College Honor Systems

[Thermal]

Are there really cities with universities like that?

If you were referring to my reference (?), I was talking about Rutgers University School of Law, right in scenic Camden, NJ. Camden had the honor of having some of the highest violent crime and murder rates in the nation (ranked #1 most deadly for a while). It has undergone massive improvements in the last several years. While still ranking higher than national average for violent crime, one is now considered more likely to live than not when passing through.

It is right across a river from Philadelphia PA, which is still one of the country's more dicey towns, and home to multiple well respected colleges and universities.

Eta: Philly's Temple University is right smack in the middle of da hood IIRC.

 

[Brainster]

Are there really cities with universities like that? Even universities in the crappiest of cities in the UK, say Liverpool there are no such areas. Yes there are rough areas but that doesn't mean they are no-go zones. There are places in nearby Slough and High Wycombe that these days I may feel a tad vulnerable if I have to go there but if I was younger I wouldn't have given it a second's thought. And usually by rough people will mean more about the general look and feel rather than hotbeds of dangerous to the person criminality.

The University of Southern California is located in South Central LA (home of the Rodney King riots). Basically the campus is safe, during the day.

 

[commandlinegamer]

Are there really cities with universities like that? Even universities in the crappiest of cities in the UK, say Liverpool there are no such areas. Yes there are rough areas but that doesn't mean they are no-go zones.

I started at York in '87. It was made clear that students, particularly women, should avoid certain lanes and streets near the university at night: there had been attacks. If walking to and from the city centre, it should only be along the main road. The uni buildings had a number of covered walkways, lit after dark, and there were security patrols, which one could tag along with as escort if necessary.

 

[ahhell]

Are there really cities with universities like that? Even universities in the crappiest of cities in the UK, say Liverpool there are no such areas. Yes there are rough areas but that doesn't mean they are no-go zones. There are places in nearby Slough and High Wycombe that these days I may feel a tad vulnerable if I have to go there but if I was younger I wouldn't have given it a second's thought. And usually by rough people will mean more about the general look and feel rather than hotbeds of dangerous to the person criminality.

(As a university aged kid I lived in two areas that were notorious for squalor, violence against the person and property, one area was nationally known Moss Side, the area had a lot of students because housing was so cheap, but even there and back then it wasn't as dangerous as its reputation made it out to be.)

There are between 3000 and 6000 colleges in the US, so yes there are some in places like that. Not many but some.

 

[Gubiosak]

At the start of my freshman year, we were all indoctrinated in the college culture and especially the honor system and the importance of never taking unfair advantage of anyone else in the community. The upside is that tests, whether open or closed book and time limited or not, were never proctored. The most restricted case was where tests were handed out in class and collected 1 to 3 hours later. You did not have to remain in the classroom but could go over to the library or a quiet area to do them. But most tests, even time limited ones, were handed out then collected the next day. This applied even to midterms and final exams. But it was nice to be able to study the material in your room and when you felt ready, just take the test.

There were other areas it applied. An example is I was working on an EE project and needed a few ICs. It was after hours so I picked the lock to the supply room, got the parts I needed, and left a list and payment. Not paying for them would have been an honor code violation. Picking the lock wasn't and was a common practice when needed. But doing so and violating someone else's privacy would be a violation.

I really liked it. The burden was on your own sense of self-respect not to cheat.

college honor systems rely on genuine self respect and personal trust rather than constant surveillance to foster true integrity

 

[marting]

college honor systems rely on genuine self respect and personal trust rather than constant surveillance to foster true integrity

True. And when you are treated like honest adults, you act like honest adults. Or at least the vast majority do. I really liked my time at Caltech.

 

[Gubiosak]

True. And when you are treated like honest adults, you act like honest adults. Or at least the vast majority do. I really liked my time at Caltech.

exactly It shows how much further trust and internal accountability go compared to environments built solely on micromanagement and surveillance

 

[arthwollipot]

I'm seeing some pretty low effort posts here...

 

[marting]

Here's where the rubber meets the road. A majority of my finals were 3 hours, open book, handed out one day and turned in either the next day or the day after. What was expected was to study the material for whatever time it took to feel comfortable then open the test and take it for the 3 hours. This was typically done in our dorm rooms. Almost all single rooms. If you chose to cheat, you could take however much time you wanted looking up stuff and working through problems with zero chance of being caught. As I said, I knew I flunked out when I got up the next morning and reviewed my work. I was tempted to fix errors that were obvious to me at that point but didn't. Me sense, hope, and belief, is that most others resisted such a temptation too.