Honor Code

Purpose of the CCOM Honor Code and Honor Council

The health care professions require providers and learners of superb character who lead lives that exemplify high standards of ethical conduct. A shared commitment to maintaining those standards, embodied in an Honor Code, creates an atmosphere in which CCOM student members can develop professional skills and strengthen ethical principles.

The Honor Code demands that CCOM student members tell the truth, live honestly, advance on individual merit, and demonstrate respect for others in the academic, clinical and research communities.

The central purpose of the Honor Code is to sustain and protect an environment of mutual respect and trust in which students have the freedom necessary to develop their intellectual and personal potential. To support the concept of trust, students must accept individual responsibility and apply themselves to developing a collegial atmosphere. The intent of the Honor Code is not merely to prevent students from lying, cheating, and stealing or to punish those who violate its principles. Rather, participation in the Honor Code assures the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine (“CCOM”) community that the integrity of its students is expected by those in the academic, clinical and research communities. Participation in the Honor Code confers upon students the responsibility to respect and protect the integrity of CCOM.

CCOM is fully committed to free inquiry and vigorous debate. Free expression, academic freedom, and diversity of perspectives are all crucial to the fulfillment of our core mission. Nothing in this Honor Code is intended to restrict any form of speech or expressive conduct protected by state or federal law, including the First Amendment, or penalize any person for engaging in such speech or expressive conduct.

The foundation of the Honor Code rests upon the willingness of each individual to live up to the standards established by the student body. Violation of the Honor Code affronts us individually and collectively. The students of CCOM regard such violations as serious offenses.

CCOM students must:

  • Not condone cheating on the part of others
  • Refuse to assist others in fraudulent acts
  • Take steps to ensure that other students cannot cheat from one's examination or paper
  • Ask the professor for clarification if the student does not understand how the Honor Code pertains to any given assignment
  • Be willing to speak to fellow students about violations of the Honor Code, or to report suspected violations to the Honor Council
  • Explain or understand completely how the Honor Code applies to coursework undertaken for each class
  • Discuss how the Honor Code applies to coursework and behavior during clinical rotations
  • Include a statement about academic integrity in each course syllabus
  • Contact the Honor Council regarding suspected infractions of the Honor Code

The commitment to personal and professional integrity embodied in this Honor Code releases the faculty from the obligation to proctor exams.

The Honor Code expects the absolute honesty of each individual. As a result, CCOM student members live with the freedom of knowing that:

  1. All CCOM students are held to the same accountability established by the Honor Code;
  2. Their personal property and academic work are respected and free from theft;
  3. Classroom, clinical, and research environments for learning and evaluation are honorable;
  4. The learning environment of any event, including but not limited to formal didactics, clinical rotations, student or faculty led organizations, associated with CCOM is established in a foundation that promotes equity and inclusion. Students are held to the same standard and accountability in establishing, maintaining, and protecting the afore-described learning environments.  Actions should be in concordance with the University of Iowa Non-Discrimination Statement found in II. Community Policies, Chapter 6- Nondiscrimination Statement which is as follows:
    •  “The University of Iowa prohibits discrimination in employment, educational programs, and activities on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), disability, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, service in the U.S. military, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preferences. The university also affirms its commitment to providing equal opportunities and equal access to university facilities. For additional information on nondiscrimination policies, contact the Senior Director, Office of Civil Rights Compliance, the University of Iowa, 202 Jessup Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242-1316, 319-335-0705, daod-ocrc@uiowa.edu.”

Adoption of the Honor Code necessitates the creation of an Honor Council, a group empowered to hear disputes and make recommendations to the appropriate disciplinary bodies. The composition and operation of the Honor Council is described below.

Please note that the Honor Code strictly applies to CCOM students. Faculty and Staff within or associated with CCOM are held to separate professional standards and rules of conduct as a condition of employment. Concern regarding behavior that is believed to have violated CCOM policy, which includes but is not limited to the CCOM Honor Code can be reported to their supervisor(s) at any time. The Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education could assist with contacting the correct supervisor.

