Specific Standards of Scholarship

Chicago Booth’s Learning Environment

The mission of Chicago Booth is to create enduring knowledge and to educate future business leaders. The ability and willingness to learn reside in the individual. However, very high levels of learning can be achieved only if all members of the Chicago Booth community understand and respect their mutual obligations. Each community member defines the quality of this learning environment through their daily actions and choices.

The learning environment extends beyond the classroom to the myriad interactions and working relationships of the larger community of students, faculty, alumni, and staff. Four considerations shape Chicago Booth’s perspective of the ideal learning environment:

Respect for the Individual. There is a deep respect for the individuality of each student and faculty member. Faculty members have the opportunity to decide what and how they teach.
The Classroom as a Place of Learning. Classrooms at Chicago Booth call for students and faculty to work together to ensure learning. Learning is not a spectator sport; powerful learning experiences require the commitment of both teachers and students. The role of the students is to participate actively in the learning process rather than consume knowledge passively.
Personal Integrity. Both faculty and students are subject to the highest standards of personal integrity in their interactions with Chicago Booth colleagues and with external constituencies. All participants are expected to adhere scrupulously to the norms established for standards of scholarship.
Continuous Improvement. Chicago Booth is committed to continuous improvement of all aspects of the school’s learning environment. Faculty are encouraged to view the classroom as a laboratory for the testing of cutting-edge, evolving knowledge and techniques.

Consistent with Chicago Booth’s long-standing empirical traditions, a commitment to continuous improvement necessarily requires the measurement of the key elements in the learning environment, the wide dissemination of the results throughout the institution, and the tracking of progress through time.

Excellence in a learning environment is attainable only if faculty and students adhere to the ideals listed above. What follows is a set of specific expectations for both students and faculty that derives directly from those ideals.

Student Responsibilities in Class

Students should treat their classroom obligations as they would treat any serious professional engagement.

This includes:

Preparing for class in accordance with the instructor’s requests.
Arriving promptly and remaining until the end of each class meeting, except in unusual circumstances.
Participating fully and constructively in all classroom activities and discussion.
Displaying appropriate courtesy to all involved in the class sessions. Courteous behavior specifically entails communicating in a manner that respects and is sensitive to the cultural, racial, sexual, and other individual differences in the Chicago Booth community.
Adhering to deadlines and timetables established by the instructor and study groups.
Providing constructive feedback to faculty members regarding their performance. Students should be as objective in their comments about the instructor as they expect the instructor to be in their evaluations of students.
For remote sessions, students are expected to actively participate in sessions. This includes participating actively in discussions and in breakout groups. If requested by the faculty, cameras should be active and turned on.

The same standards apply to all meetings and communication with University of Chicago and Chicago Booth staff members.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the practice of taking somebody else’s written work or ideas and passing it off as one’s own. In the preparation of all work, students should distinguish between their own ideas and those that have been derived from other sources. Information and opinions drawn from sources, even one’s own writings or research, should be attributed to its original sources.

Punishment for plagiarism may include expulsion from the university. Refer to the section covering “Academic Honesty and Plagiarism” in the university’s Student Manual of University Policies and Regulations.

Examinations and Other Graded Work

Graded work is intended to gauge student learning. Accordingly, students should approach exams and other graded work with three guiding principles:

Faculty set the terms of evaluation.
It is the responsibility of students to abide by those terms.
A student should not represent the work of another as their own.

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, communication is not permitted between students during an examination or on an assignment. Faculty will indicate whether reference materials can be accessed and what tools (such as laptops or tablets) may be used.

A paper or project may be submitted for one course only. Students seeking to use the paper or project of one course for evaluation in another course must get prior approval from the professor. The title page on a paper should indicate the course (or courses) for which it is submitted. Failure to follow these rules will result in disciplinary action.

Students handing in group work will be asked to sign and adhere to the Chicago Booth Honor Code as a group. All students named in the group work will be responsible for the assignment, regardless of how the work was shared amongst the group members. Students should be aware that violation of the Honor Code by one member of the group means violation by the entire study group.

Some Examples of Academic Dishonesty

The following behaviors are examples of academic dishonesty and may result in disciplinary action. This list is not meant to be all-inclusive but rather to provide some concrete examples of the dishonest behaviors.

