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The Medical Student Honor Code

The Honor Code's central purpose is to ensure that members of the University of Kansas School of Medicine maintain integrity in moral and ethical conduct.

The University of Kansas Medical Center
Adopted by MSA on December 4, 2014
REVISED by MSA on October 21, 2019
Developed by the Honor Council of the University of Kansas School of Medicine

Physicians' professional status in our society depends upon the ongoing moral and ethical conduct of its members. As future physicians, medical students must also maintain this professional conduct in order to develop the ethical skills required by the profession. The Honor Code's central purpose is to ensure that members of the University of Kansas School of Medicine maintain integrity in moral and ethical conduct. Therefore, in order to maintain the honorable reputation of our profession within our current and future community, each student physician shall:

  • Tell the truth, live honestly, advance on individual merit, and demonstrate respect for others.
  • Not condone cheating on the part of others.
  • Refuse to assist others in fraudulent acts.
  • Take steps to ensure that other students cannot cheat from one's examination or paper.
  • Ask the professor or member of the Honor Council for clarification if the student does not understand how the Honor Code pertains to any given assignment.
  • Be willing to report suspected violations to the Honor Council.

A student shall not:

  • Represent the work of another as the student's own work.
  • Attempt to gain an unfair advantage by giving, receiving, or otherwise utilizing unauthorized assistance in connection with any academic work or examination; including but not limited to, copying from another student's examination, allowing another student to copy from one's examination, collaborating during an examination with another person, using unauthorized materials during a test such as a cell phone or smart watch, and/or preparing notes to take into an examination such as writing on one's hand or desk.
  • Provide incorrect information to another person about any matter with the intent that another student's academic performance be harmed as a result.
  • Obstruct the attempts of another student to engage in academic activities with the intent that the other student's academic performance be harmed as a result.
  • Place anyone at increased risk of injury or disease while the student is engaged in activities directly connected with patient care or academic activities.
  • Make a material misrepresentation of the student's class rank, grade point average, or any other academic achievement or endeavor.
  • Without prior authorization from the patient, disclose information about a patient, along with information suggesting the identity of that patient, to a person who is not, at the time of the disclosure, a member of the patient's health care team.
  • Make a false report of an Honor Code violation.
  • Obstruct the investigation or prosecution of an alleged Honor Code violation, including, but not limited to, giving false information or testimony to the Honor Council, harassment of a witness or accuser regarding a case, or any person connected with the prosecution of an Honor Code violation, or destroying, hiding, or fabricating evidence in an Honor Council proceeding.
  • Plagiarize or falsify data belonging to another; including, but not limited to, falsifying citations, manufacturing data to support research, taking an examination or writing a paper in place of another student, listing sources in works cited that were not used, or fabricating information in a patient's chart.
  • Use any illegal substances. This includes the illicit use of performance-enhancing substances. Refer to Section IV-C for the role of the Honor Council in addressing this violation.

It is each student's responsibility to take an active role in upholding the rules of the Honor Code.

Any person who believes that an Honor Code violation may have been committed shall make an accusation to a member of the Honor Council, the Dean of Student Services or the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. The complaint shall be made in writing and should contain: 1) the accusing person's name; 2) the identity of the person believed to have committed an Honor Code violation; and, 3) a brief description of the facts supporting the accusing person's belief. The accusations will be promptly forwarded to the Chairperson of the Honor Council.

Honor Code Procedure

Note: All Honor Council members elected in 2014 or before are exempted from Article I Sections B-E and must abide by the bylaws to which they were elected.