Formation of the CCOM Honor Council

The Honor Council will consist of thirteen members.  The CCOM student body will elect an Honor Council President during spring elections run by the Carver College of Medicine Student Government (CCOMSG) President. The student Honor Council positions will be filled by Carver College of Medicine Student Government President, President-elect, Advocacy Chair, MSTP Representative, M1 Representative, Physician Assistant President, and one Advocacy Representative from each of the four Learning Communities.  The remaining two positions will be filled by faculty members as described below. The medical students will serve on the Honor Council during their one-year term. 

Participation in the Honor Council itself is an isolated role with expectations specific to the Honor Council, however, many of the positions that constitute the Honor Council also require involvement with the CCOMSG via other requirements innate to the position. As such, one will be expected to fulfill both roles to their full potential if applicable. These positions include: CCOMSG President, CCOMSG President-Elect, Advocacy Chair, MSTP Representative, PA Student Body President.

Medical student elections are to occur in spring for positions that may be involved in the Honor Council. Students in the physician assistant program will elect one representative during the PA1 class meeting in July.  The physician assistant term will be from August 1st-July 31st.

The term of student members of the Honor Council shall be one year but may be renewed by reelection. To be eligible to serve on the Honor Council:

  • Medical student members and MSTP students in their medical school years must be enrolled in the CCOM.
  • Physician assistant students must be enrolled in the PA Program of the CCOM.
  • MSTP students, in their research years, must be enrolled in the Medical Scientist Training Program.

Two faculty members, elected by the Honor Council in consultation with the CCOM Deans and the director of the PA program, shall also serve on the Council. Nominations for these positions will be presented during the first Honor Council meeting after the election of representatives in October.  Nominations can be made by any member of the CCOM community.  The election of the faculty member(s) will take place at the Honor Council meeting by the council.

Faculty members will serve staggered, two-year terms, with one faculty member being nominated each year.  If, for any reason, both faculty positions are vacant at the same time the Honor Council will determine which of the two elected faculty members will serve a one-year term.

The Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Curriculum of CCOM will sit ex-officio on the Honor Council and will attend all proceedings.

At the first meeting of the term, the members of the Honor Council will select one student to serve as chairperson and one student to serve as secretary.

In order to be elected to the Honor Council, members must have upheld the principles stated in Honor Code and must have passed all classes in the previous academic semester.

Composition of the Carver College of Medicine Honor Council

Current CCOM Honor Council Members:

Procedure of the Carver College of Medicine Honor Council

Prior to submitting a concern for alleged violation of the CCOM Honor Code, please note that the application of the CCOM Honor Code includes, but is not limited to all work submitted for academic credit, personal and professional interaction that occur under the scope of CCOM including, but not limited to, didactics, clinical rotations, research endeavors, CCOM student organizations, etc, and non-CCOM events involving CCOM students that may reflect poorly on the standard upheld via the CCOM Honor Code.

Administration of the Honor Code requires the individual and collective cooperation of the entire CCOM student body. The Honor Council will facilitate the administration of the Honor Code and act as liaison between the members of the CCOM students regarding Honor Code issues.

All members of the Honor Council will be expected to maintain confidentiality of any matters that they are involved with as a member of the Honor Council regarding an alleged violation of the Honor Code, including all official proceedings of the Honor Council. However, this confidentiality provision shall not be construed to prevent the Honor Council from communicating the results of their proceedings to CCOM and University officials or from making any reports by University policy or state or federal law. Violation of confidentiality is in itself an Honor Code offense.

