Can you walk us through your Citizen Leader Fellowship project? What were the key insights you gained from your study?

Nguyen: My Citizen Leaders Fellowship project was born from a meeting with University leaders, Honor executives, and international student leaders to discuss the disproportionate report rate of Honor offenses for international students. We hypothesize that unconscious biases like spotlighting, which is the tendency of faculty to monitor international students more closely, contribute to the problem. As an international student and an Honor Support Officer, I have the benefit of seeing this issue from both sides. As a result, I decided to conduct an ethnographic study of international students' perception and attitude towards the Honor System for my fellowship project. From this study I gained three important insights and the most glaring is that education about the Honor System is quite lacking. This leads to a perception of Honor as mysterious and untrustworthy, which adds to the existing issues of language and cultural barriers and prevents some international students from seeking out information. The most curious finding is that despite this lack of faith, many international students still strongly believe in the mission of the Honor Code to build and maintain the Community of Trust. I think that with the advent of the new Multi Sanction system there is a real chance for the Honor Committee to fix these problems and build new bridges with the international student community. 

As someone straddling both Vietnamese and U.S. cultures, how do you think cultural and linguistic factors influence understandings of academic integrity? Could you provide some specific examples from your experiences or research?

Nguyen: When I came to the US at age fourteen to attend high school, I was shocked by the difference in what both cultures value. While Vietnamese culture focuses more on the well-being of the collective and conforming to society, US culture places an emphasis on self-determination and standing out among the crowd. As I grew older and formed my own identity, I realized that as a result of my hybrid upbringing, the way my Vietnamese friends and I approach problems with cultural undertones like interpersonal conflict are completely different. For example, where they might use soft diplomacy to smooth over things, I prefer to confront the problem directly. I think these differing tendencies contribute to a mismatch in how students seek out help and how instructors respond to them, which might affect their perceptions of academic integrity. 

What challenges did you encounter while working on reforming the Honor system, and how did you overcome them? Can you share any successful initiatives or changes you've implemented to address the disproportionate number of honors violations among international students?

Nguyen: While working on my ethnographic study, I had to conduct in-depth interviews with many international students, and the biggest challenge was to get them to talk to me. Some students were hesitant to be put in the spotlight and others avoided me because they were shy. In the end, I recruited and trained two people inside Honor who were fluent in the students' native languages or part of their community to interview them instead. As a result, my project was successful and helped inform Honor's new "International Students Day" event last November, which is an initiative to promote conversation and sharing of information between Honor leadership and international student groups. 

What are your next steps at UVA and beyond? Are there any future projects or initiatives you're particularly passionate about pursuing?

Nguyen: As a member of Honor's Faculty Advisory Committee, I've been working with the Center for American English Language and Culture (CAELC) on a guide for Teaching Assistants in matters of Honor violations and highlighting specific challenges faced by international students. We plan to partner with the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) this fall to make this guide available to TAs, and more! When I began my project I never imagined that it would make an impact on organizations outside of Honor, and I'm very excited to continue pursuing initiatives that improve the relationship between Honor and international students.