RUNNING HEAD: Higher education observation paper: the office of student conduct

Higher Education Observation Paper: The Office of Student Conduct Carrie Cristancho Georgia Southern University

Higher education observation paper Introduction

At a higher education institution, large offices often have a major impact on the workings and direction of the institution; however, there are many smaller offices on campus that make the same impact on a university as larger offices do. While large offices often make decisions at meetings and forums, many of the smaller offices use a process to make decisions. I decided I wanted to observe one of those offices, the Office of Student Conduct at Georgia Southern University. The Office of Student Conduct does not just handle disciplinary action on campus, but also situations where students may have a hold on their account, situations that include withdrawal from a course or from the university, and crisis management when students are involved. I chose to observe the disciplinary process within the Office of Student Conduct to understand how student disciplinary cases are processed. Between August 2012 and April 2013, the Office of Student Conduct has seen a total of 981 cases. Each of these cases involves an extensive research process that can include multiple different meetings until the case is closed. These cases range from drug complaints to academic dishonesty. Observation The judicial process of the Office of Student Conduct has three different parts. Each case begins with an initial meeting between a student and an administrative coordinator within Student Conduct. During this meeting, a student is brought into the office and informed of the charges he or she may be facing. The student is given paperwork to sign that indicates the student understands the charges against him or her. This paperwork also requires the students initials next to a list of student rights in order to ensure the student has read the rights he or she has. The coordinator will also explain to the student the proper sanctions that may accompany the charges the student is faced with. After this paper work is filled out, the coordinator asks the

Higher education observation paper student questions about the incident that brought him or her to the office. At this point, the student gives an account of what happened in his or her point of view. The coordinator asks the student questions along the way to clear up any confusion that may arise as the student tells the story. After the student is has completed his or her account of the incident, the coordinator will give the student options for the next step. If the coordinator cannot make a decision to pursue or dismiss the charges and decide sanctions immediately, the coordinator will let the student know the decision made via e-mail. If the coordinator can make a decision to dismiss the charges, he or she will inform the student that the charges are dismissed. If the coordinator can make the

decision to pursue the charges, the student is given three options. The first option is to accept the decision the coordinator has made. The second option is to deny the decision the coordinator is made and opt to have a formal hearing with a hearing officer. The third option is to deny the decision the coordinator has made and opt to have a formal hearing with a full judicial board. If the student chooses to deny the decision and opt to have a formal hearing with a hearing officer, the student will be assigned a hearing time and date. Upon arriving, the student will meet with the coordinator to review the case along with any hearing procedures the student may be confused or concerned about. The student and coordinator will then meet the hearing officer in a conference room. The hearing officer will turn on a recorder, state the date and time of the hearing, and ask the student if he or she understands the hearing procedures. The student is also asked if he or she accepts the charges brought against him or her. If the student denies the charges, the goal of the hearing is to determine whether the student should be found responsible and assign the appropriate sanctions. If the student accepts the charges, the goal of the hearing is only to assign the appropriate sanctions. If there is a witness to speak on the behalf of the coordinator presenting the case, he or she will come into the meeting to make a statement and

Higher education observation paper answer questions from the coordinator, the student, and the hearing officer. Once the witness is no longer needed, he or she will leave the room. The coordinator will then ask the student to explain the incident, and, during the students explanation, the coordinator will ask questions similar to the questions asked in the first meeting. After the student answers the coordinators questions, the hearing officer will ask the student questions. After these questions are answered, the student has the opportunity to ask the hearing officer questions or bring forward a character witness or a witness of the incident to speak on his or her behalf. Those witnesses will also be asked questions from the hearing officer, the coordinator, and the student. After the students witnesses leave the room, the coordinator and hearing officer will ask any final questions they

may have, the student will be able to give a closing statement, and the hearing will be adjourned. If the student chooses to deny the decision and opt to have a formal hearing with a judicial board, the student will be assigned a date and time for the hearing and the board will be chosen. The judicial board is made up of a group of volunteers from across the university that represents faculty, staff, and students. The hearing with the judicial board follows the same procedures as the hearing with the hearing officer, the main difference being that the board has the opportunity to question the coordinator, the student, and any witnesses that are brought into the hearing. Decision Making One of the key differences in each level of judicial affairs is who makes the decisions. In the initial meeting, the coordinator has the ability to make a final decision on a case. If the case involves only one student, the coordinator may be able to make an immediate decision after listening to the student and reviewing any evidence. If the incident involved other students, the