A. Composition

  • The Honor Council shall have representation at the Kansas City, Wichita, and Salina campuses. The Honor Council shall function in accord with this Honor Code and its Procedure.
  • The Honor Council shall be composed of: three members from each medical school class in Kansas City, one member from each of the first and second year classes in Wichita, three from the third and fourth year classes in Wichita, and one from each medical school class in Salina. Each class will always have one alternate member per campus serving on the Honor Council.
  • Honor Council members and alternates shall be elected from the first year class and from the third year class. All terms will begin on election day.
  • Elections shall be held in August of each year for the first-year class and May following M2 year for the third-year class in Wichita. Nominations will be made prior to elections. All candidates in each respective class shall be listed in alphabetical order on a single ballot. For each position to be filled, the people with the most votes from that class shall be elected to Honor Council. The candidate with the next highest amount of votes will be elected as Alternate to the Honor Council.
  • Elections shall occur in Kansas City and/or Wichita in June of the third year so that each campus has three positions filled.
  • In the event a Council member resigns or is otherwise unable to complete his/her term, the current Co-chairpersons of the Honor Council shall organize a special election to fill the unexpired term.
  • Honor Council members who leave their original class to complete additional academic programs, such as an MPH, MBA, MHSA, or Ph.D., shall become an alternate for the class they join on reentry into the medical school curriculum.

a. Said special election shall involve only the departing member's class and take place no less than seven (7) but no more than fifteen (15) days following the departing member's last day as a member of the Council.
b. The Co-chairpersons of the Honor Council shall, in writing through campus e-mail, notify members of the class in question of the vacancy and the date chosen for the special election.
c. The announcements of candidacies and form of ballot shall follow the procedure set out in Article 1, Section (A) (3) above. The winner shall be that candidate receiving the most votes.

  • An annual meeting with members of the Honor Council shall be held in August or September with the participation of the Deans of Student Affairs.
  • If it is deemed by the Dean of Student Affairs that a member of the Honor Council shall not or cannot serve their role during a particular case, that member shall remove himself or herself from all responsibilities from that case. If said responsibility is Co-Chair, Advocate, or Prosecutor, a majority vote from the Honor Council is required to elect another member at large from the council for that case. All previous duties will resume following the outcome of the case.

B. Alternates

  1. Each campus shall have one alternate per class.
  2. The alternate is not a voting member of the Honor Council and shall not be counted as part of quorum.
  3. If an alternate is standing in for a voting member, the alternate shall serve as a voting member.

C. Attendance

  1. All Honor Council members, including alternates, must attend Honor Council meetings/hearings.
  2. If a member is not able to attend a meeting/hearing, he/she is responsible for notifying an alternate from his/her class to serve as a voting member in his/her place.
  3. If a member or alternate is not able to attend a meeting/hearing, he/she must provide a reason to an Honor Council Chairperson.
  4. Excused Absences:
  •  Students on away rotations
  •  Students with travel plans (i.e. on vacation) or attending conferences
  •  Students attending classes, lectures, PBL sessions, or clinical duties
  •  Students with illnesses (or caring for dependents) that required them to miss school/work
  •  Students who are post-call
  •  Any other reason deemed reasonable by a majority of the Honor Council Chairpersons

     5. If the reason does not qualify as an Excused Absence [ Article I (C)(4) above], it will be considered an Unexcused Absence.

     6. Honor Council members and alternates are allowed one Unexcused Absence per academic year

  • If a member/alternate has more than one Unexcused Absence per academic year, the Co-chairpersons will decide if the student will be allowed to remain a member the following academic year.

     7. At every meeting/hearing, the Honor Council Chairpersons are responsible for taking attendance at their respective campuses.

D. Academic Standards

  1. Should a sitting member of the Honor Council not meet academic standards set forth by the University of Kansas School of Medicine, the Honor Council endorses the student to evaluate his/her situation to determine if taking a leave of absence from the Honor Council would be beneficial.
  2. If the student chooses to take a leave of absence, an alternate will stand in his/her place until the student returns to the Honor Council.
  3. It is the student's responsibility to inform the Honor Council Chairpersons and alternate of his/her decision to take a leave of absence.

E. Membership of Honor Council

  1. If an Honor Council member is no longer part of his/her original class, the class' alternate will replace said member to become a permanent voting member and said member will now be the alternate for the class he/she joins upon re-entry into the medical school curriculum.
  2. This aims to maintain equal representation from each class of voting members while allowing members to still remain involved in Honor Council.
  3. Members/alternates can serve for up to four years on the Honor Council
  4. It is the intent of the Honor Council to maintain equal class representation to the best of its ability.
  5. If there is an unusual circumstance that does not fall under these parameters, it is the responsibility of the Honor Council Chairpersons to determine the best solution for that situation.

