COMM495 Course Portfolio

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Course portfolio Communications 495 Senior Capstone Class “Creativity < Communication > Professional Ethics” Mariëlle Orr Fall 2012 Clemson University

description

This portfolio shows my contributions to the Senior Capstone Class “Creativity < Communication > Professional Ethics." I participated in this course in my last semester at Clemson University before receiving my bachelor&#39;s degree in Communication Studies.

Transcript of COMM495 Course Portfolio

Page 1: COMM495 Course Portfolio

Course portfolio

Communications 495 Senior Capstone Class “Creativity < Communication > Professional Ethics”

Mariëlle Orr • Fall 2012 • Clemson University

Page 2: COMM495 Course Portfolio

December 8, 2012

Dear Sir or Madam:

It is my pleasure to present to you my course portfolio. In this portfolio, I describe my activities and demonstrate the work I did in the Communications Senior Capstone class entitled “Creativity < Communication > Professional Ethics.” This course was taught in the fall of 2012 at Clemson University and focused on the topic of ethics.

As a class, we were given two main assignments. The first was to organize a public event that stimulated students to discuss and reflect on the concept of academic integrity. The second assignment was to create a tool that would help the International Center for Academic Integrity to move closer toward its goal of promoting high ethical standards on campus. As such, we created the event The Price is RIGHTeous and the digital handbook Utegrity. Both of these projects were actual group efforts, allowing everyone to develop their capacity to cooperate as a team. At the same time, by splitting up into smaller work groups and assigning individual tasks, every student also had the chance to make use of their unique talents and improve specific skills. In this portfolio, I describe the work I did for this class and explain what skills and knowledge I developed or exercised.

My activities can be divided into three main areas: my contributions in the classroom over the course of the semester; my roles at the event; and my work on the handbook. As such, I listed these areas from general to specific, as well as in a chronological order, with the completion of the handbook being our final accomplishment of the semester.

I hope you enjoy looking through the following overview of my activities and accomplishments in this course.

Sincerely,

Mariëlle Orr

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THE CLASS

· Activity: Actively participated and contributed on a consistent basis by: - Being alert and responsive during class sessions; - Thinking along and proposing ideas in brainstorming activities; - Asking relevant questions and offering thought-provoking comments to help ensure a logical course of developments and products of high quality. Skills/knowledge developed or exercised: In committing to actively participate in and consciously contribute to this class, I upheld my high academic standard and stayed true to my beliefs of what behaviors and attitudes are appropriate in the classroom. Through my participation in this class, I developed the competencies of working in a team, providing constructive feedback and negotiating meaning.

· Activity:I facilitated our initial meeting with Teddi Fishman, director of the International Center of Academic Integrity, and led the class discussion that followed. Skills/knowledge developed or exercised:To facilitate the meeting, I relied on my organizational skills (doing research on our guest, preparing an introduction and talking points, being ready to present) and knowledge of appropriate behavior (acting respectful and attentive toward our guest). As the discussion that followed was fairly spontaneous, the event helped me to develop the skills of generating discussion points on the spot, facilitating a class discussion and engaging a group of people in a meaningful conversation.

THE EVENT The Price is RIGHTeous

· Activity:In my role as an usher, I welcomed guests to the event and guided them to their seats. I also directed participants from the audience to the stage and oversaw the event, making sure everything went as planned and ready to assist in case of unforeseen complications. Skills/knowledge developed or exercised: During the event, I shared a sense of responsibility with the event team and my other classmates and practiced my organizational skills.

· Activity:At the event, I also directed the photographers. Aware that quality pictures were essential for the handbook, I explained to the photographers what types of pictures I was looking for and asked them to photograph specific situations. Skills/knowledge developed or exercised: Through directing the photographers I exercised my leadership skills.

