I want to use this blog post as a draft for my final project which is about supporting minority students in our conduct process. For this, I will go through my office’s roles, and demographics as well as some history on Conduct, talk about how I handle students of minority identities, especially those students of color, and lastly some advice on how my office can go through and follow this. I know I mentioned what it is like to be a womxn * of color so I will also expand on this…. a bit.
The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards/ Accountability/ Judicial Affairs at any University is responsible for holding students accountable to school rules and regulations, they agree to this and are asked to read the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilites as part of this. Long ago Student Conduct had its roots with In Loco Parentis, meaning that staff and faculty looked over students as parents but this quickly dissolved in the 60s or 70s and now there is FERPA which is a whole other realm, but basically, as adults, students now have to know what ‘laws’ are per se since the conduct process mirrors a normal court or legal process. Esteban V Central Missouri and Dixon V Alabama were some of the key court cases that helped establish a conduct process among universities today. However there is no getting away from the stigma that conducts offices are ‘out to get you’ and ‘punish’ students harshly, this was long ago but not now. My office’s main goal is to help students grow and learn from their mistakes. We give students sanctions and not punishments. This is essentially what they need to educate and keep them accountable. Of course, we have some, what I like to call ‘frequent fliers’ that continuously come to our office and we roll our eyes about ever so often, however, the goal for me is to never see them on a report or back in our office after I have had a hearing with them.
My office currently consists of a Director, two Assistant Directors, a Graduate Assistant (me), and two interns. Last semester it was just me and Adam in the office with Katie working together and because of this Adam and I got very close but we met Robbie going through interviews and we both connected with him so happy to have him on the team. Melissa is the second year in my Master’s program so I knew of her a bit but glad to have her as part of the office especially as she is going through the job process!
The office is trying to go through and revamp everything and one of the things mentioned was to support other minority identities. Now heads up I am the only person of color in the office. Sad? maybe. But can I do something about it when it comes to showing up in the space when I see fellow students of color or other minorities in the process? Yes. I have had most of them assigned to me actually. Sometimes I see the sigh of relief when they know it’s me. Sometimes they are much calmer and talker more or are more comfortable knowing that I can relate. I emphasize also that I am a student to make them aware that I am not a professional and not that much older than them its just a different degree that I am going for. Recently I had my first international student and as awkward as it was at first I pulled through and we talked and had our administrative meeting. I knew this student and was also affiliated with them from a similar on-campus group so I knew about his background a little.
Although I do not have much experience with the Gender and disable minority, I would also like my office to find ways to support them with our work such as asking or knowing preferred pronouns, working with the AAAC office with students that need accomadations, working with SGD and getting safe zone certified, being aware of Trans* students and how to support them too. As the Graduate Assistant I had the pleasure of going to one of my good friends in the program Sam, who uses They/Them pronouns, event to meet with LGBTQ+ students and know about our office and offer our resources, Sam is awesome, real and very upfront about LGBTQ+ issues and they are someone I try to learn about issues from as well as educating myself on pronouns and knowing how to use them and learning to respect them. I also did not mention Adam as being part of that community so he is able to support those students as needed. Showing up more in those spaces and showing our support is definitely needed, we work so much with the Fraternity and Sorority Life that we do not really pay attention to others around us ( I personally have a distaste for Greek life). These minority students are the most vulnerable in our process and are sometimes hesitant to go through it as they do not have the support, and being who I am in the office really helps to make a difference and I vow to keep doing the work. Of course, I have to be impartial in the process so I pass sanctions the same way I would but I try to offer a business card or ask them to email me if they need anything or have a longer chat and get to know them more, just to give that extra comfort.
Now how can my office help? Well, I mentioned working with the AAAC but also including them in our Maxient correspondence ( the system we use for Conduct) and letting us know how to accommodate students they have that may go through the process so we are aware and are not harsh with sanctioning. Including our letters in other languages for non-native English speakers or allowing them an interpreter in the process. Allowing for more options for pronoun use in letters, breaking down the language a bit for our students to accommodate those who aren’t able to understand our process and also being a source of support for these students, they are already feeling down going through our process why kick them still? These are just some ideas but willing to take more suggestions.
As for being a womxn of color in this part of Higher Ed, I must say I feel elated to be one of few who love it so much that they want to continue with it. In my research of AAU institutions, I have seen a few women of color within Conduct that are in high positions such as Director or Assistant Director. There was even a journal article covered by Steinhardt School of Education at NYU which had someone talk about what it is like being a womxn of color in this office. It can be difficult. People may not take you seriously. People may not want to deal with you or maybe they think you have an attitude. What I always like to do is show us in a different light and not act the way they expect me to act. I am quiet, humble, passionate, and caring. I also value getting to know the students and I try to be as transparent with them as possible. Because of this, I have had no appeals to any of my decisions in terms of sanctions to students. I actually do encourage them to do it but none have done it and although I would like some practice in appeals response, I can wait a little longer. So what is it like? It is an awesome experience overall. I am always vocal about how I love my position and I try to help my fellow classmates in housing and even doing a conduct based project on bias reporting. I love Conduct because it fits my personality and although mentally it can take a toll on you, always having discussions about particular cases tend to help which is what Adam and I do constantly as we primarily deal with Housing based conduct and aside from that I deal with low-level alcohol, drugs, and fake ID charges.
I would love for more of us, womxn of color, in Conduct and Higher Ed as a whole. Not too many I personally see often in the field and we need more representation!
That Grenville Girl signing off!
from left to right : me in the office and my name tag!
*for the inclusion of trans womxn
That Grenville Girl 