Communications that do not involve procedure regarding an alleged Honor Code violation are not required to be confidential, however, appropriate consideration should be taken when discussing any Honor Council matter. Any person who believes that they may have violated the Honor Code or may have observed another CCOM student member violate the Honor Code will submit a written description of the alleged violation, including the names of the persons involved, date, location, and any media that may support the accusation, to the Honor Council. All alleged violations must be written to be submitted, verbal alleged violations will not be accepted. No anonymous accusations will be accepted.  However, the reporting party may be kept anonymous from the accused. There may be circumstances where, despite efforts being made to maintain anonymity, the situation itself does not allow for absolute anonymity and the accused may know who filed said alleged Honor Code violation. All efforts will be made to maintain the integrity of an investigation and ensure both parties are heard, respected, and no form of retaliation will take place. Any concerns may be included in the semiannual report which describes any proceedings conducted by the Honor Council. Proceedings will be kept anonymous with key summary findings shared to the CCOM students.  

To contact the Honor Council, please email: honorcouncil@uiowa.edu. If there has been no response in 24 hours, please email the current Honor Council President. Their email can be found above under the section titled “Composition of the Carver College of Medicine Honor Council”. A response to the initial filing of a concern should be made within 48 business hours.

Procedure following submission of alleged violation of the CCOM Honor Code:

When submitting an alleged violation of the CCOM Honor Code, the individual submitting the concern should know they have two avenues to pursue, one that does not involve the Honor Council and one that works directly with the Honor Council.

The first avenue does not involve the Honor Council. Individuals will submit their concern of the alleged violation of the CCOM Honor Code directly to the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education who then determines if it is necessary to involve the Promotions Committee. Through this route, the CCOM Honor Council WILL NOT be involved in any initial investigation and it is unlikely that either the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and/or the CCOM Promotions Committee will involve the CCOM Honor Council in their proceedings.

As such, it is likely an outcome will be determined by the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and/or the CCOM Promotions Committee with no input from the CCOM Honor Council. If the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education escalates the concern to the CCOM Promotions Committee and it is determined the accused individual has violated CCOM Policies (this includes but is not limited to the CCOM Honor Code), any action that is taken by the CCOM Promotions Committee WILL be reported in the individual’s MSPE letter. If the alleged violation is unfounded, the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and/or CCOM Promotions Committee may elect to resolve the concern without any official recording of the concern.

The second avenue is to submit any concerns/alleged violations directly to the Honor Council. As mentioned above, any person who believes that they may have violated the Honor Code or may have observed another CCOM student member violate the Honor Code will submit a written description of the alleged violation, including the names of the persons involved, date, location, and any media that may support the accusation, to the Honor Council. No anonymous accusations will be accepted. Please allow for 48 business hours to formally respond to the initial accusation.

Following submission of an alleged violation, a formal investigation will be conducted by the Honor Council. All efforts will be maintained to conduct this investigation in a timely manner, however, variability in timeline may be present due to the nature of medical school and personal/professional requirements. Regardless, all investigations will be conducted within 30 days of response by the Honor Council to the initial accusation.

The Honor Council will describe the allegation submitted in writing to the accused person(s) and give them an opportunity to respond to the allegations. The accused individual(s) will need to be present for all proceedings that require their physical presence. The accused individual(s) may request other person(s) to appear before the Honor Council to speak on their behalf, however, the Honor Council reserves the right to approve or deny this request. The accused individual(s) reserve the right to have legal counsel. However, the accused individual(s) should be aware that if they would like access to legal counsel, the investigation of the alleged violation will be escalated to the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education. The Honor Council reserves the right to hear the case in the absence of the accused if they fail to appear.

Pending investigation by the Honor Council, there are three major outcomes possible, all of which will require the following procedure: Nine members of the Honor Council constitute a quorum. A majority vote will suffice for all decisions with one exception: to recommend that a student has committed an Honor Code violation, which requires two-thirds of the quorum. Thus, when nine members are present, six must vote to recommend that a student has committed a violation.

