Three recent changes have been made to the Student Organization Misconduct Policy following a string of conduct decisions within the past year.
The Keene State Office of Community Standards sends an email annually regarding information on the code and major changes that are added.
On Friday, Sept. 20, Assistant Dean of Students Kat Dougherty sent an email to organizational leaders regarding the misconduct policy updates. Expectations for students have not changed, although the recent modifications touch on how community standards will address the policy violations that occur and how they are published.
“The goal is to help organizations and their leadership feel informed regarding the College’s expectations and increase awareness of the process,” stated Dougherty.
Student organizations are held to a higher standard than individual students, as they are connected to Keene State’s image.
The first change to the policy is that it will “adjust the notification process for student organizations that have suspension level behavior or higher.” Dougherty said if an incident results in a potential suspension, student organization leaders would know that from their first interaction with Community Standards.
“[The policies] will be more informative and might make the process move more efficiently which is in everybody’s best interest as well”, stated Dougherty.
Dougherty added, “This creates more transparency for student leaders from the beginning. That way if they go into a negotiated agreement process, they are agreeing that suspension is on the floor.”
The changes to the policies will eliminate repeats of past occurrences when Dougherty stated, “Groups in the past had navigated the negotiated agreement process thinking they weren’t going to be suspended, but that was the most appropriate outcome based on the alleged behavior.”
Secondly, if an organization is found guilty of deferred suspension–(one step away from a suspension) or higher violation, a notification letter will be issued home to those within the group.
“The goal of sending notifications home is for guardians, parents, and support systems, to help students best navigate choices for them. Students who are able to have those robust conversations with their support systems tend to have the ability to navigate the situations ahead of them in a supportive way,” stated Dougherty.
This new notification change goes for any individual found guilty with probation or higher, and dependent on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), then which a notification letter will be sent home. However, if an organization is only on probation, a letter will not be sent home.
The final change is that any organization found responsible for a Community Standard violation will be published with a link on the Community Standards website.
“This is to be transparent to students who are looking into being involved with certain organizations. We want those interested to be aware of an organization’s behavior in the past, and that the college is aware of it too,” said Dougherty.
The publication of the policies will take place at the end of every semester, regarding information on organizations that have been found responsible or have taken responsibility for their misconduct.
The student code of conduct and the student handbook are reviewed every summer, and student organization opportunities happen frequently. New member day happens in spring and fall where student organization policy is spoken on.
Kat Dougherty stated, “These are educational opportunities that give students the ability to learn more about how to avoid risk and get some additional education on the most frequent violations the Office of Community Standards sees.”
Associate Vice President for Student Engagement and Student Government Advisor Jen Ferrell was unavailable for comment by deadline.
Katie Aguilar can be contacted at
kaguilar@kscequinox.com
