Overview of the Student Conduct Process

faculty, the Student Conduct Hearing Officers, and the Vice President for Student Affairs will assume the responsibility to confront anyone falling short of the community's expectations.

Student Affairs Mission for Student Conduct

Vanguard University provides a community approach to student violations of community behavioral standards and expectations. VUSC’s goal in a disciplinary response to a violation is to assist in the social, behavioral, and spiritual development of students through evaluation in the context of an evangelical Christian worldview.

Student Affairs Conduct Process Philosophy

All students at VUSC are members of the campus community which upholds specific community behavioral guidelines and expectations. These are designed to serve the best interest of both the individual and the community. Therefore, each individual is accountable to other community members in highly significant ways. Conduct hearing officers exist to provide constructive and consistent confrontation with students who have violated University guidelines.

This approach is consistent with the model found in Matthew 18:15-17, which states that individuals should be held accountable, in an effort to bring about growth. In addition, the hearing officers use a restorative and education framework aimed at development.

The following principles apply to the student care and conduct process at Vanguard University:

• Developmental, Restorative, and Educational: The student conduct process is ultimately developmental, restorative, and educational in purpose. Students, staff, faculty, and administrators who serve on conduct committees use this principle as an over-arching motive. Whether making decisions on appropriate consequences, or developing parameters for consequences, they realize the need to make the conduct process a learning and growing experience for all those involved. • Christian: The student conduct process is Christian in character. VUSC is concerned with the inner spiritual life and wise decision-making which exemplifies Christ. Further, genuine concern and love serve as the motivation for maintaining a conduct process that is redemptive in nature. • Student Individualization: One important goal in the disciplinary process is to affirm that all students are equal, uphold the same value, and should be directly involved in supporting and upholding community standards that are willfully agreed upon by all students upon enrollment in the University. VUSC’s goal is to provide a fair and objective framework from which to guide conduct procedures. However, individual sanctions assigned to students may be different based upon the student’s response and circumstances. • Institutional Integrity: The reputation of an organization draws on the integrity of each person. An institutional value stands behind every decision a conduct hearing officer makes. This principle includes the ability of an institution to be honest and trustworthy through the efforts of its people. This will in turn create a conduct process which is undivided in aim and purpose. • Constant Evaluation: While the process in place has been developed, tested, and tried, and is binding regarding institutional policy, as a human creation, the conduct process is imperfect. Accordingly, all parts of the system must remain open to growth through the process of group discussion and decision-making. At the end of each academic year, the process is evaluated to determine if revisions are necessary. • Quality Service: This principle stresses the University’s obligation to provide services in a timely and affirming manner.

It is also based on group ownership of the conduct process, which in turn enables all Conduct Hearing Officers to give input concerning the conduct process in order to maximize VUSC’s overall effectiveness. This quality of an organization is a practical outgrowth of group ownership because diverse perspectives yield efficiency.

Student Conduct for On-and Off-Campus Students

The student conduct process has been developed to support VUSC’s community standards as stated in the Student Handbook and Vanguard University Catalog. The student conduct process has been created to respond to violations of community standards for on and off-campus students and to respond appropriately within the boundaries outlined in this manual. All decisions of the various hearing officers are considered University responses to violations of community standards. The groups assigned to hear conduct cases are Conduct Hearing Officers and “The Student Affairs Conduct Committee” (SACC). This section of the student handbook is divided into the following sections:

1) Overview of the student conduct process 2) Conduct Process 3) Sanctions 4) Appeals Process

It is important to note that in respect to conduct proceedings, formal rules of evidence are not followed, and past conduct may be considered in the conduct process. The standard used is “preponderance of evidence” which means that the incident was more

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