Addressing student misconduct @ lcc STUDENT LIFE DIVISION WORKSHOP Melanie Humphreys Vice President, Student Life Lithuania Christian College December

addressing student misconduct @ lcc

STUDENT LIFE DIVISION WORKSHOP

Melanie Humphreys

Vice President, Student Life

Lithuania Christian College

December 2004

purpose

To understand the philosophy and history behind LCC discipline procedures

To identify any Lithuanian legal requirements of our disciplinary process

To be familiar with current practice and policies To identify shortcomings of current discipline

procedures To understand role and responsibility of staff

and faculty members in the discipline process

liberal arts tradition

Inherit more than a set of classes History of student

conduct and guiding philosophy for student discipline policy

Shift from ‘in loco parentis’

Expectations of students

Due process Rules and regulations Difference between

private and public

Contextualization issues Role of the university

LCC - “whole person” education

Higher Ed law in LT Greater separation of

public and private life Public services less

developed

distant tradition

Loosely coupled (philosophy and practice) discipline based on North American traditional models

Influenced by North American law – understanding of the rights of student – to due process, representation, and justice

not distant tradition

Influence of faith, Christian world view and understanding of grace

Short history already built on balancing discipline and grace

Student examples of disciplinary action and restoration to community

EM 1999 DJ 2002

strengths and limitations of traditional models

Strengths: Demonstrate attentiveness to community standards

and behaviours Use judicial processes that support resolution in a fair

and reasonable manner Provide all parties with opportunities and procedural

fairness Provide consequences for students found in violation

of institutional standards Allow for participatory governance through involving

faculty and students

Presentation Legal Issues Conference 2004 - Tribbinsee, N., Leavitt, A.L., Jones, L.B. Facilitated by Kelly, R. “When is a Hearing Not a Hearing? Alternative Approaches to Addressing Student Misconduct”

Strengths (continued): A just punishment can be therapeutic Facilitate ethical dialogues in an educational setting Employ clear language Include informal as well as formal procedures Recognize that authority for student discipline is vested in

delegated staff Framed by investigatory rather than more adversarial models Allow for fair evaluation of accused students’ responsibility for

violating university requirements, usually without formal rules of evidence required in criminal proceedings


Limitations: Even when processes are not established within the strictest

legal framework, legalism and proceduralism can make proceedings so adversarial that the educational purposes of judicial programs can be lost

Promote a “winner and loser” scenario by setting students as antagonists with each other or with the institution Traditional models have the perspectives of an accused with a point of view, an accuser with a point of view, and a hearing officer that has to make a decision between them

Do not always distinguish, in the level of formalism or process, differences among campus rule violations, Infractions against campus community standards and more serious criminal behaviours


Limitations (continued): Timeliness can be compromised by the adversarial

nature of hearings – which encourage strategies of procedural delay

Can limit opportunities to apply institutional standards to individual cases in ways that enhance ethical development by providing interventions that represent learning outcomes


our history

1997 – Student Life department est. 1st Dean of Students Comprised of RL, Sports & Rec Committee, & Student Council Karklu dorm regulations Classes held at KU buildings

1999 2nd Dean of Students (now VP, SL) Revised existing discipline policies (May 1999) Fall semester - 1st Student Handbook published

our history

Spring 2001 C.A.S. est. Committee on Academic Standing brought together Academic

and SL discipline

Fall 2001 - 1st Director of Community Life Deal with discipline issues prior to suspension and dismissal Added to CAS committee Philosophical and language change from ‘Discipline policy’ to

Good standing policy’

Spring 2002 Substance Misuse Policy Weapons Policy

our history

Legal advice (2002) Meeting with LCC lawyer (Lideika, Petrauskas, Valiunas ir partneriai) LCC has the right to determine regulations and

policies for our dorm and our student body. We need to

be sure regulations are approved by a governing body (Administrative Cabinet)

inform students about the regulations follow our own regulations

Fall 2002 – 2nd Dir. of CL Revision of Good Standing Policies

nontraditional approach

Experts on restorative Justice Michael Umbreit Howard Zehr – The little Guide to Restorative Justice Principles and practices are derived from faith

communities Examples – University of Oregon, University of

Colorado at Boulders Zehr’s umbrella set of principles can be put to use in

a variety of ways: victim/offender mediation, family group conferencing, and community circles


two different views

Criminal Justice Crime is a violation of the

law and the state Violations create guilt Justice requires the state

to determine blame (guilt) and impose pain (punishment)

Central focus: offenders getting what they deserve

Restorative Justice Crime is a violation of

people and relationships Violations create

obligations Justice involves victims,

offenders, and community members in an effort to put things right

Central focus: victim needs and offender responsibility for repairing harm


three different questions

Criminal Justice What laws have been

broken?

Who did it?

What do they deserve?

Restorative Justice Who has been hurt?

What are their needs?

Whose obligations are these?


towards a philosophy of restoration

Discipline Policy 1999 Balance individual and

community needs 3rd person Other?

Good Standing Policy 2004 Good standing

definition Value based 1st person Academic & SL

policies brought together

Other?

revision needed?

Further definition for student misconduct On campus

Athletics/Recreation Class

Other?

Documents

Addressing student misconduct @ lcc STUDENT LIFE DIVISION WORKSHOP Melanie Humphreys Vice President, Student Life Lithuania Christian College December