F. Term of the Honor Council

The Honor Council shall be deemed to be in session year-round.

  1. If, in the judgment of the current Co-chairpersons of the Honor Council, reasonable doubt exists about whether any part of Article VII of this Procedure can be completed, any accusation or current case may be deferred to the Academic Committee.
  2. Notwithstanding Section (1) above, if the accused student will, in the judgment of the Co-chairpersons of the Honor Council, be graduating or transferring from the medical school before a hearing can be completed, the Co-chairpersons of the Honor Council shall immediately stop Honor Council activity and refer the matter, along with any information generated by the Honor Council to the Academic Committee for disposition.

G. Honor Council Co-chairpersons

  1. Duties and Responsibilities: 
    The Honor Council Co-chairpersons shall have the duties of receiving initial Honor Code complaints, referring complaints to the Advocate and Prosecutor, presiding over formal hearings in a neutral role, receiving the formal determinations of the Honor Council, drafting the statement of formal charges against students about whom a finding of probable cause has been made, and serving in an advisory role to accused students. The Co-chairpersons shall not have the power to vote on any issue at the Honor Council hearing. The Co-chairpersons should also act as a liaison between the accused student and the Deans of Student Affairs following the decisions of a formal hearing.
  2. Selection
  • a. There shall be three Co-chairpersons from the third-year class of council members, one from each campus. In the event that no third year medical student with Honor Council experience is available, a second year medical student with Honor Council experience shall be allowed to be the campus Co-chairperson instead. Fellow members of the Honor Council shall make nominations for the Co-chairpersons, and the election shall be held at the end of the academic year. The body of the Honor Council will vote on the Co-chairpersons.
  • b. The student with the most votes from each campus shall assume the role as Co-chairperson.
  • c. The terms of the Co-chairpersons shall be for one school term, which ends with election of the succeeding Co-chairpersons.
  • d. Should any Co-chairperson become unable to serve or complete his/her scheduled term, another election within the Honor Council shall be held to replace that individual. Refer to item 1C.


     3.  Continuation of Chairperson's term

  • a. Should a sitting Co-chairperson's term as Chairperson expire during an ongoing honor council case, the Chairperson shall continue his/her duties as Chairperson for that case until it is completed. A new Co-chairperson shall then be elected following the completion of the case as described in Section C Part 2.

     4. Transition to the following year's council:

  • It shall be the responsibility of the second year members of the Honor Council to coordinate the election of new members from the incoming class. The Co-chairpersons will have the added responsibility of providing for any necessary transition between the outgoing and incoming Councils.

Each Co-chairperson shall meet with respective Deans of Student Affairs in Wichita and Kansas City, who will serve as the faculty advisors. The faculty advisor shall interact only with the Co-chairpersons of the Council and shall not participate in any aspect of an Honor Council trial.

A. Initial Procedure
1) Any person who, in good faith, believes that an Honor Code violation may have been committed shall make an accusation to a member of the Honor Council, the Dean of Student Services, or the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. The accusation shall be made in writing and shall consist of the following:

  • a) The reporting person's name.
  • b) The identity of the person he/she believes committed an Honor Code violation.
  • c) A brief description of the facts supporting the reporting person's belief. Any designated authority, upon receiving such an accusation, shall immediately forward the complaint to the Co-chairpersons of the Honor Council.

2) Upon receiving an accusation, the Co-chairpersons of the Honor Council shall, within seven days:

  • a) Notify each member of the Honor Council that an accusation has been received.
  • b) Establish a confidential file in the Office of Student Affairs (file to be accessible only to the Chairperson of the Honor Council). The confidential file shall include all documents, including the original accusation and all documents generated by the Council, pertaining to the case.
  • c) Notify the accused student, by telephone or e-mail, of the nature of the accusation, the facts supporting the accusation, and the fact that the matter has been referred to the Honor Council. The Co-chairpersons shall also notify the accused student of his rights as enumerated in Section VIII of this Code. Under no circumstances during the initial conversation with the accused student shall the identity of the individual making the complaint be revealed to the accused student.

