Purdue Honor Pledge and task force established

Resources Available for Faculty

By Jeffery Stefancic, associate dean of students, Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities, and Stephen Schwartz, sophomore undergraduate student, College of Agriculture

“At Purdue, integrity is indispensable to our mission.” This is the language of Purdue’s Statement of Integrity and Code of Conduct.

Last year, a group of students who deeply believe that academic integrity is at the core of earning a Purdue degree developed a Purdue Honor Pledge:

“As a Boilermaker pursuing academic excellence, I pledge to be honest and true in all that I do. Accountable together – We are Purdue.”

Several campus governance groups, including the University Senate and Purdue Student Government, gave their support to the student-led Purdue Honor Pledge in the spring semester of 2017, and an Honor Tracks monument dedicated Homecoming weekend commemorates its formation. Located on the lawn between Elliott Hall of Music, Psychological Sciences Building and Haas Hall, the monument replaces a sidewalk with 40 feet of black granite railroad track. The granite ties of the tracks spell out iconic words from Purdue's new pledge.

A student-led Honor Pledge Task Force has now been established to promote and integrate the pledge throughout our University culture. Chaired by Stephen Schwartz, a sophomore double major in agronomy and agribusiness from Noblesville, Indiana, the group hopes to collaborate with faculty to promote the pledge by engaging in classroom discussions and finding ways to incorporate it into expectations around academic integrity. The task force also hopes to host a series of events throughout the academic year to further inform the student body about the pledge and its importance. It was included for the first time this fall with incoming students at the Boiler Gold Rush events.

Faculty and staff members are encouraged to discuss the importance of academic integrity and what it means to them both personally and professionally. Experts in the field of academic integrity, Gary Pavela, Donald McCabe and DeForest McDuff, offer a helpful resource called, Ten Principles of Academic Integrity for Faculty.

Staff members in the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities are available to consult and assist faculty and staff as they address issues of academic integrity in the classroom. Please contact OSRR at osrr@purdue.edu or contact Jeff Stefancic, associate dean of students, at jpstefan@purdue.edu.

October 6, 2017