors with integrity. They conduct themselves honorably, professionally, and respectfully in all realms of their studies in order to promote and secure an atmosphere of dignity and trust. The keystone of our honor system is self-regulation, which requires cooperation and support from each member of the University community.

The Vanderbilt Honor System was instituted in 1875 with the first final examinations administered by the university. Dean Madison Sarratt summarized the system as follows, “Let every individual who contemplates entering Vanderbilt University ask [himself[/herself/themselves]] first this important question: “Am I strong enough to give my word of honor and then live up to it in spite of every temptation that may arise?’”

The purpose of the Honor Code is to preserve and promote academic integrity. Ideally, a student’s personal integrity is presumed to be sufficient assurance that in academic matters one does one’s own work without unauthorized help. The undergraduate honor council and the graduate and professional school honor councils are organizations that seek to preserve the integrity of the Honor Code at Vanderbilt.

The Honor System is one of the many layered structures provided to Vanderbilt students to aid in the development of creative thinking, intellectual maturity, personal accountability, and respect for honesty, integrity, and truth. The goal of the Honor System is to have all students leave Vanderbilt not only as graduates, but also as citizens of integrity.

Section I: All students taking a course, including those that involve, in whole or in part, online learning, external placements, or doing research with or under the supervision of faculty in programs of the Graduate School shall be under the jurisdiction of the Graduate Honor Council, unless the Graduate Honor Council expressly grants jurisdiction to another honor council. The Graduate Honor Council typically only considers granting jurisdiction to another honor council when the accused student is enrolled in another college or school at Vanderbilt but taking a course in the Graduate School.

Section II: The Graduate Honor Council shall take cognizance of the following violations as outlined in the Student Handbook, by any student designated in Article I, Section I. Violations include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) giving and/or receiving unauthorized aid or attempting to give and/or receive unauthorized aid on any material submitted to meet course or program requirements; (2) plagiarizing on any assigned material; (3) taking actions to deceive a member of the faculty, staff or fellow student regarding principles contained in the Honor Code; (4) submitting work prepared for another course without specific prior authorization of the instructors in both courses; (5) falsifying class records or results of study and research; (6) altering a previously graded examination or test for a regrade.

Section I: The Graduate Honor Council shall consist of Officers and Members. The selection, duties and roles of each of these parties are described herein.

Section II: Officers of the Graduate Honor Council shall include a President and Vice President. These officers shall be members of the Graduate Student Council and elected each year per the By-Laws of the Graduate Student Council. The President and Vice President shall serve until September 1st of the year following their election.

Section III: In addition to the Officers, the Graduate Honor Council shall have a minimum of 8 Members. Members shall be students of the Graduate School, in good standing within their departments and the university, and appointed by the President. In making these appointments, consideration shall be given to balanced representation across academic disciplines. Students shall apply by expressing interest to an Officer. Duties of Members shall be to serve as investigators and/or members of hearing panels. Members shall serve until September 1^st of the year following their appointment.

Section IV: Should a vacancy occur in the Officers or Members of the Graduate Honor Council, it shall be filled by the procedures outlined in Article II.

Section V: Any Member or Officer of the Graduate Honor Council who fails to conduct themselves in a manner befitting his/her office or duties may be removed at any meeting of the Graduate Student Council by a two-thirds majority vote of the members and officers present. The Member or Officer subject to a removal vote may provide information for consideration of those voting but may not vote. A Member or Officer removed will be notified by the Council Advisor of the final vote tally but is not privy to the identity of the individual votes.

Section VI: The Graduate School Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will serve as an Adviser to the Honor Council (Council Adviser). The Council Adviser sits in on all Small and Large Panel hearings. If the Council Advisor is unable to attend for any reason, including a potential conflict of interest, the Council Advisor shall appoint an acting Council Advisor from the graduate faculty. In most cases, the Council Adviser is an observer but may request permission from the President of the Honor Council to ask a question or, if requested by the Honor Council, participate in the Council’s interviews of witnesses and consideration of the evidence.

Section I: The duties of the President shall be as follows:

1. Appoint Members for investigations and hearings;
2. Set the time for and preside at all hearings and other meetings of the Graduate Honor Council;
3. Appoint a secretary, who shall record the hearings, excluding deliberations from the recording;
4. Appoint a hearing body to review the evidence and determine a finding;
5. Report all findings of responsibility to the Graduate School and provide an overview to the Graduate Student Council;
6. Serve on the Executive Committee of the Graduate Student Council;
7. Call for and vote on any amendments to the By-Laws or removal of Officers or Members;
8. Ensure that all students and faculty members under the jurisdiction of the Graduate Honor Council are informed of its function and their responsibilities under the Honor Code.