  1. No Consequence: The alleged violation is wholeheartedly unfounded, there is insufficient evidence to support an alleged violation, or either party was unable to adhere to the timeline outlined above without evidence of extenuating circumstances provided in a timely manner and deemed acceptable by the Honor Council.
    • A No Consequence ruling indicates that there will be no public record of this incident for either party. A record of the investigation will be kept privately with the Honor Council; however, the investigation will remain private except for an anonymous, summarized finding report required for the semiannual report.
  2. Alleged Violation Founded: There is sufficient evidence in the investigation to support the alleged violation. A consequence deemed appropriate by the Honor Council will be distributed to the accused parties deemed to be in violation of the CCOM Honor Code.
    • No public record of this incident will be recorded. There will be no formal mention of this incident on the MSPE if the accused party is a student. A record of the investigation will be kept privately with the Honor Council; however, the investigation will remain private except for an anonymous, summarized finding report required for the semiannual report.
  3. Escalation of Concern: If the initial report of an alleged violation falls outside the jurisdiction of the CCOM Honor Council (i.e. violates university policy) or is deemed significant enough prior to investigation by the members of the Honor Council, said report may be escalated without formal investigation to the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education who may escalate the concern to the CCOM Promotions Committee. Equally, if the Honor Council did conduct an investigation of an alleged concern and the accused party does not accept the findings and/or potential consequences deemed appropriate by the Honor Council or the Honor Council feels it would be outside its jurisdiction to provide a consequence that would be appropriate for the gravity of the alleged violation deemed founded by investigation, the Honor Council may escalate the concern to the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education who could escalate the concern to the CCOM Promotions Committee.
    • Please refer to the section above regarding the first avenue to submit a compliant to the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education for potential consequences of a finding.
    • A record of the investigation will be kept privately with the Honor Council; however, the investigation will remain private except for an anonymous, summarized finding report required for the semiannual report.

To reiterate what was described under the section titled “Purpose of the Honor Code”, please note that the Honor Code strictly applies to CCOM students. Faculty and Staff within or associated with CCOM are held to separation professional standards and rules of conduct as a condition of employment. Concern regarding behavior that is believed to have violated CCOM policy, which includes but is not limited to the CCOM Honor Code can be reported to their supervisor(s) at any time. The Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education could assist with contacting the correct supervisor.

Of note, if a PA student is required to sit for a Promotions Committee, it would be the PA Program’s Promotions Committee rather than the MD CCOM Promotions Committee.

Any student who wishes to appeal the recommendation of the Honor Council may file a written request with the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education for reconsideration of their case within two weeks of an Honor Council decision. The Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education may ask the Honor Council to revisit the case or deny the appeal. Individuals who submitted the alleged Honor Code violation may appeal an Honor Council decision if there is evidence of: procedural mishandling, inappropriate action, or new evidence; otherwise, all decisions are considered final. Equally, individuals who are accused and found to have violated the Honor Code may appeal an Honor Council decision if there is evidence of: procedural mishandling, inappropriate action, or new evidence; otherwise, all decisions are considered final.

Records of the case shall be kept in the locked files of the Honor Council. Only active Honor Council members have access to records and the student involved will have access to their own records. Records will be destroyed one year after graduation of the student involved.

The permanent record of a student who has violated the Honor Code will note the offense, any penalty, and will include the following annotation: "action taken as the result of determined violation of The Carver College of Medicine Honor Code."

The Honor Council will submit a semiannual summary report of its proceedings to CCOM students. No names will be used in this report except those of Council members.

Procedure for changes to the Honor Code:

The Honor Council is to meet at a minimum quarterly. In any meeting called for the Honor Council, any suggested changes to the Honor Code that would affect the CCOM student body will be called to a vote within the Honor Council. Nine members of the Honor Council constitute a quorum. A majority vote will suffice for all decisions with one exception: to recommend that a student has committed an Honor Code violation, which requires two-thirds of the quorum. Thus, when nine members are present, six must vote to recommend that a student has committed a violation. 