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THE HANDBOOK Utegrity

· Activity:I oversaw and directed the creation of the Utegrity handbook.Skills/knowledge developed or exercised: Carrying the main responsibility for the handbook, I learned to create a balance between authority and democracy: I delegated tasks and assigned articles to the other team members, while also being open to their suggestions and developing a sensitivity to interpretations that may differ from my own. As such, I was able to exercise and develop my leadership skills as well as my capacity to work in a team.

· Activity: I organized and edited the content of the handbook, determining what type of material it should contain and how this material would be best organized. I shared this “blueprint” for the handbook (see attachment 1) with my team and made sure every member picked an article to write. I provided my colleagues with feedback on their articles and made suggestions for edits. In a second round, I edited the articles significantly myself, ensuring meaningful content, appropriate language and correct grammar while trying to respect my team members’ unique writing styles. Skills/knowledge developed or exercised:In this activity I was able to apply my sense for textual and spatial organization by generating the architecture for the handbook. I practiced my leadership skills by overseeing my colleagues’ writing efforts, giving constructive feedback and negotiating different interpretations of relevant material and appropriate language. Finally, this activity allowed me to practice and improve my editing skills while proofreading the articles.

· Activity: As the main designer of the handbook, I created and followed a style sheet or brand: I proposed a set of fonts and colors that I believed would match the “feel” we wanted to give the handbook (see attachment 2). I then asked my colleagues for feedback on the brand, finalized it and used it consistently throughout the design. Creating the handbook I made sure to make every page look captivating and visually interesting, combining colors and fonts, as well as textual and illustrative components, while making sure the handbook still looked stylistically unified (see attachment 3). Skills/knowledge developed or exercised: The activity of designing the handbook allowed me to make use of and build upon my experience with graphic design. I developed the ability to work with a specific brand in different, creative ways, and learned new strategies to make a document look visually appealing.

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Relevance of developed skills in the job market

The overview presented above demonstrates that I made multi-faceted contributions to this class. Based on my activities during this course, my competencies can be divided into two main areas: 1) leadership and organizational skills, and 2) text editing and graphic design expertise.

Leadership & organizational skills:

Throughout this course I have demonstrated a capacity to lead, whether it concerned facilitating a class discussion, giving directions to photographers or guiding the creation of a handbook from scratch. These activities indicate that I developed the abilities to balance authority and democracy, delegate tasks, provide constructive feedback and oversee large projects, directing a team toward a common goal. These skills are closely related to my organizational capabilities, which I demonstrated when preparing our meeting with Dr. Fishman, ensuring that every component of the event was covered, and planning the creation of the handbook. Leadership and organization are crucial skills in the corporate world, especially in managerial roles. My accountability and readiness to take on responsibility make me a great leader of a team or department.

Text editing & graphic design expertise:

My previously gained skills in graphic design culminated in the creation of this handbook. I have been designing newsletters, flyers and fact sheets for a couple of years, becoming more familiar with InDesign and further discovering my creativity with every artifact I created. I have had the chance to practice my writing and editing, too, which greatly improved my understanding of appropriate language, efficiency in bringing across a message, and eye for smooth sentence structures and grammatical correctness. These skills demonstrate that I am willing and able to grow in my writing and creativity, which is essential in the fields of journalism, PR and graphic design.

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Optional title: “Let’s talk ethics! A handbook on creating events and campaigns for the promotion of ethics.”

Components of handbook:

• Introduction (to be written toward the end, when most of the other content is written).• Article: defining ethics (explanation below).• Big section on planning a project just like ours (explanation below).• Article: inventing your own ethics event (explanation below).

Article: “Defining ethics”

• About how people often find ethics boring/unimportant (use Kendall’s book: anecdotes of students’ reluc-tance to discuss ethics in the classroom, example of how even teachers often view ethics as “if we still have time” chapter, a topic pushed to the side). Maybe include some statistics about students’ attitude toward the topic of ethics…

• Explain why ethics is so much more than that. Interview Teddi for quotes? + use ideas from Kendall’s book (give credit!): how ethics should not be this predictable, boring topic on the side, or only referred to when confronted with extreme situations or unethical issues. Instead, should be part of our every day life and thinking!

