Student Standards

What is the program’s mission statement or statement of purpose? Why does the program exist?

Preamble from the Student Conduct Code:

“Attendance at a tax-supported institution of higher education is not compulsory. It is optional and voluntary. By voluntary attendance at such an institution, the student assumes obligations for performance and behavior reasonably imposed by the institution, and which are relevant to its lawful missions, processes, and functions. The obligations are much higher than those imposed on all citizens by the civil and criminal law, and the institution may discipline students to secure compliance with these higher obligations as a teaching method or to remove the student from the academic community.

Eastern Illinois University is an academic community in which learning and scholarship flourish. While members of this community contribute a diverse mix of ideas and backgrounds, we hold in common those standards of conduct which exemplify personal integrity and ethical behavior and which advance the mission of the University, its traditions and values. Upon enrollment at Eastern Illinois University, every student is held to the standards of conduct contained in this code.”

               The Office of Student Standards enforces the Student Conduct Code in an effort to provide an environment to our students, faculty and staff where learning a growth can take place in a safe and distraction free environment.  Through addressing violations of the Student Conduct Code we help students reflect on their actions and consider alternatives in the future. It is our hope that students will learn about themselves and develop info individuals who will be responsible citizens who make good decisions for themselves and others.

How does the program mission align with the university mission?

The final statement in the university mission references students becoming responsible citizens and leaders.  Part of becoming a responsible citizen and leader is learning and growing from mistakes, which is the primary function of our office.  Further, the university mission speaks to educating others, which requires the safe environment for both students and faculty, which is provided through enforcement of the Student Conduct Code.

Whom does the program serve?

We serve students, faculty, staff, parents, and residents of Charleston.

What are the services provided? How do these services align with the university mission and program mission?

We enforce the Student Conduct Code, provide clarification to both faculty and staff on policies, receive police reports and other reports, investigate allegations of misconduct, meet with students to discuss misconduct, assign sanctions, conduct Board hearings, follow-up on sanction completion, notify parents as appropriate, collaborate with other offices, respond to concerning student behaviors, issue interim suspensions and ban from campus as appropriate, resolve classroom behavioral issues, maintain all student disciplinary records, assist with policy development, and other duties as requested by the VPSA.

Describe the program’s origins (e.g. year established, purpose, expectations).

Prior to 1978 student conduct matters were handled exclusively through the residence halls, under a Dean of Men/Dean of Women system at EIU.  There were numerous concerns with this system, including the inconsistent handling of incidents across campus, and the lack of the ability to track those who may have multiple violations in different locations.  During the 1978-79 academic year Mr. Keith Kohanzo was given the dual responsibility of hall director of Stevenson Hall and University Judicial Officer.  The intent was to provide consistency across campus in addressing student behavioral incidents, and provide better training to residence hall staff members who were assisting in handling student behavioral issues.

In the Fall of 1979 Mr. Kohanzo took on the role of University Judicial Officer full-time, as part of the Housing department, as it had become apparent that there was a need for a full-time professional in this area. Initially he was tasked with handling all student conduct issues within the residence halls.  Conduct issues that occurred on other parts of campus were either addressed by campus police, or they were not addressed at all, and faculty did not have any resources or support for addressing classroom issues. 

Over the next several years as the campus faced behavioral challenges with students, both in and out of the classroom, Mr. Kohanzo was asked to occasionally help address these issues.  As the requests for his assistance became more frequent, it became obvious that there was a need for him to serve the entire campus, not just residence halls.

In 1992 the student conduct function gained independence from Housing to become the Judicial Affairs Office, with Keith Kohanzo named as the first director.  Student misconduct cases were handled by the hall director, when appropriate, with staff in Judicial Affairs taking cases that were of a more complex or serious nature. The office also handled behavioral incidents that occurred in other campus locations, including in the classroom.  Through the years the Judicial Affairs Office grew to a staff of a Director, 2 Hearing Officers, and a part-time secretary.

How has the unit changed or adapted over time?

