UNC-system president Tom Ross talks Honor Court, UNC culture

UNC-system President Tom Ross believes the most important part of an honor system is creating a culture and an environment of integrity.

He discussed the Honor Court and other details of UNC-CH’s academic life with students on Monday in an open campus forum.

“People should understand that integrity in an academic environment is what makes an academic environment valuable to the individual,” he said. “It’s not just about competing for grades or anything like that. It’s about engaging people and helping each other learn.”

Honor Court officials teamed up with the Student Advisory Committee to the Chancellor to hold a closed discussion with faculty first, which was followed by the forum for students in the second floor of the Union.

Around 40 students attended the forum. The topic of the forum centered around the honor system, but the floor was later open for any questions.

“I actually didn’t know walking in that the student forum would be wide open,” Ross said afterwards. “But I was happy for it to be wide open.”

Ross fielded questions about everything from tuition, to the quality of student-athletes’ educations, to criticism of University apparel made in sweatshops in Bangladesh.

Raquel Dominguez, who will be inaugurated as student attorney general at 7 p.m. today, said the forum was a good chance for students to engage with Ross.

“I was excited that students got to interact with the honor system in a setting outside of the hearing room,” Dominguez said.

Ross served as a solicitor in the honor system during his time as an undergraduate at Davidson College.

Avani Uppalapati, vice chairwoman of UNC-CH’s Honor Court, had met Ross in Washington, D.C., where the two began discussing the honor system, and Ross agreed to hold a forum at UNC-CH.

Ross stressed how important it is that UNC-CH’s honor system is student-led.

“If (students) don’t feel like they are involved, they are not going to buy into the honor system,” he said.

Jonathan Sauls, dean of students, said while the Honor Court is student-led, the University encourages involvement from faculty and administrators.

One of four recent changes to the honor system is to place a faculty member on hearing panels where students are pleading “not guilty.”

Other changes, which will go into effect on Aug. 1, include lowering the burden of proof, changing the minimum sanction for an offense and giving the students the option to choose an expedited hearing.

“The details of how it is implemented people agree or disagree on, but the importance of having a system that is effective and people buy into, I think, is really important,” Ross said.

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