The Wallace State Honor Code is an aspiration about the kind of community we want Wallace State to be, and an articulation of the ideals that foster that community. It represents what we call the Wallace State of Mind.
Our Code: The Wallace State of Mind
As members of the Wallace State community, we believe in the inherent value of striving for excellence, in a sense of honor and service that springs from mutual respect and extends to the way we conduct ourselves at college and away from it, and in a notion of community that recognizes that for a system like ours to work, every person’s best effort is vital to that success which sets us distinctively apart from other institutions.
Upholding the Honor Code
We realize that as part of the Wallace State Community College community, our actions affect those around us. We understand that the Wallace State community is strengthened by our commitment to the Honor Code, and we proclaim this by signing the Honor Pledge, which states: “I hereby accept the Wallace State Honor Code, and will strive to uphold its ideals, and the concepts of personal and collective responsibility upon which it is based.”
About the Wallace State Honor Code
Introduction
Our adherence to this written expression of our shared values establishes an open environment of learning and growing through personal and community responsibility. Because we subscribe to these values, we voluntarily commit as members of the Wallace State community to follow the Honor Code. We uphold the Code by engaging with the values upon which our community depends: mutual trust, compassion, and respect for oneself, one another, and the community. These values form the basis of the Honor Code, yet improve our community only if we incorporate them into our daily lives.
Responsibilities
The Honor Code applies to every aspect of academic, social and professional life at Wallace State Community College. All members of the Wallace State community are asked to adhere to the Code during the conduct of college activities on and off campus, and to understand that we are representatives of Wallace State even when away from the college. The Honor Code complements our formal obligations outlined in the Student and Personnel Handbooks.
Community Standards
Our community’s relationships are based on mutual trust, compassion and respect. We must consider how our words and actions, regardless of the medium, may affect the sense of acceptance essential to an individual’s or group’s participation in the community. We strive to foster an environment that genuinely encourages respectful expression of differing views in honest and open discussion. We understand that the way in which we conduct ourselves and our commitment to our work affects the community as a whole.
Resolution
The success of the Honor Code is dependent upon each of us actively engaging with the Code’s ideals “on our honor”; therefore, resolution is every person’s responsibility and an important aspect of the Honor Code. If there are actions or values we find degrading to ourselves, to others, or to the institution – whether by speech, action, inaction, or otherwise – we should initiate dialogue with the individual with the goal of increasing mutual understanding (though not necessarily agreement) as a restorative process.
Disclaimer
Signing the Wallace State Honor Pledge is a symbolic, voluntary act. The Honor Code is not a binding legal document and cannot be used as justification for disciplinary action or separation from the college.