The Honor Council

The Harvard College Honor Council is composed of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff working together to review possible violations of the Honor Code and academic integrity policies.

Based on extensive discussions with the community, a vision for the Honor Council was developed and reviewed by faculty in Spring 2013. The section below is drawn from that vision.

The Honor Council is based on the following principles:

1. Community governance: Community governance requires faculty, students, and staff to share collective responsibility for upholding the Honor Code, and we believe that the members of the community are in the best position to determine and evaluate cases of academic integrity violations. Community governance also ensures that the Honor Council represents the breadth of the Harvard College community.
2. Education: We are committed to an educational approach to academic integrity and a Council that makes decisions through a holistic assessment of the student's life and experiences. The purpose of the Council is to allow each individual student to learn from her/his mistakes while also affirming community members’ commitment to academic integrity.