University of Maryland School of Pharmacy - Terra Mariae Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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Srrra fflartar. 1911 O Itf l mtnr i ' ljalrm IHE school of Medicine of the University of Maryland is the oldest department of this old and honcired University, and it is therefore most appropriate that it sh(iuld have heen the first in this University to succKSSFULLV initiate the honor system at examinations. The adoption of the honor system might he said to mark an epoch in the history of the school and establishes a proud record for the Class of lOU, it being instrumental in having the new plan adopted by all of the medical classes. The Class of 1913 in its sophomore year was the first to adopt the honor system as far as itself was concerned. It was not. however, until December, 1910. that the matter was taken up by the Senior Class ( 1911 ). and at a special meeting the honor system was adopted without one dissenting vote. At the same time a committee of five, with Ernest S. Bulluck as chairman, was elected to confer with like committees from the other three classes. In a short time the committees of the several classes met and in joint session passed the following set of rules by which the honor svstem at this school will be governed : I. The Honor Committee of the School of Medicine of the Universitv of Maryland shall consist of twenty members, five members from each class, said five members con- stituting the Class Honor Committee. II. The Class Honor Committees shall lie elected annually by the popular vote of their respective classes, the nominations being open to all who may wish to be on the Honor Committee, and the five candidates receiving the highest numljer of votes shall be consid- ered elected. III. Each member of the llcmor Committee shall he required to sign the following pledge : I hereby pledge my word of honor that, upon notification, I will at- tend all trials concerning the infringement of the rules of the Honor System, placing my duty as a member of the Honor Committee above all others. I ' . Any student believed to have given or received aid in any final examination, either written or oral, shall be reported to some member of the Honor Committee of his class. The chairman of said Class Honor Committee shall, as soon as possible, and in not later than five days, call a meeting of the Class Honor Committee in conjunction with the chair- man of each of the other three Class Honor Committees, such body constituting the court before whom the accused shall be tried, said court being presided o ' cr by the chairman of the Senior Honor Committee. ' . This court, after hearing the evidence against the accused and after hearing his de- fense, shall decide upon his guilt or innocence. At least five of the seven judges must vote in favor of conviction before the accused is adjudged guilty. ' I. Upon being found guilty of cheating at an examination, the accused shall be ad- vised by the court to leave the school, and, if he does so, nothing further shall be done. If, however, the accused shall refuse to leave, the Faculty shall be told to expel him. ' l. If the accused, claimin g to have received unfair treatment, shall desire to make an appeal, he shall be accorded the privilege of having his case reviewed by an appeal court, consisting of the members of the Honor Committees of all the classes and three

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arrra iHariar. 1311 l inuir (Hmmntttrrfi. liUfl-liril Skmor— E. S. I ' .ulluck, Chainiian : I ' .. J. Asper; I ' . 1 . .McCain, W. I.. I ' .yeiiy. W. I. inn. li-XKiR— 1!. ( ' .. r.islinp. Chairman: W. S. Scott, R. E. Abell. J. E. Hair. E. 1 ' . K. .i)ii}. Sdi ' iioMoKiC — W. 11. ' riiulM)n. Chairman : W. i tsu-ndi irf, R. Xormcnt. F . I.. Dietrich. E. G. Casler. Fkksiim.w — 1. E. Dcihson. Chairman; M. E. 1 laves, ' . M. I ' .arvei-, !• ' . W ' ilsnn. T. R. liraciley.

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arrra iHariar. 1911 mcnilKT- (if the Major Faculty. At least twD-tliirds of the ineml)ers constituting the aji- peal court must be ])resent to constitute a (|uoruni. and the votes of three-fourths of the nienihers present shall he necessary to sustain the judgment and the decision of the lower court, ' i ' here shall be no appeal from the decision of this second court. 111. Xo foreign language shall be used in the examination room. I. . The professor who is giving the e- aniination shall be re(|uested to remain in the room for the purpose of answei-ing any i|uestions of the students concerning any jiart of the examination, etc. X. No tudent shall be permitted to leave the examination room except for xime ab- solute necessity; and the student is to be accompanied by some one designated by the jiro- fe sor in charge, said professor limiting the time of the students Uiv .staying out. XI. it shall be optional with each student whether he shall, by a written pledge, .state lliat he has neither given nor received aid. but such a pledge is recommended. In explanation it might be stated that every school at which the Honor System pre- vails has its own rules which are fitted to its own peculiar needs and conditions. Some have criticised our rules as being too restrictive to suit the ideas of some as to what an Honor System consists of. Whatever might be said, surely no one expects a Utopia even at the millennium, much less at the outset of the establishment of a plan to put the moral plane of the students of a school on a very high liasis. Therefore it is evident that some rules must be had, some method of procedure. If any choose to regard the so-called restric- tions as rules limiting their liberty, as regidations curtailing what they term their rights under an Honor Svstem. then let them consider the matter again, and upon second thought I am sure thev will see that in view of the fact that the Honor System is just in its in- fancy here, too much strain should not be placed ujjon it right at the outset. To be sure. the Honor Svstem here is alread a jiretty strong infant and growing rapidly, but let it gather strength as it grows. It is well to take our lesson from nature in so much at least and nourish our voung one, not expose it on a bleak mountain and leave it to the mercy of the elements. . s time goes on, however, and as the system becomes a part of the stu- dent ' s life, as it becomes an integral part of this L ' niversitw it may be made more like to suit the views of the idealists. . test of the new svstem was gisen at the mid-year examinations and the result was gratifying to all. The fears of a few ])essimists were (|uieted, especially after the cxannn;i- tion in Senior Surgery held under I ' rofessor Randoliih Winsjdw. It was noted in this ex- ;imin;ilion that although the men were permitted to spc;ik to one another, that ;dtliough the were under ])racticallv no restrictions in the room, the students felt more comiielled to pay attention to their (iwn work th,-in under the old system where they were TCd c d ' i . ' The good results under the new system are brought about by extremely simple causes. iMrstly. the student is made to feel that he is honest, and resi)onds accordingly He has no desire to cheat, because he knows that he is taking an examination in which a trust is put in him, and no man likes to betray one ' s contidence. especially his teacher ' s. Second- ly, no student likes to be considered a black sheeii, and that is what he would be con- sidered bv his fellow-classmates were he s en che;iting imder the new system. h ' ormerlv, under the old sysieiii, watchers, alias assistants, were placed in the cxam- in.-ition room. Therefore, by che;iting. there was no one ' s contidence to betray, because no trust w;is put in the student. There was no fear of the o|i|irobrium i f classmates, be- cause the students considered the watchers more or less of a common enemy .and although the majoritv of the students would not themselves cheat, nor attempt to do .so. yet they were apt to consider it as of no i)articular breach of honesty if one of their associates did so. in