As mentioned, for suggested changes to the Honor Code not relevant to the exception listed above, a majority vote will suffice. If the suggested change to the CCOM Honor Code is voted for approval via majority vote of the Honor Council, said suggested change will be sent to the CCOM student body. Over a 10-day period, an anonymous voting poll will be available. A reminder to vote will be sent on day 10 of voting.

If the majority (defined as >50%) of those who voted from the CCOM student body is obtained, the change will be implemented into the CCOM Honor Code. If the majority (defined as >50%) of those who voted from the CCOM student body is not obtained, the suggested change will not be implemented.

Of note, any suggested change can be re-introduced for a new vote with both the CCOM Honor Council and CCOM student body if intentional efforts are made to support the current suggested change or significantly modify, resulting in a novel suggestion. A suggested change deemed to be of consistent nature can only be presented for vote twice in an elected year.

Regardless of voting outcomes within the Honor Council or CCOM student body, all current topics of discussion and applicable voting outcomes will be shared in a quarterly letter distributed to the CCOM student body.

Potential Violations under the Carver College of Medicine Honor Code

The CCOM Honor Code is designed to protect students’ academic freedom and professional integrity. For this to happen, however, all those who agree to learn and work under the Honor Code must support the code by fulfilling specific obligations:

Infarctions of the Honor Code include but are not limited to:

  • Cheating: A CCOM student member who does not do their own work on an academic exercise or otherwise gains unfair advantage over their colleagues is guilty of cheating. Examples of cheating are:
    • Copying from another student's examination
    • Allowing another student to copy from your examination
    • Collaboration during an examination with any person
    • Using unauthorized materials during a test
    • Preparing notes to take into a closed-book examination, for example, writing on one’s hand or desk
    • Utilizing Machine learning or AI to complete an assignment or core competency.
      • It is not a violation to utilize these resources to assist in learning, however, if the resources are used to perform evaluated action on the behalf of the individual, they are subject to investigation of an Honor Code violation.
      • An exception to this would be if it is clearly communicated that AI is acceptable or expected in completing an assignment.
  • Plagiarism: Like other institutions of higher learning, The Carver College of Medicine recognizes plagiarism as “the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.” (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary)
  • The Honor Council identifies two distinct categories of plagiarism, conscious and unintentional. Both are violations of the Honor Code. This means that students who do not understand the process of crediting sources consulted in the writing of a paper may inadvertently find themselves subject to Honor Council investigation. To avoid such unintentional plagiarism, students must familiarize themselves with the appropriate documentation of resources. Students should also consult faculty for assistance should there be any doubt about what constitutes plagiarism.
  • Fabrication: When a CCOM student member consciously manufactures or manipulates information to support an academic exercise, they have fabricated evidence. Some examples are:
    • Falsifying citations
    • Manufacturing data to support research
    • Taking an examination or writing a paper on behalf of another student
    • Listing sources in the bibliography that were not used in the academic exercise
    • Falsifying information in patients’ charts
  • Violation of Confidentiality: Knowingly releasing confidential information inappropriately or using any software or systems (including machine learning/AI) to gain access to patient records without justification are each examples of such violations.
  • Other Acts: Students who misrepresent information to CCOM officials – for example by falsifying grades or by forging CCOM documents or records – have violated the Honor Code.
  • Concerns regarding Sexual Harassment, Harassment, and/or Discriminatory Practices based on Race, Religion, Gender, or Sexual Orientation are addressed through University of Iowa policies.  Equally, through these policies, there are procedures in place to address such conduct. The CCOM Honor Council may receive concerns that violate these policies, however, they will not investigate it. Rather, it will be escalated to the appropriate parties for further investigation. The University of Iowa policies mentioned, in addition to others, can be found here: Community Policies | Policy Manual

The list above is not all-inclusive. The CCOM Honor Council will accept any written, alleged violation. As mentioned, the CCOM Honor Council will determine if it is within their jurisdiction to continue with an investigation.

 

 

 

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