Vaquero Honor Code
Honesty, Integrity, & Respect
As members of a community dedicated to honesty, integrity, and mutual respect in all interactions and relationships, the students, faculty and administration of our university pledge to abide by the principles in the
Vaquero Honor Code
- WE ARE HONEST
We do our own work and are honest with one another in all matters. We understand how any act of dishonesty conflicts as much with academic achievement as with the values of honesty and integrity.
- WE HAVE INTEGRITY
We will make personal and academic integrity fundamental in all of our endeavors.
- WE ARE RESPECTFUL
We act civilly and cooperate with one another for the common good. We will strive to create an environment and a culture in which people respect and listen to one another. We recognize a university is, above all, a place for the exchange of ideas, popular and unpopular. It is the one institution in society that encourages challenges to conventional wisdom. Consequently, we pledge to encourage the exchange of ideas and to allow others to participate and express their views openly.
Student Guidelines
The student is responsible for seeking a better understanding of any of the concepts discussed above by consulting with a faculty member; visit the library website, and/or calling the Dean of Students at 956-665-2260.
Violations of the Vaquero Honor Code should be reported to the faculty in charge of the course or Student Rights and Responsibilities.
The identity of the student reporting violations of the Vaquero Honor Code will be confidential until such time as the student chooses to have their identity revealed.
The Student Hearing Process and Appeal Procedures outlined in section STU 02–100 of the Handbook of Operating Procedures outlines the rights afforded to students who are accused of violating the Student Conduct and Discipline and the Vaquero Honor Code.
The Vaquero Faculty Honor Statement
I recognize students' rights and pledge to uphold the principles of honesty, integrity, and mutual respect in all interactions and relationships at UTRGV. I pledge to follow the Faculty Guidelines (see below) in treating student academic misconduct.
Faculty Guidelines
The Faculty Senate requests that faculty include the principle statement found above in their course syllabi and refer students to the Student Conduct and Discipline Code for more information.
To preempt violations, instructors shall make an effort to explain to students at the outset of a course or the start of an examination the behavior expected of them when taking examinations or when preparing and submitting other course work. Further, faculty should actively monitor examinations and consider using a plagiarism detection utility or other appropriate software.
In all cases of alleged violations of academic integrity, faculty members must maintain confidentiality.
To process violation cases, faculty should follow the procedures outlined in the Academic Dishonesty Sanction Guidelines and HOP/STU 02–100.
Faculty must collect accurate records of an academic integrity violation and submit those records to Student Rights and Responsibilities.
Faculty should encourage students who have been accused of an academic integrity violation to contact Student Rights and Responsibilities, which can serve as a resource.
* Concepts and language used with permission from Texas State University, Chapman University, and Old Dominion University.