3) If, upon the discretion of the Co-chairpersons and Dean of Student Affairs, it is deemed that item (2) directly above shall not occur within seven (7) days, the initial procedures aforementioned must be completed no later than fourteen (14) days from receiving an accusation.

A. Investigation
The Honor Council shall begin its investigation immediately upon receipt of the accusation form.
The investigation shall consist of the following:

  • a) Interviewing the person initiating the accusation.
  • b) Interviewing the student who is the subject of the accusation.
  • c) Interviewing any other person whom the Honor Council believes may have information relevant to the accusation.
  • d) Discovery, collection, and review of all documents or other evidence which may be relevant to the accusation, but limited to those documents which will not unreasonably violate the privacy of the accused student.

B. Determinations
1) Upon completion of its investigation, the Honor Council shall meet to review the evidence and make a determination of whether there is probable cause to formally charge the student with an Honor Code violation. If the accused student is to be charged with a formal violation, the Co-chairpersons of the Honor Council shall then, by email, send a copy of the formal statement of charges to the accused student. Copies of the formal statement of charges shall be sent to the Dean of Student Affairs as well. Since this is not a formal hearing, the consent of three (3) council members (not including the primary advocate, prosecutor, and Co-chairpersons) is required to formally charge a student.
2) If the determination of the Honor Council is that no probable cause exists, the Chairperson of the Honor Council shall notify the accused student and the Dean of Student Affairs of the determination. No further action will be taken in this instance, and any case materials generated will be destroyed.

C. Honor Council Capacity in addressing Infraction # 11, accusation of drug use by a student
1) Upon a violation of Infraction # 11, the accused student will be informed by the Co-chairperson of the Honor Council of the accusation. The accused student will then be given the opportunity to meet with the advocate of the Honor Council. The advocate will serve as an advocate for the accused student in a capacity deemed necessary.
2) The Honor Council will not investigate the accusation.
3) The Honor Council will inform the Dean of Students and Academic Council of the accusation. It will then be the responsibility of the Academic Council to investigate the accusation.
4) If another student is known to be responsible for the distribution of illegal substances (including but not limited to prescription medication), he or she is subject to the same disciplinary proceedings as the accused student.

Advocates
• There shall be advocates from the Honor Council body, one from each campus. They shall be elected to one year terms at the same time as elections for Co-Chairpersons in the same manner. An advocate may not be concurrently a chairperson.
• One advocate shall serve his or her role for each pending case. The advocate at his or her campus shall serve for pending cases at that campus only.
• The advocate of the Honor Council shall act as one of two primary investigators of charges. (The prosecutor shall also act as a primary investigator)
• The advocate shall represent the accused before the Honor Council hearing, unless the accused wishes to represent him/herself.
• The advocate shall prepare the case and investigate all information before bringing the case to the Honor Council. In preparing the case, the chairperson shall rely on the materials generated in the investigation process by both the advocate and prosecutor and any interviews taken place during the gathering of evidence.
• If it is deemed that the advocate of the Honor Council shall not or cannot serve as a primary investigator during a particular case, a majority vote from the Honor Council is required to elect a new advocate from the council for that case.
• The advocate will hand over investigation materials to the Co-chairpersons upon a finding of probable cause and prior to a formal hearing, but the advocate will always remain the primary contact with the accused and witnesses for investigative purposes.
• The advocate cannot vote during a formal hearing.
Prosecutor
• There shall be one prosecutor from the Honor Council body for each formal hearing. The prosecutor cannot concurrently serve as Co-chairperson or advocate. The Co-chairpersons of the Honor Council shall select a member of the Honor Council to serve as prosecutor of the formal hearing.
• The prosecutor will also prepare the case and investigate all information before bringing the case to the Honor Council.
• The prosecutor should commence the formal hearing by reading the formal statement of charges to the accused student and asking the accused student for a plea of "guilty" or "not guilty." Based on the plea, the hearing shall proceed as specified by Article VI, Sections B and C. Should the accused student refuse or otherwise fail to make a plea when requested, the prosecutor shall treat the accused student's response as a plea of "not guilty," and the hearing shall proceed according to Article VI, Section (C).
• The prosecutor may not vote during a hearing.