• Conclusion: ethics is an interesting and important topic. This handbook offers guidance and steps one can take toward creating engaging events and campaigns that make students think about ethics.

Section: replicating the event “ALL Integrity – the price is RIGHTeous”

• Introduction: explain on what TV show is it based, and why that is a good format for an ethics event (it’s interactive, fun, engaging, but also informative because of statistics and examples). Raven can perhaps help writing this part.

• Outline the teams and their exact responsibilities (get help from a member from each team to write this).• Create a clear, extensive timeline groups can follow when replicating this event in the future (has to be bet-

ter than ours!). • Refer to the “practical considerations” section in the next article. Important for this event too!

Article: “Inventing your own ethics event”

• Short introduction: if you are interested in inventing your own ethics event instead, here are some things to consider and tips to help you get started.

• Idea generation: explain how we as a group came up with ideas. (Something like this? Define goals, inter-ests, tools, and possible challenges; divide into teams; come up with ideas; share ideas with whole group; discuss weaknesses and strengths of ideas; optionally repeat steps of getting in teams and sharing ideas with whole group; eventually vote (anonymously) for an ideas. + perhaps also offer other brainstorming tech-niques?

Attachment 1: Blueprint for the handbook. This is the initial plan I created for the content and organization of the handbook. The end result differs slightly from this outline, as we improved ideas and made important additions along the way.

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• Some thoughts to get the brainstorming started: - Work with well-known speakers/significant people on campus? E.g. student president, football coach. (Consider their “relevance” to the topic of ethics…) - Collaborate with existing clubs/organizations. E.g. ICAI. - Find an ethical issue on campus to work on. - Work with community service requirements (does this refer to Greek stuff?). - Students should realize that without integrity, a university loses its credibility/purpose and a diploma loses its value! - Do you want to inspire ethical behavior through positive or negative examples? - Remember: ethics goes far beyond just “not cheating”! - ……? • Goals for the event may include: - Inspire a change of attitude in students. - Affect a high number of people. - Generate discussion. - Leave a lasting impression. - Provide a hands-on experience. - ….?

• Examples of ideas one can further develop: - Let students write their own academic integrity/honor statement. (Anna?!) Possibly also: write that statement on a big banner, have everybody sign it, and hang it up somewhere in the school as a remind er to everyone (find out what school did this for proper referencing). - Essay contest for students on the topic of academic integrity/ethics in school… -……?

• Practical considerations: - Who is your target audience? - Location: consider capacity and appeal of the space… - Date: not too close to a holiday or exam week, not on “going out nights” or the weekend…. - Create different teams with specific responsibilities (e.g. content development, executive, and market ing team). - How will you promote/market the event? Consider including multimedia/social media. - To attract participant: consider making the event count toward Greek points (?), or work with profes sors to make it an extra credit opportunity.

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Gill Sans

Orator Std

Savoye Let

Utegrity A handbook for creating on-campus

events and campaigns promoting academic integrity

Made by students, for students.

Attachment 2: Style sheet for the handbook. This is the style sheet with fonts and colors I created for the handbook. Based on feedback from my colleagues, I changed one of the fonts to fit better with the other two. The title “Utegrity” was conceived during a brainstorming session, and a group member thought of using a big “U” in the Varsity font for the title page.

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Attachment 3: The handbook. Below you find the complete Utegrity handbook.

Utegrity

A handbook for creating on-campus events and campaigns promoting

academic integrity

Made by students, for students

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Content

1 Definingethics

2 REPLICATINGTHEPRICEISRIGHTEOUS Howitworks 3ExampleofaroundinThePriceis RIGHTeous 4HowtoorganizeThePriceis RIGHTeous 5Timeline 6Learnfromourexperience 7Pictures

8 CREATINGYOUROWNEVENT 10Somethoughtstogetthe brainstormingstarted Practicalconsiderations 11Otherideastoconsider 12References,contributors andpartners

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When you think of “ethics,” you may have visions of morality, religion, or values. The term ethics is often subjective and abstract, and therefore hard to define. Cheney, Lair, Ritz, and Kendall write: “Sometimes a word is worth a thousand words. Or an entire book. ‘Ethics’ is one of those words, with no shortage of book-length treatments” (2010, p. 3).