In Spring 2006 Mr. Kohanzo announced his retirement as Director of Judicial Affairs.  In Fall 2006 Dr. Heather Webb was hired as the second Director of Judicial Affairs.  The Judicial Affairs Office was in very good shape due to Mr. Kohanzo’s leadership, so there was great opportunity to move the office forward toward excellence. In Fall 2006 a priority of the office was to address off-campus behaviors related to alcohol use.  The inappropriate behaviors of students after consuming alcohol included public urination, vandalism, noise, incapacitation in homeowners yards (i.e. “being passed out”), party trash, and the Homecoming parade had become a drunken parade that many local bands refused to participate in. Dr. Webb spent much of her first semester listening to long-time city residents complain about “your students” in the community.  In the Spring 2007 Dr. Webb began conversations with the leadership of the Charleston Police Department about receiving more information about student alcohol violations from the city so it could be addressed through the Code of Conduct.

In the summer of 2007 Shawn Peoples was hired as Assistant Director of Judicial Affairs.  This was a significant staffing move that provided more structure to the office, preparing us for some additional changes in the near future. She joined a Hearing Officer and part-time secretary to staff the office.

In the summer of 2008 we became the Office of Student Standards to better reflect the role of the office, as well as sound more welcoming.  At the same time we revised the Student Conduct Code (last revision prior to this was in 2000), and we purchased Maxient as our student conduct reporting and management system. This on-line system was customized to meet the needs of EIU, and has moved our office to a more paperless, technology-friendly environment.

EIU was awarded an alcohol education and enforcement grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) from 2009 through the end of 2011, with a 6-month continuation as well as a performance-based bonus dollar amount through the conclusion of the Spring 2012 semester.  This grant money was managed through the Office of Student Standards and supported at 50% an Alcohol Standards Specialist (EIU matched this to make the staff member full time) to assist in alcohol enforcement and education efforts.  We utilized this opportunity to continue to build our relationship with CPD, educate officers to work together with the university to send one common message to students about illegal alcohol consumption, purchase equipment for both CPD and UPD, and develop both public awareness pieces and educational programs/sanctions, to name a few of the activities. 

In 2009 we developed the Housing Liaison system, which matched housing staff members to a staff member in Student Standards for closer training and mentoring on student behavioral issues.  We also developed an auditing process to be used in conjunction with Maxient to make sure cases and sanctions were not being overlooked.  EIU would become well known among Maxient users across the country for this auditing practice, which has been duplicated by many other schools.

Throughout this time the role of Student Standards had changed significantly.  As the students changed and more legislation was enacted, the demands on increased significantly, requiring a great amount of skill and expertise among the staff.  There were increased issues with mental health, threat assessment, emergency preparedness, etc.  The role of the Director has changed as well moving well beyond the original duties of the Director, with a significant number of duties added as the institution was working to keep up with the changing student population and other demands.  In 2012 the Office of Student Standards underwent a significant restructuring.  An Associate Director position was created, which took on some duties previously held by the Director, the Assistant Director position was revised with a strong focus on education and outreach, as well as taking on some duties previously held by the Alcohol Standards Specialist, and a Graduate Assistant was added to the office.  The restructuring has provided more definition and efficiency to the office operations, and it is more clear who will handle specific concerns when they are presented to our office.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program’s history and relevance to university mission.

The Office of Student Standards (formerly Judicial Affairs) has always changed and adapted to meet the needs of our campus, the changing nature of society, and to keep up with the legislative demands within higher education.   Historically our office has been recognized by our peers as having a solid student conduct program, with many elements borrowed by other institutions. We have developed a reputation among our peers as being eager to collaborate and share with other institutions, a quality which is highly valued among student conduct professionals.

Provide data, if available, on the numbers of students, faculty, staff, or others served by the program during the past four years. If no data are available, please estimate the numbers served annually.

The Office of Student Standards serves students, faculty, staff, and members of the Charleston community.  The data in the following table represents the students from our completed cases during the last three years.  It does not represent students which staff members may consult with on a variety of topics, yet there is no case resulting from that consultation. 

