Presumptions

• The Honor Code is predicated upon the premise that students, as developing professionals, will develop professional maturity and integrity through a system of shared responsibility involving the School of Dentistry, its faculty, students, administrative officers, and staff.
• Cooperation exists between students and faculty to share responsibility for modeling and maintaining academic honesty, integrity, and professional behavior.
• The Honor Code embodies the concept of personal honor in the framework of a covenantal pledge and is aligned with Creighton University’s Code of Conduct and the School of Dentistry’s Policies and Procedures for the Promotion of Academic Integrity and the Management of Academic Misconduct.
• The School of Dentistry is committed to the students’ professionalism as evidenced by having students abide by the Honor Code and the codes of ethics promulgated by the American Dental Association and the American Student Dental Association.
• The Honor Code contributes to the development and expression of moral standards that are the cornerstone of the academic community, the greater society, and the profession of dentistry.
• The Honor Code creates an environment where academic dishonesty is socially and professionally unacceptable, where institutional expectations are clearly understood, and where students assist their peers in abiding by its contents.
• Students are obligated to take action in the event they learn that a fellow student has violated this Code. The student can take action by asking the violator to refrain from the behavior and/or to report himself/herself to the appropriate authority. The student can also report the behavior to appropriate student, faculty, or administrative representatives as well as to the Committee on Academic Misconduct via its Chair, the Assistant / Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Principles and Duties

1. Fidelity / Honesty / Truthfulness: the student maintains high standards of academic and professional honesty and integrity.
   1. The student exhibits honesty during didactic, preclinical, and clinical communications and evaluations.
   2. The student refuses to provide unfair advantage by assisting another student during a didactic, preclinical, or clinical evaluation in a manner not prescribed by the instructor.
   3. The student refuses to alter, forge, falsify, or fabricate information, documentation, or service.
   4. The student maintains confidentiality of patient information.
   5. The student strives to attain high levels of competence, admits errors, and not knowingly misleads others or promotes oneself at the expense of others.
2. Responsibility and Sense of Duty: the student fulfills duties and obligations of the profession of dentistry which are expected by the public.
   1. The student becomes familiar with and adheres to the codes of ethics promoted by the American Dental Association and the American Student Dental Association.
   2. The student’s responsibility parallels the responsibility of professional practitioners who maintain high professional standards by monitoring the conduct of their peers.
   3. The student is dedicated to helping patients, colleagues, the profession, and society to reach their maximal potential.
   4. The student maintains quality of care while addressing conflicts of interest.
   5. The student engages in conduct that reflects positively on the School of Dentistry and the profession.
3. Justice and Respect for the Rights of Others: the student respects the rights, privileges, and property of other members of the academic community as well as those of the University.
   1. The student deals with faculty, staff, peers, and patients in a dignified, considerate manner and with a spirit of cooperation.
   2. The student views and treats all people encountered in an academic or clinical capacity equally in regards to liberties, rights, respect, acceptance, and opportunities.
   3. The student submits his or her own original work in a manner prescribed by the instructor and with the expectation that the grade reflects only that student’s achievement.
   4. The student is respectful toward the learning process and to those involved with it.
   5. The student respects the ideas and words of others by attributing the quoted or paraphrased portions to their original sources.
   6. The student strives to uphold the dignity and respect of the profession of dentistry by his or her dress, personal appearance, conduct, and conversation.

Students will be asked to sign a pledge at the beginning of each academic year acknowledging that they have read the Honor Code, understand its principles, and agree to abide by and support them.