Transcript Working with Difficult Students

UNDERSTANDING A “BIT” OF THE
PROCESS: THE NEW STUDENT
CONDUCT AND COMMUNITY
STANDARDS PROGRAM
Mrs. Maro Mitchell Bentley
Program Coordinator
Student Conduct and Community Standards
July 2012
OVERVIEW
 Program Mission and Values
 Pieces to the Program
 Program Processes (Conduct vs. BIT)
 Suggested Strategies for Dealing with Disruptive
Student Behavior
 How to Report Disruptive Behavior and other Conduct
Code Violations
 Questions and Answers
PROGRAM MISSION AND VALUES
 Mission: To assist in maintaining a civil campus environment
through the use of proactive, creative and timely student
development strategies and disciplinary action for the
purpose of valuing the lifelong learning of our students.
 Values: Civility, Respect, Fairness, Safety and Partnerships
 Of fice Location: Largo Student Center 241 x0887
PIECES TO THE PROGRAM
 Prevention
 Meetings with key administrators across campus
 Faculty/ Staff workshops
 Student programming/ education
 Response
 Disciplinary
 Student meetings/ conferences (Informal)
 Student Hearings (Formal)
 Campus Wide Safety
 Behavioral Intervention Team (Formal)
PROGRAM PROCESS: CONDUCT VS. BIT
Conduct Process (Social
Development First)
BIT Process (Safety First)
 Incident occurs
 Incident is documented and
reported
 Investigation takes place
 Incident occurs
 Incident is documented and
reported
 Investigation takes place
 Looking for possibility of
violation
 Safety concerns
 Student is notified
 PGCC email
 Sometimes by phone
 Case adjudication
 If possible violation exists
 Hearing disposition
 Responsible or Not Responsible
 Noted signs of safety risk or
other mitigating factors
 BIT QRT convened for threat
assessment and response
 Student notified of BIT
response
 By all modes of communication
 Campus administrators are
notified of BIT response
DEFINITION OF DISRUPTIVE STUDENT
BEHAVIOR
The term applies to behavior that persistently
or grossly interferes with academic and
administrative activities at the college. Such
behavior hampers the ability of the other
students to learn and of instructors to teach.
Extreme forms of the behavior may even
threaten the physical safety of students and
staff.
DEALING WITH DISRUPTIVE STUDENTS:
PREVENTION STRATEGIES
 Include course and behavior expectations in your syllabi.
Discuss these expectations on the first day of class.
 Serve as role models and exhibit the type of behavior that you
expect.
 Establish an environment that opposing views can be expressed
in a respectful manner.
 Students may note some concerns that they have about the classroom
environment –this must be okay and taken seriously
 It must be okay that these concerns are discussed with you as some
concerns may be about YOU!
 Set the tone of what is okay for class during the first week.
DEALING WITH DISRUPTIVE STUDENTS:
RESPONSE STRATEGIES
Mild Disruptions
Annoyances
Eating in class
Texting in class
Whispering
Coming late/ leaving early
Repeatedly telling a student to
wear the safety goggles for lab
Recommended Faculty
Response: Educational
conversation with the students.
*Never make idle threats
Moderate Disruptions
Fa i ling to c o m ply
Cur s i ng/ i n a ppro priate c o m m ent s
Re pe a te d “ m i ld di s rupt i ons”
* * * Ch eat ing* **
 Re c o m mende d Fa cul ty Re s po nse :
In c i de nt Re po r t to St ude n t Co n duc t
Of fi c e , N ote w h o t h e s t ude n t (s)
i s /a re a n d s pe a k to h i m /her a f te r
c l a ss i n pri va te .
 As k t h e s t ude n t to s te p o ut o f t h e
ro o m to a ddre s s t h e be h av ior.
 As k t h e s t ude n t ( s) to l e ave t h e
ro o m fo r t h a t c l a ss pe ri o d .
