Learning Through the Student Conduct Process

Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution Lance Watson

Before participating in a hearing/individual meeting . . . Men (N = 72)

Women (N = 23)

Total (N = 95)

I could describe and prioritize my personal values and/or the guiding principles that I live by

4.42 4.52 4.44

My actions/decisions/choices were usually congruent with my personal values and guiding principles

4.24 4.23 4.23

I could identify the rules/regulations pertaining to students at Northwestern University

3.75 3.48 3.68

I felt personally accountable to the Northwestern community 3.33 3.65 3.41

Before making decisions/choices, I considered how those decisions/choices would impact the community

3.59 3.70 3.62

After making decisions/choices, I reflected on how those actions/decisions/choices actually did impact others, if at all

3.92 3.91 3.92

I could articulate how my actions/decision/choices had impacted me, personally

4.17 4.43 4.23

If/When my actions/choices/decisions caused harm or hurt to others, I made efforts to repair the harm/hurt

4.31 4.26 4.29

Learning Associated with Student Conduct Hearing/Individual Meeting (Response option: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = somewhat disagree, 3 = neither disagree nor agree, 4 = somewhat agree, to 5 = strongly agree)

After participating in a hearing/individual meeting . . .

Men (N = 71)

Women (N = 22)

Total (N = 93)

I am better able to describe and prioritize my personal values and/or the guiding principles that I live by

2.66 3.00 2.74

My actions/decisions/choices are more congruent with my personal values and guiding principles 2.73 3.00 2.79

I can better identify the rules/regulations pertaining to students at Northwestern University

3.31 3.23 3.30

I feel personally accountable to the Northwestern community

2.69 3.09 2.78

Before making decisions/choices in the future, I will consider further how those decisions/choices would impact the community

3.13 3.32 3.17

After making decisions/choices, I reflect further on how those actions/decisions/choices actually did impact others, if at all

3.31 3.45 3.34

I can better articulate how my actions/decision/choices had impacted me, personally

3.07 3.41 3.15

If/When my actions/choices/decision caused harm or hurt to others, I make greater efforts to repair the harm/hurt 3.37 3.18 3.32

Number of responses

Prior to participating in process: 95 • 72 Men

• 23 Women After participating in the process: 93

• 71 Men • 22 Women

Assessment Context

The Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution’s main responsibility is to resolve incidents in which student behavior is inconsistent with the community values and expectations of the

University. These resolutions include informal conversations resulting in advisory letters, individual meetings to determine

responsibility for alleged policy violations and sanctions if appropriate, and formal hearings in which a board made up of members of the campus community determines responsibility

and sanctions if appropriate.

Learning Outcomes

Students who participate in a student conduct resolution facilitated by the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict

Resolution will (or be able to): • Identify how their behavior is or is not consistent with

Northwestern’s Statement of Community Principles and Values and/or Student Code of Conduct.

• Analyze the impact of their actions on others and the community.

• Evaluate their personal values (as they relate to this particular type of action) and how they played a role (or not) within

their behavior during the incident. • Change their behavior to align with Northwestern’s Statement

of Community Principles and Values and the Student Code of Conduct

• Repair the harm they created in the community as a result of their actions.

Data Analysis

Prior to student conduct process • 73% of respondents indicated that they agreed or strongly agreed about their ability to achieve the learning outcomes

prior to participating in the conduct process. • Students self-reported lower levels of agreement with the

learning outcomes in the areas of personal accountability to NU, consideration for the impact of their actions on the

community, and knowledge of NU policies Gender Delineation

• Men and women self reported similarly on values congruence and impact on other with 77% reporting that

the agreed or strongly agreed with these outcomes. • Women self report higher than men in 4 of 8 questions

Women • Highest ratings: Values articulation (the highest), seeing

impact of actions on self, considering for impact on the community, and feeling accountable to NU.

• Lowest Ratings: Identify the rules and regulations (the lowest) and making efforts to repair harm

Men • Highest Ratings: Values articulation (the highest, though

not above women), identify the rules and regulations, and repairing harm

• Lowest Ratings: Accountability to NU

After student conduct process • Mean score = 3.07.

• Areas of growth include: Identifying rules and regulations, reflecting on the impact on

others, efforts to repair harm Women

• Greater growth than men in 6 of 8 areas • Greatest Growth: Reflecting on their

impact on others, seeing the impact of actions on self, and considering

community impact • Lowest growth: efforts to repair harm

Men • Highest areas of growth: Identifying rules

and regulations of NU, repairing harm to others, and impact on others

• Lowest area of growth: Describing personal values

Assessment Strategy

Annual OSCCR survey sent to all individuals/organizations who have participate in the student conduct process each year.

• Distribution – Email • Timeline – 2.5 weeks

• Incentive – drawing for 25 Andy’s Frozen Custard gift cards

Cross-Sectional Research Design: students were asked to self report their level of ability related to each learning outcome

prior to participating in the conduct process and the growth in these same areas after participation.

Initial data was delineated by gender and tests of significance

were run on the data.

Discussion

Overall • Overall gains could not be statistically verified due to the

change in questions. There was no statistical significance between men and women.

• Growth was found in students better understanding NU’s policies, how their actions impact others, and their

willingness to engage in repairing harm that was caused by their actions. This could indicate that students see that their behaviors have consequences beyond themselves and that

they come into conflict with NU’s state policies. • Students did not see growth in their personal values and, in

turn, did not find their values becoming more congruent after participating in the process.

• Personal accountability to NU was rated low in both pre and post experiences, which comes in contrast with slight growth

in understanding of policies. This could show students understand that there are rules, but they do not feel

personally accountable to them. Break down by gender

• Women more often than men rated themselves higher in both the pre and post responses.

• Women showed growth in identifying their actions impacted others and themselves; however, their growth as far as how

to repair harm caused was low • Men showed high ratings for knowing their personal values;

however, after participating in the process there was little growth in whether they could better describe their values.

• Men showed lower ratings of personal accountability to Northwestern both prior to participating and after.

Future Implications

• Greater training with conduct administrators on the learning outcomes and how to conduct intentional meetings to facilitate growth in all

areas • Ongoing branding and education around

policies and expectations of NU • Further utilize restorative practices in conduct

work to show broader impacts of behaviors on the community.

• Engage campus regarding community principles and values to foster greater “buy

in” for being a responsible citizen at NU Acknowledgements

A special thank you to Dr. Mary Desler for her assistance and support throughout this assessment project.