Section II: The duties of the Vice President shall be as follows:

1. Notify an accused student of the charges;
2. Appoint investigators for each case;
3. Serve on the Executive Committee of the Graduate Student Council;
4. Call for and vote on removal of Officers or Members and vote on any amendments to the By-Laws; and
5. Receive a written report from the investigators explaining their findings and submit that report to the President. This report is to be called the Preliminary Investigative Report.

Section III: The duties of Members shall be as follows:

1. Participate in investigations as assigned by the Vice President;
2. Serve on hearing panels as assigned by the President; and
3. Call for and vote on removal of Officers or Members and vote on any amendments to the By-Laws.

Section IV: If the President of the Graduate Honor Council is unable to serve for any reason, including a potential conflict of interest, the Vice President shall serve as acting President and appoint an acting Vice President from the Members. If the Vice President is unable to serve, then the President shall appoint an acting Vice President from the Members. If both are unable to serve, the President shall designate a Member to serve as President and a Member to serve as Vice President.

Section I:  Anyone who perceives a violation of the Honor Code shall contact the [President of the] Graduate Honor Council or the Council Advisor. When the President is notified of an allegation, they shall inform the Vice President, who will assign three investigators, one of whom may be the Vice President, to review and investigate the allegation. One or more of the investigators shall:

1. Meet with the accuser(s) and any material witnesses, and collect all pertinent materials and information;
2. Interview the accused and present them with the evidence accompanying the allegations;
3. Compile a written report of the findings of the investigation.

Section II: The investigators must maintain impartiality and confidentiality in all proceedings. No person shall investigate a case in which they are directly or indirectly involved through personal acquaintance, bias, or conflict of interest or are otherwise unsuitable. If an investigator discovers a conflict of interest during the investigation, the investigator shall recuse themselves and a notation should be made in the report. Investigators may not serve on hearing panels for the same case.

Section III: The accused may bring an Adviser of their choosing. That Adviser shall be a VU faculty member, staff member, or another student who has not had formal legal training and is not related to the student. The Adviser can provide support for the student and attend meetings/hearings but is not permitted to speak to the investigator or hearing panel.

Section IV: A non-voting Consultant from the department from which the investigation arises with practical knowledge as to the specific discipline or academic environment may be deemed necessary for the purposes of the investigation to understand the norms within which the faculty and accused student were operating. A non-voting Consultant is appointed by the President of the Graduate Honor Council. Non-voting Consultants may not be deemed necessary in cases that are seen by a Small Panel. A non-voting Consultant participates in Large Panel hearings in cases where a determination of whether the student is responsible remains under consideration

Section V: Upon completion of the investigation, the Vice President shall send the findings to the President.

Section I: Upon receiving the report of an investigation, the President will decide based upon the investigative report whether enough information exists to suggest the possibility that one or more Honor Code violations has occurred and, if so, that a hearing is warranted. If a hearing is warranted, then the President will determine whether a Small Panel or Large Panel is appropriate based upon the following criteria. A Small Panel shall consist of the President plus two persons selected for the hearing, while a Large Panel shall consist of the President plus four persons. Small Panels are used when the accused has pled responsible, no material facts are in dispute, and the penalty is not expected to exceed failure in the course. Large Panels are used when the accused has pled not responsible, where there are facts in dispute, for repeat violations, and/or if a finding of responsibility is likely to result in a penalty exceeding failure in the course.

Section II: Hearings will be called by the President of the Graduate Honor Council, who will also serve as chair of the hearing.

Section III: All hearings shall be closed and their proceedings held in confidence.

Section IV: Except for circumstances described in Section VIII of Article V, the Accused Student and the Accuser shall be present at the time of the hearing. Each shall present their case, using, if they desire, witnesses, who may be questioned by any party in the hearing, by the members of the Honor Council, or by the Council Adviser if permitted. Witnesses shall be present only during the time of their testimony. The Accuser, Witnesses, and Accused Student(s) may choose not to answer questions. If the chair determines a question or line of questioning by an Accuser or Accused Student(s) is irrelevant, combative, or otherwise inappropriate, then the chair may choose to warn the individual. If after issuing a warning an Accuser or Accused student(s) continues the behavior, the chair may require all additional questions be reviewed prior to being asked or remove the individual from the hearing.

