Holly Tatum

Holly Tatum serves as the Mary Sabel Girard ’34 Professor of Psychology at Randolph College, leading research on academic integrity with publications in Ethics & Behavior, Theory into Practice, and the American Psychological Association. Her work examines honor codes, student perceptions of academic dishonesty, and institutional factors influencing ethical behavior in higher education.

Professor Tatum’s research centers on the psychological mechanisms behind academic misconduct, focusing on how honor code structures, institution size, and student-faculty ratios shape cheating behaviors. She develops evidence-based interventions to strengthen academic integrity through theoretical modeling and cross-cultural validation of measurement instruments, emphasizing practical applications for educators.

Her publication timeline (2017-2025) reveals consistent advancement in academic integrity scholarship, shifting from theoretical frameworks toward empirical validation of misconduct measurement tools and international comparative studies of honor code effectiveness.

Tatum actively mentors undergraduate researchers, notably collaborating with Shelby Koretke ’17 on Randolph’s Honor Code analysis. Departmental resources were enhanced through a 2019 VFIC grant and alumna memorial fund that renovated psychology facilities, supporting her ongoing studies of student ethical development.

The Psychology Department’s modernized research spaces—funded by external grants—enable Tatum’s investigations into academic misconduct through updated experimental environments and collaborative student projects.