Higher education observation paper coordinator will take time to listen to each students account of the incident before making a decision. In a hearing that involves just a hearing officer, the hearing officer will make the decision based on the evidence presented in the formal hearing. In a hearing that involves a judicial board, the board will come to a decision after the hearing has ended. In this circumstance, the board will remain in the conference room after the student has been dismissed to discuss the case. After the board members have discussed their viewpoints of the case, the hearing officer will ask the board to vote on whether or not the student is responsible for the charges brought against him or her. Judicial boards consist of five, six, or seven individuals to vote (Cantor, 2013). In the case of a tie vote, the hearing officer will make a decision (Cantor, 2013). If the student is found responsible, the board will discuss sanctions and come to an agreement on the appropriate sanctions for the violation. While the decision making process is a simple and effective, there are many issues that could potentially arise. Issues One main issue is keeping hearings fair for every student. If there is a situation that involves multiple students and each student takes a different route in the process, the sanctions assigned can be very different. For example, Students A, B, and C were caught drinking alcohol in a dorm room and were all charged with an alcohol violation and joint responsibility (being present when a violation occurred and not informing someone in charge in order to stop the violation) ("Student conduct code," 2012). Student A accepted responsibility for both charges and was given a sanction to complete an alcohol course and pay a $100 fine. Student B accepted responsibility for the joint responsibility violation, but denied the alcohol violation. Student B decided to have a hearing in front of a hearing officer who decided the student was not responsible for drinking alcohol, but was responsible for the joint responsibility charge. Student

Higher education observation paper B was asked to write a short paper on the consequences of being associated with students who may be negative influences. Student C denied responsibility for both charges, opted to have a

hearing in front of a board, and the board found him responsible for both charges. Student C was assigned to three months of disciplinary probation, a required alcohol course, and a $100 fine ("Student conduct code," 2012). Each route can lead to very different outcomes, which can be unfair to the students involved. Another major set of issues are the many gray areas in Student Conduct, one of these being that students do not fully understand their rights as Federal rights are not guaranteed in the university system (Calhoun, n.d.). For example, in the United States court system, an individual is innocent until proven guilty; however, i the university system, decisions are made using preponderance which is defined as, what is more likely to have occurred based on the evidence presented (Training manual: University, 2011). Many students think that if a charge cannot be proven, then they will be found not responsible, but that is not the case. If 51% of the evidence finds them responsible, the individual making the decision will find them responsible. Another right that students do not have on campus is the right to deny the searching of personal property. If a student lives on campus, that student signed a contract that took away his or her right to deny an officer or administrator access to his or her personal property ("Housing contract 2012-2013," 2012). A third, and possibly more overlooked, issue is retention and loss of finances that accompanies the judicial process. Research has shown that half of the students that enter college to not graduate and many of these students do not graduate because they are either expelled or suspended due to disciplinary action (College completion: who, 2004), Each year, there are increased amounts of students in housing (Schloss & Cragg, 2012).This is a positive thing for revenue, but it also leads to an increased amount of students who are violating housing rules. Students who are found in violation of the drug policy at

Higher education observation paper Georgia Southern University are removed from housing ("Student conduct code," 2012). Since many students use financial aid for housing, they often cannot find a place to live after being removed and are forced to drop out of college. If students are forced to drop out of college because they cannot afford housing and tuition at the same time, this creates a large financial burden on a university as tuition and fees make up a substantial part of revenue (Eckel & King, 2004). At Georgia Southern University, there were 41 students removed from housing and 40 students who were suspended from the university (Cantor, 2013) In-state students pay $11,372

