Conduct

I've been holding Conduct hearings for the past few weeks. Conduct hearings are for when students, mainly the ones who live in my hall, get themselves into not so hot situations and then make choices that get them into trouble. Then they meet with me.

I was expecting students who wouldn't talk with me or students who were just jerks, but I've been delightfully surprised thus far. They've been open to talking and they've fairly honest. Knock on wood.

I start off letting them know how the conduct process works and how I'd like to structure the conversation. I go over their file with them to make sure everything is correct (name, id number, etc...) and then for the first half hour, I chat with them about high school, CSU, the hall, their classes, and what they're involved with on campus.

After all that, we go into what happened that brought them into my office. I ask them to go back to their last meal before the event and walk me through their night. Afterward, I explain that I need to decide whether they were responsible or not responsible for the situation.

As I've only heard cases around alcohol, I usually ask if:
1. they had been drinking (usually they've already told me this earlier in the conversation) and,
2. if they hadn't, were they aware that they were in the presence of alcohol.
The university does recognize a difference in severity but not a difference in responsibility.

They usually answer the "were you responsible" question themselves. The next question I ask them is how involved were you in your responsibility? Were you pounding shots? Or were you just hanging out with friends one Thursday night but didn't drink because you have an 8am class the next day?

I have actually had people claim responsibility at the end of the conversation and say, "Yeah, I was responsible... I can see that... I wasn't, like, super responsible and drinking in the dorms, but I new it was there and I didn't leave." Then I ask them to show me on a scale what kind of consequence they think is appropriate for them.

|-----|----------|---------------|--------|-------|
A...B........C..............D......E......F

A. Warning
B. Warning and some extra sanctions
C. General Disciplinary Probation
D. Probation
E. Suspension
F. Expulsion

They let me know where they think they stand, and they're usually pretty close to what I had in mind.

After I inform them of my general intentions, I let them know that I'll be speaking with the other people from the event and once I am done, they'll get a letter with the results. Questions?

Easy-peezy-lemon-squeezey, right? We'll see how the rest of the year goes...