Semester classification of the students interacting with the Office of Student Standards is represented in the following table.

Cases may come to Student Standards from a variety of sources.  The table below represents the origin of our cases.

One of the most difficult things to track in our office is the amount of time that it takes to thoroughly investigate a misconduct case.  We pride ourselves in our ability to treat every student as an individual in the student conduct process.  Investigating a case of misconduct is an investment in both the student and the institution, and for that reason we are very thorough.  While some cases are more generic and simple, over the last three years many of our cases are becoming more and more complex, demanding a greater investment in staff time and a higher level of staff expertise.  We are committed to not cutting any corners in our investigation, as that will hurt both the student and the institution.

We do not track our interactions with faculty regarding academic dishonesty or disruptive and/or disturbing classroom behaviors, but in the past three years this activity has occupied a considerable amount of staff time.  Unfortunately we believe we will continue to see an increase in this activity. 

The Office of Student Standards tracks a variety of other student issues that are not traditional student conduct issues, but are important in terms of student success on our campus and/or may later lead to a student conduct issue.  These include Informational Reports, Behavioral Agreements, Readmission after Suspensions, and Roommate Issues.

Staff in the Office of Student Standards also dedicates a considerable amount of time to assisting other staff members across the university in addressing behavioral incidents and concerns.  For example, students who cannot interact appropriately in the Student Rec Center are referred to this office.  Additionally, we speak with staff to teach them how to appropriately respond to disruptive behaviors at the time of the incident in a way that minimizes the disruption to others.

The Director of Student Standards is the chair of the Student Support Team, a group of professionals from across EIU (including others from Student Standards) that meet weekly to discuss potentially problematic student and/or environmental situations. The Director of Student Standards also serves on the Threat Assessment Team when it is assembled to address campus incidents.

We talk to a lot of parents.  We receive a lot of the angry parent phone calls that no one else at the university wants to receive.  Some of the calls we receive are from parents who have first called other offices and were then referred to us by other staff or faculty.  These calls may be because their student has been a victim of another person’s behaviors, or the call may be because their student has participated in an inappropriate behavior and the student is going through the conduct process, or has already been sanctioned.  We work to provide as much information to the parent about the process, while still respecting a student’s FERPA rights, in a complete manner while deescalating the situation. We try to provide enough information to answer the parent question without the parent feeling the need to continue calling other university administrators.

Does the program offer any co-curricular opportunities for students (e.g., internships, RSO support, service-learning activities)? Please describe.

The Office of Student Standards offers students (both undergraduate and graduate) the opportunity to serve on the Student Standards Board, and we have hosted several interns from the College Student Affairs graduate program. 

We utilize educational opportunities heavily in our sanctioning.  We have four different alcohol education classes and 1 drug education class that we utilize with the students.  The sanctions that are part of the CRAWL program (Basic CRAWL for alcohol, Advanced CRAWL for alcohol, and Advanced CRAWL for marijuana) are delivered by staff from the Counseling Center.  The other 2 alcohol education classes- Party Partners and Basic Choices- were developed by staff in the Office of Student Standards and they are delivered by staff in our office, with assistance from a UPD officer when available.

Community Service is a popular sanction for many student violations. In 2012-13 we assigned 2,338 hours of community service, in 2011-12 we assigned 4,143 hours and in 2010-11 there were 3,610 hours of community service assigned.  A number of students who complete community service as part of their sanction will return to complete voluntary community service as well.

Does the program contribute to the delivery of academic programs (e.g., providing professional expertise, serving as adjunct faculty)? Please describe.

The Office of Student Standards make a significant contribution to the delivery of academic programs, as one of our primary roles at EIU is to assist in maintaining an safe environment that is conducive to learning and/or teaching.  We spend a great amount of time consulting with faculty (and academic administrators) about students who are concerning and/or disruptive in the classroom.  We assist faculty in addressing the issues in the immediate, but we also discuss long-term strategies for managing some very complex students behaviors in the classroom.  We also intervene, when appropriate, to resolve disruptive classroom behaviors so they do not continue to interfere the learning and teaching. 