A. Formal Hearing
• The Co-chairpersons of the Honor Council shall schedule a formal hearing before the Honor Council to take place within fifteen (15) days of delivering the formal statement of charges to the accused student(s). Per written request of the accused student(s), an additional extension of up to fifteen (15) more days may be granted if approved by the Dean of Student Affairs. The Co-chairpersons of the Honor Council shall schedule the hearing at the convenience of the accused student and shall make every effort to choose a date when the accused student, members of the Honor Council, and as many witnesses as possible may be present.
• A quorum of the Honor Council shall consist of 50% of the total number of voting members rounded down to the nearest whole number, plus one, not including the Co-chairpersons, Prosecutor, and Advocate. No Honor Council hearing may proceed without a quorum, the Chairperson, prosecutor, and the advocate present. Alternate members will not count towards quorum unless they are standing in for a voting member of their class.
• All formal hearings will be audio-recorded by the Honor Council. The Co-Chair at the location of the trial will have the responsibility of doing this.
o The recording will be stored by the Dean of Student Affairs with the written report in conjunction with the formal recommendation from the honor council hearing.
o After a period of ten (10) days, the audio recording will be destroyed by the Dean of Student Affairs. The Co-chairperson of the Honor Council is responsible for ensuring the deletion of audio recordings at the appropriate time.
B. Guilty plea
• If the accused demonstrates a firm intent to plead "guilty" during the investigation process, there will be an Honor Council Determination hearing held with the accused in attendance. The accused will then have the opportunity to offer an explanation of his/her conduct or any other statement the accused student wishes to make.
• The student will then formally state their plea. Upon a plea of "guilty", the hearing shall proceed per Article VI Section (B) of this procedure. Should the student choose to plead "not guilty," the hearing shall immediately proceed in accordance with Article VI, Section (C) of this procedure.
• Upon a plea of "guilty," the prosecutor of the Honor Council shall question the accused student as to whether he/she understands that he/she has the right to plead "not guilty," present evidence and witnesses, cross examine witnesses, make argument before the Honor Council on his/her own behalf, and by pleading to "guilty," he/she is specifically and voluntarily waiving those rights.
• If the prosecutor of the Honor Council is satisfied that the accused student is aware of his/her rights under the Honor Code and is voluntarily waiving those rights to make a plea of "guilty," the prosecutor of the Honor Council shall accept the plea. The hearing shall then proceed informally, with the prosecutor of the Honor Council and all Council members free to question the accused student, question any witnesses present, and review any other evidence present at the hearing. If no further questioning is requested, the student will retire to a private room as the members of the Honor Council review the collected evidence and the accused student's statement to determine the formal charges. The Honor Council will then immediately inform the accused of the charges being brought against them.
• Upon notification of the formal charges, the accused student will be released from the hearing. The Honor Council will then privately discuss reprimand recommendation to be submitted to the Academic Council. These recommendations are not to be revealed to the accused student, as they are tentative pending Academic Council approval.
C. Not Guilty plea
• If the student pleads "not guilty," the prosecutor then gives an opening statement. Following this, the student may elect to make opening statements before the Honor Council.
• Following opening statements, the prosecutor shall present witnesses, question them, and offer other evidence in support of the charges against the accused student. Once the prosecution rests with each witness, the Honor Council members may question said witness. Then, the accused student may cross-examine the witness. When the accused is finished with cross-examination for that witness, the prosecution and/or Honor Council members may again question. This may continue until both sides are rested for a particular witness or other evidence. This process repeats for each witness and item of evidence.
• After the prosecutor has presented the case, the accused student shall be permitted to present witnesses and offer other evidence on the student's own behalf. Once the accused has rested for each witness and/or item of evidence, the prosecutor and other Honor Council members may cross-examine or provide question on the basis of its relevance to the formal statement of charges. This process is exactly vice-versa of the process in item 2, with the accused presenting evidence and/or witnesses first, followed by questions of the prosecution and Honor Council.
• After the presentation of evidence and witnesses by the prosecutor and the accused, either side shall have the opportunity to present rebuttal evidence or other witnesses.
• Closing statements are made (beginning with the prosecution and ending with the accused). Following this, a Co-chair shall read these instructions to the other members of the Honor Council:
a) "The accused student, while he/she may have presented evidence, is not required to prove anything at this hearing, and the student's innocence must be presumed until proven otherwise by evidence gained during the investigation."
b) " 'Burden of Proof,' for the purpose of this hearing, shall mean that the Honor Council members must be made to believe, by clear and convincing evidence, that the accused student is guilty of one or more of the charges offered and that the conduct specified in said charges constitutes a violation of the Honor Code." (The term "clear and convincing" is defined in section IX, item 8.)
c) "If you believe that the accused student is guilty of the following claims (list each claim or charge), then you shall vote against the student on said claim or charge. If you do not believe such guilt exists, your vote shall be in favor of the student upon such claim or charge, proceeding in like manner to each charge until all are voted upon."
• After the instructions are given to the members of the Honor Council, the members shall retire to a private room to deliberate. Upon completion of their deliberations, the members of the Honor Council shall present their verdict to the Co-chairpersons, who will then notify the accused student or his/her representative of the result immediately. A Co-chairperson shall then notify the Dean of Student Affairs of the verdict.
• A majority (fifty percent plus one) of the members of the Honor Council present and voting must vote against the student on a charge to enter a finding of guilty. If less than a majority of the members concur on any charge, said charge shall fail and the accused student held not guilty thereon.
D. Verdicts
• If the voting members of the Honor Council find the student guilty on one or more of the charges brought against the student, the Honor Council shall recommend discipline of the student. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
o Written reprimand, to be placed in the student's permanent academic file.
o Academic probation for one or more semesters, to be determined by the Honor Council.
o Suspension for one or more semesters, to be determined by the Honor Council.
o Dismissal.
o Referral to Academic Committee for recommendation of disciplinary action.
• Following a finding of guilty and a recommendation of discipline by the Honor Council, the matter shall be forwarded to the Academic Committee after the five (5) day period for the accused student to file his notice of appeal pursuant to Article VI, Section (E)(1) has expired. Barring an appeal, the Academic Committee shall, with due consideration given to the Honor Council's recommendation of discipline, determine the discipline to be administered to the accused student. The Academic Committee is not bound by the Honor Council's recommendation of discipline and may make its own determination as to the discipline to be administered.
• If the finding of the Honor Council is "not guilty," the charge fails, and there shall be no further proceedings against the accused student on said charge. The contents of the confidential file shall either be destroyed or, if borrowed, returned to its owners. In addition, the audio recording from the trial will be discarded properly.
E. Appellate Procedure
• Following a finding of "guilty" and a recommendation of discipline by the Honor Council, the accused student may, within five (5) working days of receiving formal notification of said finding and recommendation notify the Academic Committee of his/her intent to appeal the finding and/or the recommendation of discipline.
• The accused student shall appear personally, and without representation of any form of counsel, before the Academic Committee and may argue the weight and validity of the evidence presented at the Honor Council hearing. The Academic Committee may, in its discretion and upon a showing by the accused student of just cause and excuse, allow the accused student to present additional evidence not presented at the Honor Council hearing. Under no circumstances, however, shall the Academic Committee consider evidence against the accused student, which was not presented at the Honor Council hearing.
• The Academic Committee shall, after hearing the accused student's appeal, either affirm or reverse the Honor Council's determination of guilt.
a) Should the Academic Committee affirm the Honor Council's determination, the Academic Committee shall proceed, in accord with Article VI, Section (D)(2) of this procedure, with its determination of the discipline to be recommended to the Dean.
b) Should the Academic Committee reverse the Honor Council's determination of guilt, the charge fails and there shall be no further proceedings against the accused student on said charge.
F. Appeal to the Dean of the Medical School
Within five (5) days after the Academic Committee has notified the accused student that it has affirmed the Honor Council's determination of "guilty" and recommended the specified discipline, the accused student may appeal directly to the Dean of the Medical School, who may meet with the student, review the evidence, and either accept or reject the Honor Council's determination of guilt or modify the Academic Committees recommendation of discipline. The determination of the Dean of the Medical School is final, and no further appeal will be available to the accused student.

