All new classes at Ashesi are allowed to discuss the honor system during their first semester and to make a conscious decision to ratify the Honor Code or to operate outside the honor system. First-year classes are required to vote after the mid-semester break of their first semester, and the result of that vote is effective for their four years of college at Ashesi.

Classes that vote not to join the honor system are not allowed to join at a later date. Similarly, classes that vote to join the honor system during their first year are not allowed to vote out of the system at a later date.

To ensure that there is a clear consensus among classes that join the honor system, a class must achieve a 2/3 majority vote in favor of joining the honor system.

The honor code is intended to build a high-trust community, to put students in charge of their ethical posture and the reputation of their alma mater, and by so doing, to take a significant step in Ashesi’s mission to educate a new generation of ethical leaders in Africa. Classes that choose to join the honor system are deciding to put every member of that class in charge of enforcing a no cheating environment.

Students will be making an affirmative choice to act according to a high standard of personal ethical behavior and to hold their peers to the same standard. Classes that take this stand with regard to exams are also implicitly committing to ethical behavior outside the classroom as well. They will be afforded a high level of trust by the faculty and administration, and as such, will fully participate in a university that is currently the only one in Ghana where students can be trusted to take unproctored exams.

Classes that choose not to join the honor system are simply stating that they are not prepared, as a class, to hold each other responsible for ethical behavior. Some students who vote against the honor system may do so because they are unwilling to personally commit to Ashesi’s ethical code and are not in favor of being held accountable by their peers. Classes that choose to operate outside the honor system will not have the same level of trust with faculty and administrators. Their exams will be proctored.

Please note, however, that the University remains committed to its principles and will hold all students accountable regardless of whether their class has joined the honor system or not. Not joining the honor system does not constitute a license to cheat; it only means that members of the class will be less trusted than others in this community. The University will continue to hold students individually responsible for complying with the University’s code of ethics.

The Office of Student and Community Affairs oversees the implementation of the Examination Honor Code, working closely with faculty, students, and student government. Suspected violations of the Examination Honor Code may be reported by intentionally omitting to sign the pledge—included with every exam booklet—or by speaking directly with the faculty member teaching the class or the Dean of Student and Community Affairs.

If a pledge is unsigned and unchecked, the student will be contacted to determine whether they intentionally left the pledge unsigned. If the absence of signature was intentional, the faculty member or Dean will investigate the matter further.

Violations of the Examination Honor Code are adjudicated by the Ashesi Judicial Committee (AJC) as described in the Ashesi Student Handbook.

Information about the AJC can be found in the student handbook (See student handbook page 141 section 4).