Don’t worry, we’re not writing you a novel about ethics here. We’re attempting to raise awareness of ethics by making it friendly, approachable and applicable—especially on college campuses across the nation.

Ethics to college students are usually like a ship in high seas storm: abandoned for four years…. and then, in some cases, re-entered into consciousness as postgraduate life continues. But here, we’re talking about a type of ethics that college students must deal with on a daily basis: academic integrity.

Ethics can be a loaded subject, a topic that is not fun or important to discuss. According to Cheney et al., students suggested ethics were “dry, abstract, were suggestive of ‘don’ts’ rather than ‘do’s,’ and were unrelated to their everyday lives, including their careers” (2010, p 3).

But we think ethics are so much more than that.

This isn’t just a lecture on why you should cite your sources. It’s about foste-ring an essence of personal responsibility, respect for your community, and pride in your craft. In this handbook, we will share some ideas and methods to bring this understanding of ethics to your campus.

Defining ethics

“Every student is part of their institution’s academic

community—a representative of their school. The choices and actions

of each member of the community determine how that institution is perceived.

When an institution earns a reputation for being honest, rigorous, and trustworthy, that

reputation goes with the student to their job interviews, graduate school applications and even business transactions. It’s a great responsibility, but it’s also a tremendous asset that should be carefully guarded. The value of students’ diplomas rises (or falls) according to the reputation of the school.”

Teddi Fishman, director of the International Center for Academic Integrity at Clemson University

In order to encourage a culture on your campus that incorporates this

full sense of ethics, this handbook will assist you in creating events

and campaigns promoting academic integrity.

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Replicating ThePriceisRIGHTeous

The Price is RIGHTeous is a game show-style event that motivates students to think critically about academic integrity in a fun and interactive way. The idea stemmed from the original television game show “The Price is Right” in which contestants compete to correctly guess the prices of various merchandise. In order to make academic integrity - something usually regarded as a serious or boring concept - appealing to college students, this event combines the topic with a replica of The Price is Right. As such, The Price is RIGHTeous takes an engaging and playful approach to help students learn more about their own moral standards as well as daily scenarios that involve ethical decision-making.

HOW IT WORKS:

1. In order to combine the format of The Price is Right with our theme of academic integrity and ethical decision-making, we established five categories of ethics that are currently relevant to college students: awareness, technology, plagiarism, fabrication, and group work.

2. We came up with a question regarding ethics within each category. These questions addressed statistics concerning ethical choices made by students (see example on next page).

3. Each round, four contestants will be randomly picked from the audience (e.g. by raffle) to come on stage and answer the question to the best of their ability. The contestant whose guess is the closest to the actual statistic will be the winner of that round. He or she receives a price and qualifies to participate in the grand finale.

4. Before every question, we showed a teaser clip introducing the topic, and after the question the hosts described a situation, anecdote or recent event that addressed the ethical issue.

5. For the “Showcase Showdown” or 5th and final round of the competition, the winners from the past four rounds come together to compete for the grand prize.

Through this format, students are stimulated to consider their own and their peers’ ethical standards. The sta-tistics will offer participants a reality check on today’s issues of academic integrity, and the final stories shared by the hosts serve as a reflection on the topic of each round.

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Example of a round in

ThePriceisRIGHTeous:

Theme of round: Awareness (Knowing what constitutes cheating.)

1. Show teaser video clip - e.g. Deena from Jersey Shore describes what she thinks “integrity” means: http://cartermatt.com/35246/jersey-shore-season-6-video-deena-cortese-learns-about-integrity/

2. Host asks students in audience for their definitions of academic integrity.

3. (In our case, our main host was the director of the International Center for Academic Integrity. At this point, she introduces the center and shortly explains what is strives for.)