We provide consultation of academic dishonesty incidents as well, not only administering disciplinary and educational sanctions to students, but also serving as a central repository for all cases of academic misconduct so repeat offenders can be identified more easily.   This activity helps ensure the integrity of the EIU degree for all EIU students and alums.

All staff in the Office of Student Standards are either currently or have recently taught EIU 1111 University Foundations.  The Associate Director (Dr. Shawn Peoples) teaches for both Upward Bound and MTIEP Summer Camp.  The Director (Dr. Heather Webb) has been appointed Graduate Faculty status, serving as a thesis committee member or chair for several College Student Affairs students.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the internal demand for the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., curriculum changes made by another program) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

It should be noted that staff from Student Standards participating in a significant number of committees, councils, task forces and coalitions both on and off campus.  There is a great demand for there to be representation from our office at the table when issues are discussed and plans are being made.  This is a positive change over the past several years when we were not consulted on a number of issues where we should have had input, so it speaks highly of the collaborative nature of our office.  However, it should also be added that with only 3 full time staff it has become a delicate balancing act to serve on these groups and meet with students.

Is the program accredited or approved by a recognized external agency or otherwise certified to meet established professional standards? Provide an executive summary of and link to the program’s most recent accreditation or certification report, if available.

Student conduct as a profession does not have an accreditation process. 

Is the program required to meet any regulatory or legal requirements? Is the program subject to any special auditing requirements?

The Office of Student Standards is required to meet a number of legal requirements, and I will present the most common in this document.  Among the most recent (and currently most discussed) is Title IX and Violence Against Women (VAWA) legislation.  The Director of Student Standards is a Deputy Title IX Coordinator for EIU, requiring the ability to conduct an sexual assault and/or dating violence investigation and lead a resolution process.  The Director also assists in providing outreach and education to our campus on sexual assault and interpersonal violence issues, including the development of the on-line training program for students, faculty and staff. The Student Conduct Code was revised in Summer 2013 to assure compliance with Title IX and VAWA requirements, although institutions have until late Spring 2014 to be in compliance.  The Office of Student Standards provides data for the Annual Security Report, in compliance with the Clery Act.  Our work is also focused on maintaining student privacy under FERPA, with the Director being considered a custodian of the student conduct information.  On a daily basis we work to remain in compliance of the laborious record retention requirements of the state of Illinois.

In the field of student conduct we have to constantly stay updated on upcoming legislative issues that may impact our work. As an office which may be subject to lawsuits from students and their families, we also have to work to stay abreast of case law updates that may indicate how the courts are interpreting the laws as applied to higher education and our students. 

What are the most important outreach or public service activities supported by the program?

Outreach has become a significant activity to the extent that the Assistant Director has a major responsibility for campus and community outreach.  Among her outreach activities are the delivery of 2 alcohol education classes to students who have violated the Student Conduct Code.  One class, Party Partners, focuses on responsible behaviors in the Charleston community, such as responsible hosting, not leaving party trash out on the lawn, responsible noise levels, and not urinating in public.  This class is usually paired with some community service, and taught in partnership with a Charleston Police Officer.  The other alcohol class, Basic Choices, is a policy class designed to better educate students about making better choices in the area of alcohol and drug use, with the hope being that the student will not have another policy violation.  Students who go to this class may be those who are in the presence of alcohol, but not consuming.  It is team taught with an EIU police officer.  The Assistant Director also teaches a segment of the city Diversion class.  While this is a city program, our participation is important in sending a message of partnership to those in attendance.

How do the local community and the region benefit from the program?

The local community benefits from our office because we respond to disruptive and/or dangerous student behaviors in the local community, working in partnership with local law enforcement.  Our response to these incidents is critical in maintaining town-gown relationships, and when appropriate to pursue restitution for damages for either  the city or private residents.  Our work to respond to Barn Party 14 is an excellent example of our efforts to address incidents involving EIU students that occur within our community.

