House of Reps. delays vote on ethics bill
Group looks for integrity organization membership
By Jessica Sanders
Staff Reporter

The House of Student Representatives postponed voting on a bill Tuesday that proposed TCU join the Center for Academic Integrity, said Jose Luis Hernandez, chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee. It was delayed because of last week’s weather conditions, said Hernandez, a freshman music major.

The Academic Affairs Committee and Integrity Council, a task force created to promote ethics, are working together to pass the bill in both the House and Faculty Senate, Hernandez said.

The bill will come before Faculty Senate Thursday and will be voted on by the House March 18, he said.

“We are hoping for a positive outcome and full support from Faculty Senate,” Hernandez said. “That way whenever we come back to House we will have stronger support for this bill.”

The Center for Academic Integrity is a major organization based out of Duke University that promotes ethics on academic campuses, Hernandez said.

Derek Kompare, chairman of Faculty Senate’s Academic Excellence Committee, said the Center for Academic Integrity would offer resources to professors and Integrity Council members, such as models of how to make ethical decisions and a survey to gauge the ethical state of the campus.

“It would support Integrity Council’s efforts to help bolster ethics on campus,” said Kompare, a radio-TV-film professor.

Membership in this organization would bring TCU more prestige on a national level, Hernandez said.

“In the future we might be able to host conferences, and we might be able to bring speakers from the Center for Academic Integrity,” Hernandez said.

Rob Sandruck, director of membership for the Center for Academic Integrity, said the organization currently includes 319 schools, including Baylor University, Southwestern University and Trinity University.

According to the Center for Academic Integrity’s Web site, membership dues are $350 a year.

Kompare said the benefits of membership outweigh the small cost of dues.

“It’s accountability to make sure we have a system that’s doing what it supposed to do,” Kompare said. “The net benefit will be a better perception of what a TCU education means.”

Integrity Council chairwoman Katie Gordon said membership would show that TCU is serious about improving ethics.

“Our mission statement says we seek to develop ethical leaders,” said Gordon, a senior electrical engineering major. “So having a membership in an organization like that shows that we are taking steps to fulfill that mission statement.”

j.d.sanders@tcu.edu