A) Process
1) Amendments to this code and/or procedure may be proposed by any current member of the student body. In order to be placed before the student body for a vote, proposed amendments must:
a) Be in written form, specifying the section of the code and/or procedure to be amended, the language to be deleted, if any, and the language to be added, if any.
b) Be supported by at least ten (10) percent of the student body, as evidenced by their signatures on a petition or petitions precisely setting forth the information required by Article VII, Section (A)(1)(a) above.
2) Proposed amendments, meeting the requirements of Article VII, Section (A)(1) above, must be submitted to the current Chairperson of the Honor Council at either campus. Said chairperson shall, as soon as practicably possible, contact his/her counterpart at the other campus. Together, the two chairpersons shall determine whether the proposed amendment(s) are in proper form pursuant to Article VII, Section (A)(1) and verify that the names appearing on the petition(s) are those of students currently enrolled and that the number of names on the petition(s) is equal to or greater than ten (10) percent of the current student body. Amendments not in proper form or not accompanied by the requisite signatures shall be rejected and returned to the proposing student(s) with a written explanation of deficiencies. Said deficiencies may be corrected and the proposed amendment(s) resubmitted by the proposing students at any time.
3) Should the Chairpersons of the Honor Council determine that a proposed amendment meets the requirements of Article VII, Section (A), the chairpersons shall schedule a special election to take place.
4) The chairpersons shall notify the members of the Honor Council by phone/mail/e-mail no later than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled meeting and shall make available copies of the proposed amendment to each member of the Honor Council at least four (4) days prior to the meeting date. The proposed amendment shall pass the Honor Council by a 2/3 majority vote of a quorum of members.
• Any proposal that is passed by the Honor Council shall then be submitted to the Medical Students Assembly (MSA) for vote. Proposals shall be made available to all MSA members at least four (4) days prior to voting. The proposal shall be deemed adopted it if receives affirmative votes by a 2/3 majority of a quorum of members.
• Any proposal that does not pass the Honor Council in accord with Article VII, Section (A)(4) shall fail and will not be sent to the MSA for vote. Any amendment that is not adopted by the MSA in accord with Article VII, Section (A) (5) will fail. Any proposal that fails may not be in the same or similar form, proposed or voted on again for a period of one year from the date of the special Honor Council meeting or MSA meeting in which it was defeated.