4. Pick contestants through raffle. Host: “[Person’s name] come on down!!” (Pick four contestants this way.)

5. Host introduces each contestant - asks for their name and hometown.

6. Host announces price for round (E.g: “The winner of this round will receive a football poster donated by Clemson Variety and Frame! Are you ready, contestants?”) o Question: A recent survey at Arizona State University asked students if they thought that students who cheat on their schoolwork should be punished. What percentage said “yes”? o Answer: 48%

7. Winner receives prize and then sits down. Host: “[Winner’s name] will now be competing in the Showcase Showdown, stick around to see how [he/she] does!”

8. Show video/read story of a student’s personal experience with plagiarism.

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Event planning

Marketing

Management

How to organizeThePriceisRIGHTeousOnce we came up with the general concept of this event, we split up into three work teams. All tasks and responsibilities in organizing this event were divided between these groups. In spite of the delegated work, the different teams should continuously coordinate with each other and give updates on their progress. Below is a description of the different teams and their responsibilities.

Event Planning: the event planning team will plan and execute the event. Their responsibilities include:

• Conceptualizing the event and writing the script.• Researching relevant statistics and stories to include within the script.• Finding, corresponding with and prepping the host(s) for the event. (Ideally, the hosts are credible personali-

ties or have some authority in the realm of ethics.) • Finding and preparing the venue of the event.• Creating the “set” and arranging decorations for the event.• Communicating with the other groups in order to keep the purpose, content and structure of the project

consistent with the assignment and purpose of the course.

Marketing: the marketing team will work to promote and publish the event “The Price is RIGHTeous.” We decided to split the team into three distinct groups based on the tasks of writing, video and social media. In our case, there were two students per group.

• The writing group produces press releases, news articles and advertisements on and around campus.• The video group creates a series of teaser clips to be used in the promotion of and during the event.

They are responsible for interviewing random students on campus about their ethical standards and creat-ing short movies from these interviews. They will create a YouTube account through which they can publish these clips.

• The social media group manages the Facebook event page and Twitter event account. This group also submits any content, like the teaser clips, to the Communication Studies department’s social media outlets.

• The marketing team should also consider how it can connect the campaign for the event to campus culture and symbols. They could establish a campus “brand” for academic integrity that provides a holistic image for the campaign. We, for example, adapted a well-known Clemson sports slogan to include ethics: “ALL INtegrity” (see logo on last page).

• The entire marketing team is responsible for any other public relations initiatives such as creating hand-outs, speaking to organizations, and coming up with attendance incentives.

Management: the managerial team will fill the advising role for the other two groups, serving as a resource for support and assistance throughout the planning and execution of the event. Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Keeping the entire group on task, on schedule and up to date.• Functioning as a liaison between the group and outside parties.• Facilitating the communication between all group members.• Providing group members with any extra help/insight they may need.• Offering feedback and editorial services. • The members of the managerial group will in effect fill any gaps along the way, while tracking the progress

of the group as a whole.

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Marketing

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Learn from our experience! After our The Price is RIGHTeous event, we reflected on the strengths and weaknesses of the project. Below you will find our main conclusions that can help you make your event even better!

Strengthsofourevent:

• Because of the high energy of the hosts and the staff, the audience was very engaged.• Local businesses had donated very good prizes, such as a Nook e-reader, a coffee machine and the first

season of a popular TV series. • The raffles for smaller prices (such as free T-shirts and coupons from local restaurants) in between the

rounds kept the audience interested.

Weaknessesofourevent:

• We could have focused more on academic integrity rather than on prizes.• The location for the event has to be easy to find and accessible for students.• More run-throughs would have made the event run even smoother.

Whatwouldwedodifferentlynexttime?