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the external demand for the program.

What are the two or three more important measureable outcomes tracked to assess program quality? Does the program conduct an outcomes assessment, and if so, what has been the impact?

It can be quite difficult to assess the quality of a student conduct program based on just two or three outcomes.  There are so many different factors that impact student behaviors.  One common measurement is the number of repeat offenders encountered by the office.  It is also common to look at specific behaviors, such as alcohol consumption or drug use, for increase or decrease.  However, an increase in alcohol or drug use may not be a commentary on the quality of a program, but more of a commentary on environmental factors and societal trends. 

We do not conduct a formal outcome assessment because of the many complicating factors that can impact student behaviors (yes, even something we have no control over, such as the weather, can impact student conduct issues).  However we do look for trends and abnormalities (such as spikes) in our violation numbers.  When we see trends and spikes, we then try to determine what other factors may be impacting the numbers.  Often we may use this information to create new educational messages, or to reframe our current messages, or use the information to engage in campus and community partnerships in a new way.

What are the two or three most effective best practices that the program has implemented? What benefits have been gained from implementing these best practices?

One of our best practices is our ability to build and maintain a strong relationship with the Charleston Police Department to work cooperatively in addressing off-campus behaviors.  Because of our partnership with CPD, the officers have been able to provide more information to the students about the university process at the time of the incident, resulting in students being more cooperative with the officers.  We work to quickly and effectively address community related issues to prevent discontent among city residents.  The relationship we have built with the CPD is one that many other institutions are envious of, and the Director has been invited to speak at conference and meetings about efforts in this area.

Our sanctioning model has evolved significantly over the last several years.  Community service has become a well-used and appropriate sanction for several behaviors.  We used to have only one alcohol education sanction, and no sanctions for marijuana use, we now have four different alcohol sanctions, as well as a sanction for marijuana use.  It is important to have the variety in alcohol sanctions because there are a variety of behaviors we address—we cannot have a “one size fits all” approach to alcohol sanctioning. We now have an anger management sanction offered through the Counseling Center for students who need some assistance in controlling their aggression.  Most recently significant time and effort was put into moving our academic dishonesty education sanction to a D2L format.  If this proves to be successful, this may offer the opportunity to provide other sanctions via D2L. The benefits of a more robust sanctioning model are that we have options to assign sanctions to students that are meaningful to them, and that will help the student experience growth.

The implementation of Maxient for incident reporting and case management has also been a best practice in our office.  We receive notification of incidents faster, facilitating a better response to incidents of greater concern.  We also have an electronic record of all correspondence sent to students, and if sent electronically, we also have a record of when the student accesses the letter.  This has also allowed easier follow-up on sanction completion.  All student conduct data is stored on one place, which is accessible to all staff, leading to greater cooperation and partnership among staff in addressing issues. Finally, greater utilization of technology has allowed us to put several different incident report forms on the web for use, and we use less paper, resulting in a savings for our office.

What external recognitions (e.g., awards, accommodations, professional certifications, references in trade publications) have the program and its staff received in the past three years?

2010-11 & 2011-12 Minority Affairs Outstanding Staff Award (Associate Director Dr. Shawn Peoples)

 2011—National Success Story from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

 2013—Nominee for ASCA Award of Excellence to an institution (winner will be announced in February 2014 at the annual conference)

Is the program active with any regional, national, or international professional organizations?

Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA)- all staff are members

               Transcript Notation Task Force (Director appointed to task force)

2013 Conference Presidential Graduate Assistant (GA received this appointment)

2013 Conference Planning Graduate Assistant (Intern received this appointment)

NASPA- Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education- Director, Assoc. Dir. & GA

NASPA African American Knowledge Community IV East Leadership Team (Assoc. Dir.)

Illinois Committee on Black Concerns in Higher Education (Associate Director)

               ICBCHE Steering Committee (Assoc. Director)

Note any presentations, publications, or offices held in the last three years.