Section V: No person shall participate in a hearing on a case in which they are directly or indirectly involved through personal acquaintance, bias, or conflict of interest or are otherwise unsuitable. One or more investigators, which may include the Vice President of the Graduate Honor Council, shall attend the panel hearing to provide clarification for any points made in the Preliminary Investigative Report.  However, the investigators shall leave the meeting room during deliberations.

Section VI: If a Member is unable to attend, or if a Member is involved in the investigation, or if a Member declares they are ineligible or incompetent to take part in the investigation because of a conflict of interest, or if two Members of the Honor Council object to a Member’s participation in a hearing on other grounds, then the President of the Graduate Honor Council shall appoint a temporary Member to the Honor Council.

Section VII: If the Honor Council learns that any participant in the hearing has been harassed, intimidated, or retaliated against in any way, they shall notify Student Accountability, Community Standards and Academic Integrity and the Graduate School at once, so that appropriate action may be taken.

Section VIII: If the Accused refuses to appear before the Honor Council, their case shall be heard in absentia, and their statements provided to the investigators may serve as their participation. If an Accused does not wish to appear at the hearing, their statements provided to the investigators may serve as their participation.

Section IX: After all testimony has been taken, the hearing room (in person or virtual) shall be cleared, and the Honor Council shall deliberate in private to determine by majority vote for Full Panels and by unanimous vote for Small Panels whether by the preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not) the accused is responsible. At that time, the accused shall be called into the hearing room and informed of the decision by the President of the Honor Council. The outcome of the hearing, whether it is a responsible or not responsible finding (regardless of any penalty involved), shall be reported in writing to the Accused, Accuser, and Graduate School via the President.

Section X: All materials, including audio recording, from the investigation and hearing will be submitted to the Council Advisor and maintained in a secure and confidential manner.

Section I: Where guilt has been established, penalties shall be decided upon by a unanimous vote of the Small Panel, or majority vote of the Large Panel.

Section II: The Council shall choose from among the following penalties:

1. Reprimand and failure of work on which the violation occurred;
2. Failure of the course in which the violation occurred or, if graded academic work required for progression to degree unattached to a course (e.g., comprehensive exam), failure of the progression activity in which the violation occurred;
3. Suspension from the University for a period of not less than the remainder of the semester and not more than two semesters, as well as failure in the course or progression activity; or
4. Expulsion from the University.

Section III: Penalties of suspension and expulsion shall only be determined by a Large Panel. When penalty involves failure of the work, the faculty responsible for the course will work with the Graduate School to carry out the penalty. The Graduate School will carry out the penalty when it involves failure of the course, or suspension or expulsion from the university.

Section IV: The presumptive penalty for a first offense shall be failure of the course in which the violation occurred. The Council shall determine whether a greater or lesser penalty is warranted based on the flagrancy of the violation, the premeditation involved in the offense, and lack of truthfulness of the accused throughout the investigation and hearing.

Section V: The minimum penalty for a second offense shall be suspension, failure of the course in which the violation occurred, and a notation on the student’s permanent record. The Council shall determine, based on flagrancy, premeditation, and truthfulness, whether a greater penalty is warranted.

Section VI: The minimum penalty for a third offense is expulsion from the university.

Section VII: The Graduate Honor Council may make additional educational recommendations to the accused student(s). These may include, but are not limited to: trainings; meeting with faculty or staff about avoiding future violations; writing a letter of apology to the instructor of the course; etc.

Section I: Appeals of decisions of the Graduate Honor Council shall be directed to the Appellate Review Board.

Section II: Appeals shall be presented in written form, explaining the basis of the appeal, to the Chair of the Appellate Review Board within 10 (ten) days of the time the decision is handed down by the Graduate Honor Council.

Section III: All information about the appeals process is outlined in the Vanderbilt Student Handbook.

Section I: Amendments to the By-Laws of the Graduate Honor Council may be proposed by any member of the Graduate Honor Council or Council Advisor and shall be submitted to the Officers and Members of the Honor Council, Graduate Student Council, and Graduate Faculty Council for approval.

Students and faculty shall be aware of the policies and procedures in the Student Handbook and Faculty Manual.