 Co m munic ate c o n c e rn to
Ch a irpe r son
DEALING WITH DISRUPTIVE STUDENTS
Severe Disruptions
 Arguing in class/ hallways
 Fighting
 Verbal threats
 Drugs/ alcohol
 Weapons
Recommended Faculty Response : Incident report to Student
Conduct Of fice and immediate communication with Chairperson
and Campus Police
ACADEMIC INTEGRIT Y DISRUPTIONS
 Faculty members are responsible for ensuring awareness of
academic dishonesty codes at the beginning of every
semester
 Faculty members must gather any and all data that support
the allegation of plagiarism/ cheating within a reasonable
amount of time
 Faculty members shall then confer with the student to discuss
the alleged infraction
 The student(s) must be given the opportunity to admit to or
deny allegations
 The Faculty member must then submit the charge form with
all evidence and supporting documentation to the Of fice of
the Vice President for Student Services if the incident
occurred more than once
ACADEMIC INTEGRIT Y FACULT Y
RESPONSES
 Assign a “zero” on the assignment if fir st of fense and
 Confer with the student about the problem
 Inform the student of this in writing as a warning if the evidence supports the
charge or if the student admits to it
 Determine if you want to give the student another assignment
 Written warning to the student if there is not suf ficient evidence and/or
the student does not admit to the charge
 Do not assign an F grade
 submit a copy of the warning to the VPSS
 Two or more of fenses in the same class constitutes an F for the class
with a referral to the Student Conduct and Community Standards of fice
 Students do have the right to appeal the outcome and the original
decision could change
 All of this should be explained on the fir st day to ensure under standing
DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR AND DISABILIT Y
The law does not expressly prohibit a college
from disciplining a student for misconduct,
even when the misconduct is directly related
to a physical or mental disability.
A student with a disability is not exempt from
the college’s expectations of behavior and the
guidelines in the Student Code of Conduct.
 It is important to focus on the behavior not
the disability.
DISCLOSURE
The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA),
often referred to as the Buckley Amendment, is a
pervasive piece of legislation that governs matters of
student privacy. Under FERPA, the college is only
permitted to release “directory information” about a
student with two exceptions:
 present with a physical danger to self and other
persons.
 college staff require such information in order to
carry out their professional duties safely and
satisfactorily.
The lesser the offense the less I can share!
INTERESTING STATISTICS
Location of Incidents
 40% in Bladen Hall
 40% in Largo Student
Center
 Accokeek and Marlboro
Halls most frequent
academic integrity
reports
Violation Type
 Warning is most often
applied
 Counseling
 Probation
INTERESTING STATISTICS
Referrals
2011-2012: 395 cases
2010-2011: 252 cases
2009-2010: 122 cases
*This trend is expected
to continue*
Student Completions
 Approximately 70% of
our referred students
are not completing
sanctions
 **This is the most
important statistic**
COMMITTEE ON STUDENT CONDUCT
 Names
BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION TEAM MEMBERS
Campus Police Sgt . Calvin Moody
Campus Police Sgt . William Wells
Chief of Campus Police, Larr y Walker
Coordinator of Counseling Ser vices, Dr. Saundra Lynch Er vin (vice -chair)
Counselor, Beth Adkins
Dean of Social Sciences and Business, John Rosicky
Dean of College Life Ser vices, Malver se Nicholson, Jr.
Dean of Student Development Ser vices, Dr. Scheherazade Forman
Director of Advising & Transfer Ser vices, Dr. Clif ford Collins
Director of Community Education (WDCE), Yvette Snowden
Manager of the Health Education Center, Pamela Thomas
Program Director of Disability Suppor t Ser vices, Thomas Mays
Program Coordinator, Student Conduct and Community Standards, Maro
Bentley
 Senior Academic Administrator to the VP for Academic Af fairs, Mara
Doss
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CLOSING COMMENTS/ QUESTIONS
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CONTACTING STUDENT CONDUCT AND
COMMUNIT Y STANDARDS
Mrs. Maro Bentley, MA
Program Coordinator,
Student Conduct and Community
Standards
Largo Student Center 241
301-322-0887
[email protected]