Damschroder, M., Davidson, E.S., Friedlein, S.A., Greder, D.L., Love, C., Oyer, B., Sage-Bollenbach, M., Stovall, T., & Webb, H.K. (2012). Freshman Year: A new direction, a new beginning. [Pamphlet]. Charleston, IL: The Illinois Higher Education Center for Alcohol, Other Drug and Violence Prevention. 

 The Director of Student Standards was invited to give the following presentations (selected highlights):

-        Communicating Alcohol Expectations to Students & Parents, Illinois Higher Education Center Alcohol Symposium, November 2012

-        Maximizing Maxient to streamline office procedures & Auditing Procedures, Maxfest Users Conference, June 2011 and June 2012

-        Drink, Drank, Drunk: One Community’s Success in Reducing Alcohol Related Behaviors, Co-presenter, UDETC/OJJDP National Leadership Conference, August 2011

-        Effectiveness of the Multicultural Environment and Academic Integrity, Co-presenter, NASPA Webinar, August 2011

-        But This Happened Off Campus! Bridging the Gap Between City and Campus Addressing Alcohol Behaviors, Co-presenter, UDETC/OJJDP National Leadership Conference, August 2010

Staff members form student standards are frequently asked to present in the classroom to students, as well as to faculty groups.  They have also presented at Gateway Orientation, Summer New Student Orientation (to both new students and parents), EIUnity Diversity Conference, Athlete orientation, and to a variety of other specific student populations. 

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the quality of program outcomes.

Staff in Student Standards all desire to be more active in professional organizations and produce publications, but at this time do not feel that it is feasible to do so and still deliver the same quality services to our students.   There is also a lack of financial support for involvement in professional organizations at a higher level.

Note any special benefits (e.g., personnel support, equipment, permanent improvements) that the program has received in the past three years from its grants and other sponsored programs.

Information from our OJJDP alcohol education and enforcement grant (1/1/2009-5/31/2012) did not populate for this report.  During the time of our grant, we supported a position at 50%, as well as some overtime costs for both CPD and UPD.  We purchased several pieces of equipment for UPD and CPD to be used in alcohol education and enforcement, office equipment and supplies for Student Standards, and paid for some promotional items for our office.  We were also able to use grant money for training and professional development for Student Standards staff.

How does the program benefit from donor gifts (e.g., scholarships, endowed chairs)? Does donor support provide a significant percentage of the program’s overall funding?

The Office of Student Standards does not receive gifts from donors.  This is probably not a surprise to anyone.  However we think it would be very nice to receive some gifts, and are happy to provide suggestions on how those gifts might be used.

List two or three key relationships that the program maintains with external constituencies (e.g., community colleges, other universities, government bodies). How do these relationships advance the university mission or otherwise benefit the university?

The Office of Student Standards maintains a close relationship with the city of Charleston.  It is critical that we work together to not only address concerning student behaviors, but also to be proactive in preventing potential issues.  This is beneficial to the university in maintaining positive town-gown relationships.

We serve parents that are unhappy and/or in distress through our interactions with them in reference to their student’s conduct issue, or when their student has been a victim of another person’s conduct issue. This is important to EIU because it is connected to satisfaction with the institution and retention of our students.

We maintain a strong relationship with student conduct professionals at other universities.  This has proven to be invaluable when faced with policy decisions, or working to quickly adapt to the changing legislation in higher education, as this small group of professionals can share ideas and problem solve together. Additionally, when students with behavioral concerns move from one institution to another, it can be beneficial as professionals to consult on these students, sharing strategies that were and were not successful.  Working together as a group of professionals across several institutions is beneficial to all of the institutions, as we are making good use of our resources to problem-solve, and we have greater consistency in professional practice.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the resources generated by the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., revenue pass-throughs) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

The data pulled in to this report makes it appear as if Student Standards does not generate any revenue, which is not an accurate statement.  We utilize fines as a part of our sanctioning process, and in 2012-13 the total fine amount was $21,880 (average $63 per student fined), 2011-12 it was $31,295 (average $71 per student fined), and in 2010-11 it was $23,865 (average $61 per student fined).  Because Student Standards is funded through Housing, the fines collected from students are deposited into the Housing account. Student Standards also plays an important role in collecting restitution for both university and personal property that has been damaged and/or vandalized.  The ability to collect restitution on damaged university property results in a savings to our students in the long term.

