SEAHO Report - Spring 2017 - 10

SEAHO Features

From You and Me to We: Creative Sanctions
in the Context of Community
By Beth Paris and Sherrelle Thorpe, Florida Gulf Coast University

Overview
Students reluctantly file into the classroom, and cautiously look up to the front to ensure that they are in the
"right place." As they shrink to attempt to sit in the farthest row, the facilitator requests their presence at a front
table to sign in and make their own name tag. The screen identifies this as a workshop (emphasis on the work),
and yet, the participants are already expecting a lecture. Having been documented through the conduct process,
many of these participating students are invited to the room to develop an understanding of the impact that their
behavior has on their community, and how decision-making can influence their success as students.
Like many other hearing officers, we were searching for a means to engage students in active learning. We wanted something between the passive reflection of a paper, and a severe (and cost-prohibitive for many) assessment,
for behavior that extended beyond the reach of just one student's experience. Thus, the Community Standards
Workshop came to life several years ago, and has since grown into a standard sanction for our hearing officers
and department.
The workshop begins with a clear set of expectations for decorum and participation, including a request for
active involvement. With 70 of 90 minutes involving participants in discussion-based or partner-based activities,
the session does not succeed with extended silence. Almost immediately, students are brought to their feet to
walk along a continuum, reflecting on a variety of ethical dilemmas that range in "greyness," and are specifically
tied to ambiguous policy interpretations. They spend a majority of the session discussing the following themes
and constructs:
q Values-based and ethical decision-making
q Boyer's Principles for a Community of Learning
q Civility
Beyond identifying the values that most affect their daily life, students are challenged to connect those values to
the behavior that brought them to our conduct process. How does their choice reflect those values? Are they
living with integrity? And if their behavior does not reflect their values, where is the disconnect? We share the
Principles of a Community of Learning as a representation of the values that are important to our community
and institution, and challenge students to acknowledge where their values connect to the institution, and where
they conflict. We've also taken strides to increase student involvement in the session, and create more opportunities for participants to connect personally with the information in order to make the ideas actionable as soon
as they leave the space.
What We Do
As our workshop enters its seventh year on our campus, we implemented some new strategies to create a learning experience that was more engaging; less proctored, and made better use of the technological resources
available on our campus. More emphasis was directed toward student-led reflection and discussions about the
processes that underlie their behavior. Participants work in teams to complete a case study that challenges them
to walk through an ethical decision-making model in the context of a hypothetical (and yet intentionally chosen)
policy violation, and ultimately to connect their responses to a value that had been previously selected. They
anticipate potential consequences and outcomes, identify choices for response, and narrow down their choices
based on legality, opportunity, and their personal values.
SEAHO Report Spring 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Spring 2017