Students may have even more opportunities to discuss honor with the formation of a new Honor ad hoc committee investigating the potential for an introductory U.Va. 101 class.
The ad hoc committee will consider the creation of a class to educate incoming students about aspects of University life such as the Honor Committee, University Judiciary Committee and diversity issues, encouraging students to become engaged in the University community.
"I think there's a lot of opportunity here for not just Honor but a lot of these groups who have had problems getting in touch with students and incoming students in particular," Honor Chair Ben Cooper said.
The class stems from an idea proposed by Committee member Eric Flow at this year's Honor retreat. Flow, who will chair the ad hoc committee, said the concept grew from discussions he had with other students involved with the Committee, many of whom had taken a liberal arts seminar dedicated to Honor.
"We started thinking, 'Man, it would be so good for first years to have the opportunity to talk about major issues at U.Va.,'" Flow said.
Flow said the goal of the class would be to educate students and allow them to make their own decisions about the debate surrounding Honor and other similar groups.
Richard Handler, associate dean for academic programs, said the ad hoc committee will face several hurdles, including determining whether the course would be optional or mandatory for all incoming students and whether it would be taken for credit.
Flow said U.Va. 101 is still in the very early planning stages and noted that the ad hoc committee and student community must discuss many issues before it becomes a part of the curriculum.
"I think it's important to see that this ad hoc isn't investigating how to create a mandatory honor class for first years," he said. "We are interested in investigating how to create a class that encapsulates all sorts of issues that are a part of coming to U.Va."
Students entering the University are currently exposed to the honor system through presentations given at orientation and a booklet outlining the system's procedures.
Cooper suggested that the class would help students move beyond shallow knowledge of the system to fully understand the way Honor works at the University and would make them aware of the opportunities the community of trust provides.
"We want to make sure students understand how to report a case," he said. "We want to make sure they know the requirements of citing sources and attributing other peoples' work."
The formation of the ad hoc committee is only the first step toward creating the class. Flow said he plans to develop the idea within the committee before taking it to other student groups and finally the administration.
"It's really long-term, it's nothing that's going to happen overnight," he said. "But it's something worth looking into. It could be really beneficial for the University"
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