• Ensure better communication between the host and the rest of the staff.• Find a location with more spacious seating so contestants can come up to the front more easily. • We could have delegated tasks better for the whole group, as many classmates (e.g., the students

who had worked on the marketing team) didn’t feel needed to put on the actual event.

Surprises:

• Because of special incentives (e.g., extra credit from teachers) the attendance was much higher than expected. If we had known this, we would have rented a bigger location for the event.

Timelineoftheevent:

• 12 weeks (the length of a semester) seemed like a good amount of time to plan and implement this event.

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We were excited about the long line at the sign-up table.

A contestant writes down her answer.

Classmate and concept- developer Raven Magwood

opens the event. A happy contestant with

his prize.

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Creating your own eventReflecting on our experiences while creating the event “The Price is RIGHTeous,” in this section we will discuss ideas, recommended processes and practical tips that can guide you in creating your own ethics event.

1. IDEA GENERATION

Begin with an open discussion forum. If you are creating an event as part of a class project, it is helpful to engage the professor in this discussion to make sure that you understand the assignment properly and that the professor approves of your general idea.

Suggested method of group idea generation:

1. Divide into small groups based on interest. (We divided into “work teams”: Managerial/Coordination, Marketing and Event Planning.)

2. Hold small group meetings for brainstorming, discussion, sharing input, etc.

3. Get back together as a class/group to share ideas with the rest.

4. Make decisions through a voting process.

5. This process could be repeated multiple times for different components of the project.

In most large groups, voting will be the most effective form of decision-making. Voting allows each classmate to express their beliefs while giving everyone an equal chance to promote their choice.

If voting is not favored or appropriate, examples of other decision-making methods are: open discussion, drawing out of a hat, forming committees, and the professor acting as the main facilitator.

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2. ESTABLISH GOALS

It is important to set clear goals for the project. You can decide on different types of goals, such as short-term and long-term goals, general and practical goals, and goals for the whole group as well as for each smaller team. Examples of goals are:

Short-term goals:• Decide on a place, date and time within this class session.• Establish who will be your target group and how you will reach out to them.

Long-term goals:• Receive a good grade for the assignment/positive evaluation on the project.• Document all the work done during the development of the event so all group members have artifacts they

can add to their portfolios at the completion of the project.

General goals:• Achieve positive interaction with your classmates/group members.• Create an event that has a significant impact on campus culture.

Practical goals: • Achieve an attendance of 100 students at the event.• Stick to the budget of $200.

3. ARTICULATE INTERESTS AND PREFERENCES OF THE GROUP

As a group, you will also have to agree on more abstract characteristics of your event. For example, what kind of “feel” do you want the event to have? Formal and official, or informal and flexible? Do you want it to be a small event with an intimate atmosphere, or a big event with a lot of attendees? As for the marketing material, does a bright color scheme and a sense of energy and excitement seem appropriate, or will you choose a more formal theme with classical colors?

You may also want to discuss what kind of group dynamics you prefer while working on the project. Do you mostly want to work as a group, divide into smaller work teams, or assign specific responsibilities to each individual?

It is important to constantly interact with your classmates and communicate between the different work teams! Being on the same page is crucial in event planning. For instance, give each other regular updates on your progress, make sure your schedules match, and inform the others about any changes in the planning or concept of the event.

Although you are striving for a good grade and positive results, creativity should not be pushed aside!

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Somethoughtstogetthebrainstormingstarted

• Do you want to involve well-known speakers or significant people on campus, like the student president or the football coach? Consider, however, a speaker’s “relevance” to the topic of ethics.

• See if you can collaborate with existing clubs or organizations on campus.

• Find a current ethical issue on campus to address.

• Connect your event to community service requirements. (Greek life will appreciate the opportunity!)

• Consider whether you want to inspire ethical behavior through positive or through negative examples.

• Remember that ethics goes far beyond just “not cheating”!

• Reflect on how you want to brand ethics on your campus: what are the images, slogans, or concepts that are widely used and readily identifiable on your campus? How can you creatively play on these to promote ethics or change students’ perception of academic integrity?

