James Earl OrrJr., assistant provost and director of Virginia Tech’s Office of Undergraduate Academic Integrity, received the Waldvogel Exemplar of Integrity Award.

Orr received the award at the International Center for Academic Integrity’s annual awards banquet Feb. 20 in San Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. The center is the leading organization for promotion of academic integrity in education , working with schools, colleges, and universities to “identify, promote, and affirm the values of academic integrity among students, faculty, teachers, and administrators.”

The Jerry Waldvogel Award “is given to an individual who demonstrates courage and perseverance in championing the ideals of academic integrity in the face of opposition and/or adversity.”

Orr is leading an effort at Virginia Tech to revise the Undergraduate Honor Code. The revisions passed the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors at their most recent meeting March 21.

“Soon after James arrived at Virginia Tech in 2014, he immediately began to work collaboratively with faculty and students to raise awareness on campus in regards academic integrity,” said Rachel Holloway, vice provost for undergraduate academic affairs. “His approach has expanded the university’s views surrounding academic integrity, building knowledge of it among our students and faculty to cultivate academic integrity and promoting fairness in handling cases.”

Orr presented at the International Center for Academic Integrity’s annual conference about strategies he utilized to gain faculty, staff, administrator, and student buy-in for the proposed revisions, as well as efforts to enhance support for academic integrity initiatives and programs at other institutions and schools.

“As a member of the International Center for Academic Integrity for the past eight years, I have deep understanding of the major impact that the center has both in United States and abroad. I was humbled and deeply honored to receive the award from such a prestigious organization,” Orr said. “We work to promote a culture of academic integrity, centered around enhancing student learning and success. We hope to enhance education about academic integrity for students so they can learn the value of it and we can prevent misconduct before it occurs.”

Orr gives more than 100 presentations on academic integrity each year. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin and his master’s and doctorate degrees from Mississippi State University.

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