Honor Committee Records, 1920-1930

Title: Honor Committee Records, 1920-1930

ID: RG 076

Primary Creator: Oregon State College. Honor Committee

Extent: 1.0 reels. More info below.

Arrangement: The Honor Committee Records consist of 7 series: I. General Correspondence, 1920-1930; II. Honor Trial Cases, 1920-1930; III. Reports, 1927-1929; IV. Clippings, 1923-1930; V. Reference File, 1920-1930; VI. Constitution of OAC Honor System, 1923; and VII. Memos and Minutes for Honor Trials, 1923-1930.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Honor Committee Records document the Honor System at Oregon State College in the 1920s and include records of honor trials as well as correpondence, reports, clippings, and reference materials documenting the development and functioning of the system. A 1923 constitution for the Oregon Agricultural College Honor System is part of the collection. It appears that the records were assembled or created by James H. Batcheller.

The bulk of the collection pertains to specific honor trial cases. The honor trial case records include correspondence, reports, and transcripts for cases 1-65 and 67-81. The memos and minutes for the honor trials consist of extensive handwritten notes for specific cases.

The reports include a speech given by Batcheller to high school students and counselors about academic dishonesty and the honor system at Oregon State; a five-year report on the honor system issued in 1928; and the Report of Committee on System of Grades and Examination prepared in December 1928, which includes a section on the honor system. The reports also include statistical data and tabulations pertaining to honor cases.

The reference file includes a list of publications and references on student self-government; Honor Committee membership lists; and questionnnaires used to evaluate the effectiveness of the honor system.

An Honor System was developed at Oregon Agricultural College in the early 1920s. The system was self-governed by students and applied to all academic work at the College. An Honor Committee or Honor Council promoted the honor system and constituted the jury for trying all cases of student violation of the honor code. The committee may also have been known as the Committee to Promote Honesty in Academic Work.

James H. Batcheller was a professor of Mining Engineering at Oregon State College from 1919 until 1941. He earned his BS from MIT in 1900 and worked for several mining companies before joining the faculty at Oregon State.

More Extent Information: 25 linear feet

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: The materials were acquired by the Archives in the early-mid 1960s and microfilmed in 1967.

Related Materials: The OSU Memorabilia Collection (MSS MC) files "MC-Honor Committee" and "MC-Honor System" includes brochures, pamphlets, and reports; some of these materials are available on microfilm in this collection.

Preferred Citation: Honor Committee Records (RG 076), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Oregon State College. Honor Committee
Batcheller, James H.

Cheating (Education)--Oregon--Corvallis.
College student government--Oregon--Corvallis.
College students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Honor system (Higher education)--Oregon--Corvallis.
Oregon Agricultural College--Honor system.
Oregon Agricultural College--Students.
Oregon Agricultural College. Honor Committee
Oregon State College--Honor system.
Oregon State College--Students.
Oregon State College. Honor Committee
University History