Gaining unauthorized access to information about an exam before the exam. For example, obtaining a copy of the exam before taking it or learning about exam questions or answers from someone who has already taken it.
Providing information about an exam to other students before they take the exam. This includes exam form, content, and degree of difficulty.
Looking at someone else’s paper during an examination, with or without their knowledge.
Allowing someone else to see one’s own or another’s paper during an exam.
Collaborating or communicating with any person during an exam.
Using unauthorized materials during an exam or assignment.
Preparing unauthorized notes to take into a closed-book exam or writing information on one’s hand, desk, or other relevant device.
Having another student or individual take an exam or write a paper on one’s behalf.
Taking an exam or writing a paper on behalf of another student.
Copying work assigned to be done independently or allowing someone else to copy one’s own or another’s work, including computer-generated information and programs.
Copying or closely paraphrasing sentences, phrases, or passages from an uncited source while writing a paper or doing research.
Fabricating or altering data.
Lying to avoid taking an exam or completing an assignment on time.
Changing an answer on one’s exam after it has been returned and claiming that the grader made a mistake.
Including a fellow student’s name on an exam or group assignment if they have not worked on that exam or assignment.

The student should ask the faculty for clarification if they do not understand how the Chicago Booth Honor Code pertains to any given assignment (see Chicago Booth Honor Code). If a student is found guilty of cheating, ignorance of how the Chicago Booth Honor Code pertained to the assignment will not be a mitigating factor in their defense.

Student Responsibility for Reporting and Preventing Cheating

Students who are aware of cheating have a responsibility to report it. Students may report an incident to the faculty directly or to a member of the administration, who will then bring the allegation to the faculty. The case must be made in writing, providing names and evidence.

Harassment, Discrimination, and Sexual Misconduct

The University of Chicago is a community of scholars dedicated to research, academic excellence, and the pursuit and cultivation of learning. Members of the university community cannot thrive unless each is accepted as an autonomous individual and is treated without regard to characteristics irrelevant to participation in the life of the university. Freedom of expression is vital to our shared goal of the pursuit of knowledge and should not be restricted by a multitude of rules. At the same time, unlawful discrimination, including harassment, compromises the integrity of the university. The university is committed to taking necessary action to prevent, correct, and, where indicated, discipline unlawful discrimination.

Sexual misconduct may violate the law, does violate the standards of our community, and is unacceptable at the University of Chicago. Sexual misconduct can be devastating to the person who experiences it directly and can adversely impact family, friends, and the larger community. Regardless of the definitions provided below, people who believe they have experienced any sexual misconduct are encouraged to report the incident and to seek medical care and support as soon as possible.

Matters that do not meet the definition of Title IX Sexual Harassment (as described in this Policy) are not within the scope of this Policy, but may still constitute misconduct that is incompatible with the University's standards and may be addressed by the University of Chicago's Policy on Harassment, Discrimination, and Sexual Misconduct, or other applicable University policies or procedures.

For the entire Policy on Harassment, Discrimination, and Sexual Misconduct, students should refer to the university’s Student Manual of University Policies and Regulations. The Policy on Title IX Sexual Harassment can be found online.

Civil Behavior in a University Setting

At the University of Chicago, freedom of expression is vital to our shared goal of the pursuit of knowledge, as is the right of all members of the community to explore new ideas and learn from one another. To preserve an environment of spirited and open debate, we should all have the opportunity to contribute to intellectual exchanges and participate fully in the life of the university.

The ideas of different members of the university community will frequently conflict, and we do not attempt to shield people from ideas that they may find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even offensive. Nor, as a general rule, does the university intervene to enforce social standards of civility.

There are, however, some circumstances in which behavior so violates our community’s standards that formal university intervention may be appropriate. The university may restrict expression that violates the law, that falsely defames a specific individual, that constitutes a genuine threat or harassment, that unjustifiably invades substantial privacy or confidentiality interests, or that is otherwise directly incompatible with the functioning of the university. In addition, the university may reasonably regulate the time, place, and manner of expression to ensure that it does not disrupt the ordinary activities of the university.

For additional information regarding the university’s commitment to free, robust, and uninhibited debate and deliberation among all members of the university community, please see the Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression.