What's the Underlying Problem? 

• We have an excessive number of outreach events and strategies
  • Opening Days Lecture
  • Expos Visits
  • Lecture Visits
  • First-Year Study Breaks
  • Dining Hall Tabling
  • Tabling Outside (throughout the year)
  • Student Activities Fair
• We lack data / direction
  • Without any sort of survey data or metrics, we have no idea about the quality or effectiveness of our outreach strategies. Other than anecdotal HC member feedback, the Council's Outreach strategy has essentially been to cast a wide net and hope to snag a few successes. 
  • This is an issue because the point of our outreach is to promote the Honor Code and academic integrity on campus. From encouraging use of Harvard's resources, to asking for extensions, to also just submitting less-than-perfect assignments when needed, the point of our work is less about recruiting for the Council and more about promoting a culture shift on campus. 
  • But, with limited time and resources, it is imperative that we reconsider our different approaches to outreach so that we can more effectively carry out our mission. 

My Recommendations / Deliverables

• Distribute Periodic Surveys (perhaps annually)
  • I've received 95 responses on a survey gauging student perceptions of cheating on campus and their experiences with us as a body. 
  • We should continue this practice to evaluate the effectiveness of our approaches in the future, as well. 

• Cease First-Year Study Breaks
  • These events are our costliest approach to outreach, and survey data / HC interviews have shown that they are minimally effective. This data shows that they are, in many cases, enjoyable for neither the HC hosts nor the attendants. 
  • We can conserve energy and resources and redirect them toward more effective opportunities. 
  • Alternative: Host bigger, open-invitation study breaks less frequently throughout the year. 
    • Making these open invite will draw a more interested audience than a regularly, weekly, entryway study break would. They would save HC members' time, which can be redirected to other forms of outreach. 
• Stop Lecture Visits
  • According to the survey data and HC interviews, lecture visits are perceived as generally less effective than expos visits. (Perhaps because larger class sizes reduce student attentiveness)
  • Alternative 1: Perhaps visit sections, instead--though this may be too time intensive.
  • Alternative 2: Develop a video to have played in classes and/or sections. Would be less time-intensive for Honor Council members, and faculty might find this less disruptive.
• Utilize Promotional Video
  • This can be uploaded to Honor Council website, played in classrooms, or in a wide number of other ways. The content / themes can be readjusted, but the focus should be on putting a face to the Honor Council. Student perception may be negatively impacted by a seeming lack of transparency of the body or a lack of understanding of the Council's work. A video like the one below can be an effective step in the right direction. 
• Focus on Faculty Outreach
  • The culture shift toward a campus that values academic integrity must take place both bottom-up and top-down. 
  • Honor Council outreach has focused heavily on student-targeted approaches; however, inconsistency in course policies, varying emphases on the value of integrity, collaboration uncertainties, etc., have all likely undermined the effectiveness of the Council's work. 
  • The Honor Council is fortunately forming a "Faculty Outreach" committee. The focus should be on encouraging faculty to dedicate time to clearing up syllabus policies, discussing the importance of academic honesty, and to foster relationships with faculty members in order to promote consistent reporting of instances of dishonesty to the Council.