It should also be noted that while we had significant success with our OJJDP grant in 2009-12, future grant opportunities are limited.  Many of the grants that would be relevant to our area have either a staffing requirement or matched funding requirement that we would be unable to meet at EIU.  Additionally, the few grant opportunities that have been available to us were also of interest to the Illinois Higher Education Center (IHEC), and our office was told to not apply because there can only be one application from EIU and IHEC would receive priority over our office.

Provide an executive summary of and link to any metrics or benchmarks that the program tracks to measure productivity.

The 2009 Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education Self-Assessment Guide suggests the following as measures for Student Conduct:

- Fosters students' and learning development through the application of standards of conduct.

- Develops, disseminates, and regularly revises its mission.

- Implements its mission.

- The mission statement is consistent with that of the host institution.

- The mission statement is consistent with professional standards.

- Incorporates learning and development outcome domains in the mission statement.

- The goals of the program address the institution's needs to:

    - Develop, disseminate, interpret and enforce campus policies and procedures.

    - Protect rights of students in the administration of the student conduct program

    - Respond to behavioral problems in a fair and reasonable manner

    - Facilitate and encourage respect for and involvement in campus governance

    - Provide learning experiences for students who are found to be responsible for conduct which is determined to be in violation of institutional standards or who are participate in the operations of the student conduct system.

    -Initiate and encourage educational activities that serve to reduce violations of campus regulations

What initiatives has the program implemented to enhance staff productivity (e.g., access to training, workflow improvements)? Briefly describe the costs and benefits of these initiatives.

The implementation of Maxient as our student conduct reporting and tracking program has been a tremendous asset to the Student Standards staff to increase productivity.  This program is used by Housing staff to report conduct incidents, and by housing staff and student standards staff to manage student meetings, correspondence sanctions and to follow-up on sanctioning.  Additionally, we use this program to track information and pull student conduct statistics.  Student data is pulled in from Banner, so all the information we need for a student is available in one spot. Staff members can pull a discipline history on a student very quickly, which has been beneficial when responding student concerns, and it is on-line so the Director can access information from home in the event of a late-night or weekend emergency.  The implementation of Maxient has eliminated the need for a lot of excess paper in our office, which has resulted in some savings in our area.  The cost of Maxient is split between Student Standards and Housing.

We now receive all reports and citations from UPD and CPD electronically as scanned documents.  Not only does it make it easier for us to attach the scan of the document to the case in Maxient, but case distribution can happen electronically as well, and both UPD and CPD are saving money because they do not have to make photocopies of reports and citations.

We have developed several different incident reporting forms, which are available on our website.  These reporting forms (General Incident, Academic Dishonesty, Sexual Assault/Violence, and Bias Incident) ask for information specific to the type of incident being reported, and they are set to send electronic notifications to staff member who may need to take immediate action to help our students.  For example, when the Sexual Assault/Violence incident report is completed a copy of the report is delivered via email to the Director of Student Standards, Associate Director of the Counseling Center, Associate Director of Housing and the Chief of Police.  This group of professionals can then immediately begin taking any actions necessary to keep the student safe. 

The Housing Staff Liaison program assigns housing staff to a Student Standards staff member as a first point of contact.  This has helped Housing staff training in providing not just more personal attention, but increased consistency and fewer errors in the process.  The Housing staff appreciate having a go-to person in our office that they can form a relationship with and ask for when they have questions—it seems to instill more confidence in Housing staff when handling conduct issues.

The staff restructuring in 2012 has been an asset to the productivity of our office.  There was an opportunity to define some roles and make clear statements about the types of concerns and cases that each staff member would address.  This has been helpful in quickly and efficiently directing other staff, faculty and students to the correct staff member right away, and it has reduced confusion that sometimes occurred prior to the restructure.

