What is the Academic Honesty Committee? The Academic Honesty Committee (AHC) is a school committee that serves to review cases of academic dishonesty and to suggest an appropriate response. What does the AHC do? The AHC serves two purposes: It can review suspected cases of academic dishonesty to possibly support the decision of the faculty member. The AHC can suggest a response (action/punishment). Does the faculty have to use the AHC if they suspect dishonesty? No. Ultimately, it is the responsiblity of each individual faculty member to decide whether or not dishonesty has taken place and what response to make. The AHC only makes suggestions. Faculty members are not obligated to follow them. How does the AHC review suspected cases? The AHC reviews a case just the same as any faculty would. The AHC will review all pertinent material and decide whether dishonesty has taken place or not. The idea is that the AHC is there to give faculty a second opinion on cases. How does the AHC decide on a response? The main strength of the AHC is in its ability to remember past acts of academic dishonesty. Previously, each faculty worked in relative isolation to determine the response to each case. Unless faculty shared information with each other, each case was considered a separate act. Now, a response can be generated based on a student's background. What kind of responses does the AHC make? The suggested response from the AHC runs the gamut as described in the student code, ranging from "no action" to expulsion from the university. Generally, the more severe the act the more severe the response. Further, the response may be increased by a student's previous activities. Even if a faculty member doesn't use the AHC, do they have to tell them about a case? In order to build up the case history, and to help generate the filtered report, it is suggested that all cases of academic dishonesty be reported to the AHC. How does a faculty member report a case? Send mail to ahc@cis.gvsu.edu.