2001 - 2002
Undergraduate Catalog

Purpose Mission Goals

• Mission and Goals
• History
• Government
• Students
• Faculty
• Programs
• Semester System
• Facilities
• Campus Safety and Security
• Standard of Ethical Conduct
• Application Deadlines
• Critical Dates and Deadlines

Standard of Ethical Conduct

Academic Honesty
Alcohol and Drugs
Relations Between People and Groups
Service to Others

Honesty, integrity and caring are essential qualities of an educational institution, and the concern for values and ethics is important to the whole educational experience. Individual students, faculty and staff members, as well as the university's formal organizations, must assume responsibility for these qualities. The concern for values and ethics should be expressed in classes, seminars, laboratories and, in fact, in all aspects of university life. By definition, the university community includes members of the faculty, staff and administration as well as students.

Education at the University of Florida is not an ethically neutral experience. The university stands for, and seeks to inculcate, high standards. Moreover, the concern for values goes well beyond the observance of rules.

A university is a place where self-expression, voicing disagreement and challenging outmoded customs and beliefs are prized and honored. However, all such expressions need to be civil, manifesting respect for others.

As a major sector in the community, students are expected to follow the university's rules and regulations that, by design, promote an atmosphere of learning. Faculty, staff and administration are expected to provide encouragement, leadership and example.

While the university seeks to educate and encourage, it also must restrict behavior that adversely affects others. The Standard of Ethical Conduct summarizes what is expected of the members of the university community.

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Academic Honesty

The university requires all members of its community to be honest in all endeavors. A fundamental principle is that the whole process of learning and pursuit of knowledge are diminished by cheating, plagiarism and other acts of academic dishonesty. In addition, every dishonest act in the academic environment affects other students adversely, from the skewing of the grading curve to giving unfair advantage for honors or for professional or graduate school admission. Therefore, the university will take severe action against dishonest students. Similarly, measures will be taken against faculty, staff and administrators who practice dishonest or demeaning behavior.

• Student Responsibility. Students should report any condition that facilitates dishonesty to the instructor, department chair, college dean or Student Honor Court.
• Faculty Responsibility. Faculty members have a duty to promote honest behavior and to avoid practices and environments that foster cheating in their classes. Teachers should encourage students to bring negative conditions or incidents of dishonesty to their attention. In their own work, teachers should practice the same high standards they expect from their students.
• Administration Responsibility. As highly visible members of our academic community, administrators should be ever vigilant to promote academic honesty and conduct their lives in an ethically exemplary manner.

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Alcohol and Drugs

The use of alcohol and other drugs can have a negative impact on judgments and reaction, health and safety, and may lead to legal complications as well.

• The University's Role. The university's principal role is to engage in education that leads to high standards and respectful conduct. When those are compromised, it will take disciplinary action against organizations and individuals violating either the law or the unreasonable use of alcohol. It also must provide help for students who are alcohol-dependent. The university will deal severely with students convicted of the illegal possession, use, or sale of drugs.
• What the University Community Can Do to Prevent Alcohol Abuse and Drug Use. Students can help control substance abuse by declining to use or condone the use of drugs and by insisting that organizations and individuals use alcohol within the bounds of the law and reasonable conduct. Students should make an effort to prevent persons who have abused alcohol or used drugs from harming themselves or others, especially in driving a motor vehicle. They should encourage those needing professional help to seek it. The same standards and regulations apply equally to faculty, staff and administration.

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Relations Between People and Groups

One of the major benefits of higher education and membership in the university community is greater knowledge of and respect for other groups, religious, racial and cultural. Indeed, genuine appreciation for individual differences and cultural diversity is essential to the environment of learning.

Another major aspect of university life involves sexual relationships. Sexual attitudes or actions that are intimidating, harassing, coercive or abusive, or that invade the right to privacy of the individual, are not acceptable. Organizations or individuals that adversely upset the balance of communal living will be subject to university disciplinary action. Only in an atmosphere of equality and respect can all members of the university community grow.

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Service to Others

An important outcome of a University of Florida education should be a commitment to serving other people. This sense of service should be encouraged throughout the institution by faculty, administration, staff and students. Through experience in helping individuals and the community, students can put into practice the values they learn in the classroom.

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