THE UNIVERSITY prides itself on the honor of its students, but beyond the basic tenets of honesty and academic integrity that come with any such code, I admit I am woefully unaware of the impact the Honor Committee has on the daily life of the University student. During exam period last semester, however, the Honor Committee began working on an issue that I do understand and support. In early December, the Honor Committee moved forward with a plan to make exams at the University more flexible for its students. Students at the University are committed to, and bound by, a code of conduct that extends to academic behavior, among other things. Accordingly, the Honor Committee's flexible exam program should be implemented in the University's policy regarding exams because the program offers an opportunity to enhance the benefits of the honor code while simultaneously reinforcing its significance.
There's no denying that the current style of exams is a challenge to the Virginia student. Long hours in the library, little sleep and the pressure of grades are all compounded by the fact that students are also busy trying to figure out plans for upcoming breaks. The current process of exam times offers no respite, with tests scheduled randomly within a week-long period. Three hours scribbling away at the same desk is enough to wear anyone out emotionally and physically, and more than one round of testing on a given day during exam period is liable to wear on one's intellectual ability. Indeed, the current exam system can pose a threat to a student's GPA; with many exams in quick succession, students find it difficult to study for each equally or with the same amount of care that they would if the tests were dispersed over the course of the week.
Enter the flexible exam system. The new system proposed by the Honor Committee would bring welcome relief to the difficulty of exam period. The system would allow professors to administer exams during a time period of their choosing, allowing them to take into account the demands of their students before establishing a concrete date. In a phone interview, Catherine Anne Daley, an Honor Representative in the College, explained that professors could choose the flexible exam system, administered through a new online program called Collab, as "a different delivery system in a different time frame," for exams. In other cases, students would be given the option of un-timed or open-book exams, a heavenly removal from the helter-skelter approach of the current system. The flexible scheduling would go a long way towards alleviating the stress of exam period because student feedback and personal responsibility would have direct impact on the scheduling of exams. The proposed system brings convenience to both sides of the issue: Students would see a reduction in stress with a more elastic system, while professors would gain leeway in the rush to grade exams before deadlines at the end of the semester.
Beyond the obvious increase in convenience that such a system would afford to both the student and the professor, the concept itself would reinforce the essential aspects of the honor code. A "Virginia student's word and work are assumed to be honorable unless proven otherwise," according to the Honor Committee's Web site. While a flexible exam schedule would certainly open the examination process up to new issues, Daley noted that the initial idea of implementing such a system arose from the desire to offer the Virginia student benefits for the code of conduct to which we all adhere. This system is possible, "simply because we have an honor code here," stated Daley.
Students at the University trust in the honor of their fellow students. The honor code enables a certain ease on Grounds, because we recognize the integrity of the community at large to govern itself. A new approach to exams based on the tenets of the honor code would certainly provide a little more ease on the frustrating difficult of the period, but it would also convey a greater sense of trust between professor and class and between the administration and the student body. The new flexible system would challenge students to behave with integrity even when presented with the opportunity to exploit potential weaknesses of the new system. By allowing more freedom in scheduling exam times and venues, the University would be reaffirming both the honor code itself and the trust it has in its students to uphold it.
The Honor Committee may have a reputation for punitive action, but in this case it is taking real steps to enable the individual University student to experience the full benefit of living in a community of integrity. It is a great idea and should be embraced by professors and administration in the coming semesters because it brings some sanity to exam time while giving additional significance to the honor system at the University.
David Infante's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at dinfante@cavalierdaily.com.
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