Any student against whom an Honor Code complaint is made shall have the following rights to be observed by all individuals and entities throughout the course of the Honor Council and appellate proceedings.
A) The accused student shall have the right to notification within seven working days that an Honor Code accusation has been made against him/her.
B) The accused student shall have the right to complete access to any evidence, witness statements, or any other materials generated or discovered by the Honor Council Chairperson during the investigation.
• The accused student, after the complaint is made, shall have the right to perform his/her own investigation of the matter, which includes a review of any documents and any materials generated by the advocate and prosecutor. Prior to any formal hearing, the accused and accuser(s) may not contact any witness of the prosecution regarding the case, and rather is limited only to the testimony generated. If the advocate and/or prosecutor intends to use a witness not previously identified, he/she must notify the accused student. Notification of the identity of any unknown witnesses must occur at least five (5) days prior to the date scheduled for the Honor Council hearing in order to give the accused student access to that testimony.
• The accused student shall have the right to be provided with any evidence, including documentary evidence and/or names of witnesses, which may tend to support the student's defense or is otherwise exculpatory in nature. Following the initial contact of the accused student, the accused student should have the right to all names involved in the complaint including the individual who is filing the complaint.
• The student shall have the right to a speedy investigation and hearing following the delivery of the formal statement of charges.
• At the Honor Council hearing, the accused student shall have the right to cross-examine witnesses offered against him/her, offer his/her own witnesses and evidence on their own behalf, offer rebuttal to the consideration of evidence offered by the prosecutor or witnesses against him/her, refuse to testify in his/her own defense, and make arguments on his/her own behalf before the Honor Council, subject to the Co-chairperson's duty to direct the hearings in an orderly fashion.
• The accused student may during an Honor Council proceeding, be represented by counselor/advisor of his/her choosing, except that said counselor/advisor shall not be paid in any form by the accused student for their services and shall be another KUMC medical student. The accused may also choose to be represented by the Advocate. If the accused chooses to use a counselor/advisor/advocate for the purpose of speaking in defense during a formal hearing, the accused waives the right to speak to the Honor Council, except when being questioned as a witness.
• In addition to those rights enumerated above, the accused student shall also have those rights implied in other sections of this code.
• All proceedings are to remain confidential with the Honor Council, KUMC administration, and all other involved persons before, during, and after investigation, no matter whether there is a formal hearing or not.