PracticalConsiderations

• Target audience: to whom will you reach out? What type of students do you want to attract to the event?

• Budget: how much money is available to you? You can consider a fundraiser if you want to create a bigger budget.

• Location: consider the capacity and size of the room, multi-media options and connections for technol-ogy, budget restrictions, and availability.

• Date: avoid planning the event too close to a holiday or major break and consider the day of the week (including church activities and “social” nights).

• Marketing: consider trademark restrictions, current trends, forms of social media, etc.

It is important to establish which tools you need and what resources are available to you! (E.g. budget, location, support from outside organizations, technology, etc.)

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HonorCommittee

A different way to promote the notion of students taking responsibility for their actions is instituting an “Honor Committee.” Based on the idea of student self-governance, the University of Virginia randomly selects undergraduate students to be part of the committee, putting them in charge of disciplining their fellow students for unethical actions. Students, as opposed to university authorities, offer a fresh perspective when considering cases of questionable academic integrity.

Using UVA’s Honor Committee as a model, you can adapt the concept of such a committee to any university setting. Representatives from each class are randomly chosen for the committee, comprising a diverse group of representatives from each of the different colleges and departments of the specific university. Typically made up of 25-30 representatives, the committee is in charge of maintaining the university’s honor system, setting an example for their peers, and acting as jurors and a means of support for students in trials related to academic integrity. The committee is advised by university authorities that will help keep the organization on track, act as liaisons between the committee and other university officials, and step in when necessary. An honor committee consisting of students can help authority figures to better understand the needs and perspectives of the student body. Engaging students in upholding the university’s code of honor will be an effective way to strengthen overall academic integrity.

Main source: http://www.virginia.edu/honor/

Other ideas to consider...

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IntegrityStatement

Another idea is to implement an integrity statement or disclaimer that students must either develop themselves or simply sign, promising the assignment they are handing in is their own original work. This type of honor statement can be included with any paper, test or project.

At Clemson University, Biology 120 professor Dr. Christine Minor requires her students to type this paragraph at the top of each assignment and sign it:

I certify that the work presented here is my own. I have cited sources appropriately, have para-

phrased correctly, and have written the work myself. I have not shared my work with other students en-rolled in Biology 120, nor have I acquired this work from other students enrolled in Biology 120, stu-

dents previously enrolled in Biology 120, or papers previously written for any Biology course.

For most students, this simple reminder for ethical behavior will naturally make students think twice before copying and pasting. Clemson student Anna Hickey says: “Sometimes you don’t even mean to copy, but you’re in a hurry and your friend has the answer to a tough problem on a lab report. You want to use it on your own paper. But, by just signing this simple disclaimer, your conscience kicks in and makes you reevaluate your priorities. It really helps.”

Teachers can even ask students to write their own integrity statement, developing a standard version for the whole college, or making it subject-specific like professor Minor did.

Please visit the blog that complements this handbook at http://www.academicintegrityoncampus.tumblr.com/ for more information on honor statements of universities across the country.

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References

Cheney, G., Lair, D. J., Ritz, D., & Kendall, B. E. (2010). Just a job? Communication, ethics, and professional life. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

This handbook was created by Kristen Bergeron, Grace Clayton, Bridget FitzGibbons, Anna Hickey and Mariëlle Orr as part of the class COMM 495: Creativity < Communication > Ethics taught by Brenden Kendall, Ph.D., at Clemson University. The event The Price is RIGHTeous, this handbook and the complementing blog were all implemented under “ALL INtegrity,” a brand the class created as an umbrella for any initiatives addressing ethics and academic integrity at Clemson University.

For more information, contact Brenden Kendall, assistant professor in Communication Studies at Clemson University ([email protected]), or Teddi Fishman, director of the International Center for Academic Integrity at Clemson University ([email protected]).

The resources created by Dr. Kendall’s students during the course can be found at www.academicintegrityoncampus.tumblr.com

Our partners:

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