Blog

Archive October 2020

All of the articles archived for the month that you have specified are displayed below.

Take Care: Navigating Professional Safety for Women in Conduct



By Amanda Mesirow 


Individuals who identify as women face different, and sometimes dangerous, challenges than do other professionals. From mindsets to #MeToo, many women encounter daily safety concerns. Based on the presenter's session at ASCA 2019, blog post will include information about how to gain situational awareness, how to advocate for your safety at work, and about how to be an ally. The focus is on women; however, intersectionality will be honored.

 

Read More

Addressing Challenges to Social Justice in Community, Conduct, and Conflict Resolution Using Restorative Practices



By Narges Ershad (she/her),
Tyler Fultz (they/them), and Lauren Mauriello (she/her)


Following years of highly publicized instances of police violence against black people in the United States, students, faculty, staff, and University community members are calling on higher education institutions to review policies and practices which involve policing and systems of accountability on campuses (Kerandi, 2020; Varkony, 2020; Davis III & Matias Dizon, 2020). Op-eds in university newspapers and statements from Black faculty and students have emphasized that these reviews are necessary to ensure that the University systems which have historically marginalized Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) are equitable, are in line with best practices, and build trust between those who administer accountability systems and the community (UMBC Black Lives Matter, 2020). 

 

Read More

Care over Compliance: Re-centering the Profession on Human Experience



Dr. Jim Lancaster and Dr. James Lorello


Student conduct administrators, undeniably a significant part of “modern universities” agree that “while student conduct covers compliance and a compliance -related issues, it includes many additional aspects…[insuring] that every student is treated fairly and respectfully while keeping education at the heart of the student conduct process” (https://www.theasca.org/faq). As Conduct administrators and faculty, we pose the overarching question concerning current practices in student conduct: where is the balance between educational developmental care and compliance in contemporary conduct administration? Is it time for a recentering of the profession to place greater emphasis on the human experience or our students in the conduct process? It is our belief that it is indeed time for putting the focus back on the students engaging with the student conduct profession. In an era of increasing legalistic fear arising from compliance issues, our goal is to recenter student conduct profession on who really matters: the students. With a focus on building student conduct professionals and processes that have compassion for their students, our hope is to open a dialogue about how to have more meaningful and development interactions with students, faculty and staff we encounter in our work. In this article we will focus on how to make this a reality.

 

Read More

Facing and Combating Implicit Biases in Student Conduct



By Ange Concepcion and Tommy Tressler-Gelok 


This reflective article will focus on an institutionally-specific reflection surrounding the changing nature of student accountability, expectations and behaviors as a result of the recent global and social pandemics facing contemporary American higher education. The authors have taken particular strides over the past 3 years to place student-centered experiences at the core of the conduct process. This included strengthening a partnership with campus safety, challenging implicit biases from paraprofessionals approaching students, and implementing informal feedback from students who have gone through the conduct process. Finally, the authors seek to explore how their awareness of macro cultural elements have forced them to change the ways in which they approach policy enforcement, student conduct initiatives, training and overall findings (Alvesson, 2011; Driskill, 2019; Sackmann, 2011; Schein & Schein, 2017).
 

 

Read More