1) Intent: A person acts with intent when, at the time they commit the act, their desires to cause the consequences of their act or believes that the consequences are substantially certain to result from it. (Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Ed.).
2) For credit: A student has submitted an item of work for credit when the evaluation of the work is, either wholly or partially, determinant of the student's grade in the course or clinic.
3) Required element of a course or clinic: An item of work is a required element of a course or clinic when the student either knows or should know that submission or performance of the work is necessary to complete the course or clinic, regardless of whether the medical school offers credit for said course or clinic.
4) Academic activity: An academic activity is any function or activity undertaken or engaged in by a student, whether for credit or not, which directly relates to the student's medical education or fulfillment of the requirements for the student's medical education, or any function or activity undertaken or engaged in by a student in the name of the University of Kansas Medical Center.
5) Health care team: For the purposes of this code, a patient's health care team shall include their staff physician(s), the physicians consulted on the patient's behalf, the resident physicians responsible for the patient's care, the nurses responsible for the patient's care, any social workers, psychologists, or technologists consulted on the patient's behalf, and the medical and nursing students assigned to said team.
6) Honor Council proceeding: An Honor Council proceeding shall be considered to have begun with the report of a violation or initiation of a complaint pursuant to Article III of the Procedure and ended with the end of the appeals process in Article VI of the Procedure and shall include any action of the Honor Council, Academic Committee, Dean of Students, Associate Dean for Student Affairs, or Dean of the Medical School pursuant thereto.
7) Relevance: Evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. (Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Edition).
8) Clear and convincing: To be clear and convincing, evidence should be "clear" in the sense that it is certain, plain to understand, unambiguous, and "convincing" in the sense that it is so reasonable and persuasive as to cause you to believe it. From: Pattern Instructions Kansas 3d.
For recent amendments, refer to the following sections:
• Honor Code infractions are now numbered instead of bulleted
• Addition of 11th infraction - IV-C
• Audio recordings - VI-A
• Expediting the formal hearing procedure - VI-B
• Honor Council Alternates, Attendance, Academic Standards, Membership - I - (B-E)
• Added Preamble
• Clarified examples of gaining unfair advantage - second tenet
• Revised copyrighted material to focus on plagiarism or falsifying data - tenth tenet
• Clarified when second elections occur - I-A
• Expanded excused absences - I-C
• Clarified re-entry of council members - I-E
• Clarified when chair elections occur - I-G
• Changed title of Investigator to Advocate and expanded role to represent students - I-A, I-G, IV-B-C, V, VI-A, VIII-B
• Expanded role of Prosecutor to include investigatory functions - V, VIII-B
• Changed pronouns to be more inclusive - VI-E, VIII-B, IX

KU School of Medicine

University of Kansas Medical Center
KU School of Medicine Office of Student Affairs

3901 Rainbow Boulevard
Kansas City, KS 66160-7303
Phone: 913-588-1483