per year to attend Georgia Southern University (2012-2013 tuition, 2012), and if we assume 40 of those 81 students do not return next year due to their removal, Georgia Southern University will lose $454,880. Not only does the retention rate decrease, but the budget decreases as well. Solutions While the issues in the disciplinary process seem daunting, the solutions are not so complex. Most solutions include educating students on the issues that may arise. The first major issue, inconsistency, can be remedied by letting the students know how each step in the process can impact the outcome of their cases. Currently, the Office of Student Conduct does this by explaining each hearing option in detail to the student. The coordinator also makes sure to let the student know that each option may yield a different outcome and explain those differences in order to ensure the student will make an informed decision. Gray areas in student conduct can be remedied in a few different ways. The first way is to make sure rules are clear-cut and specific. This would require an audit of the current code of conduct. An audit can be time consuming and sometimes confusing but, ultimately, a clearer conduct code can eliminate confusion in the future. The issue of student confusion can also be eliminated by ensuring students understand their rights from the very beginning of their college career. Partnering with the housing office on

Higher education observation paper campus to create mandatory housing meetings that cover student rights is the first step to eliminating confusion for students. One of the more detrimental issues, declining retention and loss of revenue, are harder to remedy. The first step to eliminating these issues is education. Many students do not know that the consequence for possessing drugs in on-campus housing is removal from housing ("Student conduct code," 2012). Educating students on the consequences for violations can decrease housing removals due to the fact that students understand what is at

risk if they violate the housing rules. The second step to eliminating funding and retention issues is to make sure expulsion and removal from housing is the only option for a case. While violations have specific consequences, the individuals making the sanction decisions need to make sure that they have exhausted every other sanction option before decided to remove a student from housing or the institution. The last step to solving these major issues is to increase the fines of those students who are removed. Currently, students who are removed from housing during the Fall semester are required to pay between a $500 and $1,000 fine, depending on the date of removal, to compensate for the termination of their housing contract ("Housing contract 2012-2013," 2012). If students are charged one-third of the cost of a semester of housing, the institution is still losing two-thirds of the revenue they could make if the student had remained in housing. Raising the fine would decrease the amount of money the university would lose, and also may give students the incentive they need to not violate the code of conduct. Conclusion Observing the judicial process was a very interesting experience for me. As a student, I knew the Office of Student Conduct was responsible for this process, but I did not know how many other things the office oversees. It was very interesting to see the judicial process from start to finish as well. I also learned a lot in my conversations with the coordinator within the

Higher education observation paper Office of Student Conduct. The judicial process itself was expected, but I was surprised at the

implications some of the issues had. For example, the loss of revenue was an issue I did not think of until my interview with the coordinator. The amount of students that are removed from the institution and from housing was shocking to me and really inspired me to make sure students are aware of the consequences the university experiences as a result of student violations. I would be very interested in observing this process again. This experience has also further peaked my interest in a career in student conduct.

Higher education observation paper References Calhoun, D. (n.d.). Understanding legal issues in student affairs and higher education [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from

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https://georgiasouthern.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/97273/viewContent/3583163/Vie w Cantor, J. (2013, April 16). Interview by Cristancho C. []. Information on the student conduct process and reports on student conduct cases. College completion: Who graduates from college, who doesn't, and why it matters. (2004). The chronicle of higher education. Retrieved from http://collegecompletion.chronicle.com/ Eckel, P. D., & King, J. K. (2004). An overview of higher education in the united states: diversity, access, and the role of the marketplace. Springer. Georgia Southern University, Department of University Housing. (2012). Housing contract 2012-2013. Retrieved from website: http://www.gsuhousing.com/contracts/Housing2012_2013.pdf Georgia Southern University, Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. (2012). Student conduct code. Retrieved from website: http://deanofstudents.georgiasouthern.edu/conduct/wpcontent/uploads/sites/3/2013code.pdf Georgia Southern University, Office of the Bursar. (2012). 2013-2013 tuition and fee rates per semester. Retrieved from website:

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http://services.georgiasouthern.edu/bursar/tuitionandfees/TuitionFeeRates/08Undergradu ate.pdf Georgia Southern University, Office of Student Conduct. (2011). Training manual: University conduct board Schloss, P.J. & Cragg, K.M. (2012). Organization and administration in higher education. New York:Routledge.