We make every effort to take advantage of free and inexpensive training opportunities so we can save what small professional development budget we have for other opportunities.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the productivity of the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., accreditation requirements, curricular changes, program restructuring) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the costs associated with the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., expenditures made centrally or externally, expenditures made on behalf of other units) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

Regarding staffing in Student Standards, this data does not reflect that we also have one Graduate Assistant in our office who is funded by the Vice President for Student Affairs.  It should also be noted that we continue to share our secretary with Housing, yet we could make a case for her to be full time in our office.

Regarding expenditures, it should be noted that during 2011 and 2012 we still had OJJDP grant money for office supplies and professional development/travel. This should account for the significant increase in these two areas for 2013.

How does the program seek to distinguish itself from similar programs at other institutions?

In the field of student conduct, which requires much compliance with legislation and consistency in addressing behaviors, it is not always a good thing to be too different from other similar programs.  But the two things that do distinguish us form other programs would be our positive relationship with the city police, and the efficiency of our office operations, due in part to our use of Maxient and our recent office reorganization.

Note any unique and/or essential contributions that the program makes to the university.

The Office of Student Standards addresses all the behavioral concerns of student both on campus and off-campus.  We intervene when there is a classroom disruption and talk to the student that the faculty don’t want to address.  We talk to the students in a meaningful way to help them learn from their mistakes and make better decisions in the future.  When it is determined that a student is too dangerous for our community, we have to meet with them and tell them to leave campus.

Provide any program-specific metrics that help to document program contributions or program quality. Examples of some commonly used program-specific metrics may be found here.

This was provided in a previous section. 

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program impact on the university mission.

The Office of Student Standards plays an important role in the retention of students, which surprises some who are not familiar with the work of this office.  We provide intervention for students who have behavioral/disciplinary issues that may prevent them from being successful academically, and our sanctioning is designed to help students learn more about their choices.  Additionally, we work to create and maintain an environment both in and out of the classroom where students and faculty alike feel safe and comfortable to learn, teach and grow.  If we do not maintain this environment, we risk losing great students who may choose to leave for other institutions that do have such an environment.  It is often frustrating to the staff in Student Standards at the lack of general understanding of this point. 

Provide a link to or listing of the program’s goals and/or strategic plan.

In Student Standards we reset our goals every year so that we can best meet the changing needs of our students.  Our goals for the 2013-14 academic year (the appropriate section of the EIU Strategic Plan is also indicated):

-        Move toward a more paperless environment in our office through the use of technology.  ( Financial Sustainability/Emerging Technology)

-        Establish a stronger electronic identity and social media presence to share our message and services with many constituents. (Marketing and Communication)

-        Offer more opportunities for learning/professional development to Housing staff and interested CSA Graduate Students.

What role will the program have in the implementation of the university’s strategic plan (provide link to strategic plan)?

The section above indicates how this year’s goals relate to the university’s strategic plan.  It should also be noted that the Director of Student Standards was the chair and author of the Campus and Community Life portion of the Strategic Plan and is currently part of the implementation team providing progress updates.

In the next two or three years, what best practices, improvements in operations, or other opportunities to advance the university’s mission are likely to be implemented?

Student issues will likely continue to become more complex in nature, the campus will experience more concerns related to student behaviors, and the demand for the services of Student Standards will increase. Our office will continue to change and adapt quickly to meet these different needs.  There will also likely be greater expectations around legislative issues, such as Title IX, and it will be important to have more staff trained to handle these cases.  We are awaiting clarification on retraining criteria, so the Director may also need “refresher” trainings.  Unfortunately all this training is very expensive and currently out of the question due to budgetary limitations, but it will need to become a commitment due to the legislation.   Additionally, the ability to increase the size of our staff and move to a larger office space (to accommodate additional staff) would be beneficial.  As the cases increase and become more complex it becomes more difficult for us to serve the students in an efficient manner, as well as provide the timely follow-up that the university requires. 

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand future opportunities for the program.