Selecting and Training Conduct Board Members

Jennifer McCary, Commission for Student Conduct and Legal Issues
Directorate Body member

March 6, 2015

Most colleges and universities are striving to maintain an environment that provides for the development of young adults as a whole person. For several institutions this means building critical thinkers who display integrity, mutual respect, and civility. We expect students to conduct themselves in such a manner that positively reflect themselves, the institution, and the community.

When a student violates policy, they have in essence violated a value of the community. In such cases, many of us call on a Student Conduct Board to resolve violations. Student Conduct Review Boards do not follow the same process used by the criminal or civil courts; rather, we strive to have an educational process that will produce outcomes to restore our campuses and reduce the number of times that members bring harm to our communities.

Getting to this place of restoration first requires selecting and training a board. The members of your board should go through a selection process that gives you the confidence that they will not find themselves in a position where they too are contradicting the values of the community. Your board members should be striving to educate a person who has damaged the community and coming up with appropriate sanctions to prevent these behaviors from reoccurring. This is a serious responsibility.

Whatever your board's make up, training should be geared to help them know the process and not deviate from it. When training any conduct board, be sure that your board is familiar with your code of conduct. They should understand how investigations are conducted, any pre-hearing procedures, how to properly question those involved in a hearing, and what is appropriate for deliberations leading up to findings. Be sure that board members are given the opportunity to explore personal biases that may prevent them from being impartial during a hearing or deliberations. Your board should know the basics on due process and fundamental fairness. Likewise, they should understand your burden of proof and be confident that they know what steps to take to reach it. These things and more are all addressed in the ACPA Commission for Student Conduct and Legal Issues Student Conduct Board Manual and Reference which can be found at http://www.acpa.nche.edu/student-conduct-board-manual-reference.

Jennifer McCary serves as the Assistant Dean of College Life at Gettysburg College. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Art Education & Stone Sculpture from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Arts degree also from Bowling Green State University in College Student Personal. When she is not working, she is spending time with her husband and daughter.