Honor Code & Honor System

The Virginia Tech Honor Code is the university policy that defines expected standards of conduct in academic affairs. The Honor System is the university student body charged with disseminating information about the Honor Code to the university community and enforcing the Honor Code.

Violations of the Honor Code in academic affairs include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Cheating: Cheating includes the actual giving or receiving of any unauthorized aid or assistance or the actual giving or receiving of any unfair advantage on any form of any academic work, or attempts thereof.

2. Plagiarism: Plagiarism includes the copying of the language, structure, ideas, and/or thoughts of another and passing off the same as one’s own original work, or attempts thereof.

3. Falsification: Falsification includes the statement of any untruth, either verbally or in writing, with respect to any circumstances relating to one’s academic work, or attempts thereof. Such acts include, but are not limited to, the forgery of official signatures, tampering with official records, or fraudulently changing an examination or other academic work after the testing period or due date of the assignment.

A student who has doubts about how the Honor Code applies to any graded assignment is responsible for obtaining specific guidance from the instructor before submitting the assignment for evaluation. Any student accused of an alleged violation of the Honor Code is guaranteed certain basic rights, including being considered innocent until proven guilty.