Code of conduct gets a facelift
Do you know your rights and
responsibilities as a student at
Fanshawe College?
They've changed as of January 1, 2011, and you may be interested to hear what these changes bring.
"Now there's a specific policy for appeals," explained Bob Clark, code of conduct administrator for the college. "That makes it a whole lot easier. I think that was one of the biggest changes."
"Another big change was the addition of the student union being a support for students when they are going through an appeal," added Joe Scalia, president of the Fanshawe Student Union. "(It's) just to let them know that we have supports here, we have legal aid, and we have the VP External (Kendra Sauder) who can help as well."
The code outlines the rules and responsibilities of students, staff and visitors to the campus. "The code of conduct can be viewed as punitive, but I like to think of it more as a way to empower students to make the right choices," said Clark.
The process for revamping the code has taken over a year, but really started to take off in May, when Scalia took office.
"It was a big policy to go over. Through the beginning stages of it, we realized (that) in order to do this, maybe we should have some sort of value statement, just setting out what our values are," said Scalia.
The group ended up creating a second document that summarizes the rights and responsibilities of students, staff and the FSU. "It's a value statement of what we believe in, what the college believes in," he continued. "It also lists out the rights of the students, and, with that, the responsibilities that follow." It's a much easier read than the entire code of conduct, and students can look to it to get a sense of what is expected of them during their time at the college.
A team of faculty and staff from the college and the FSU worked together to revise the code. "It's really well-rounded because we have all the concerns from all the divisions," said Scalia.
Since the newly revised code of conduct came into effect just weeks ago, "The reaction is pretty much nil at the moment," laughed Clark. "It just started. From my perspective, I think this is going to work a lot better for the students. The appeal policy is the big thing. It makes it a lot easier for the students to understand that they do have the rights."
"I hope that students don't actually have to use the policy," smiled Scalia. "But if they do, we're making sure that it's fair for them, that it's reasonable."
"Look at it this way," said Clark. "They could put me out of work, and that would probably mean that the policy is working tremendously."
For more information about the code of conduct, visit tinyurl.com/fanshawecode.
To view the signed document visit www.fsu.ca/docs/rights.pdf
They've changed as of January 1, 2011, and you may be interested to hear what these changes bring.
"Now there's a specific policy for appeals," explained Bob Clark, code of conduct administrator for the college. "That makes it a whole lot easier. I think that was one of the biggest changes."
"Another big change was the addition of the student union being a support for students when they are going through an appeal," added Joe Scalia, president of the Fanshawe Student Union. "(It's) just to let them know that we have supports here, we have legal aid, and we have the VP External (Kendra Sauder) who can help as well."
The code outlines the rules and responsibilities of students, staff and visitors to the campus. "The code of conduct can be viewed as punitive, but I like to think of it more as a way to empower students to make the right choices," said Clark.
The process for revamping the code has taken over a year, but really started to take off in May, when Scalia took office.
"It was a big policy to go over. Through the beginning stages of it, we realized (that) in order to do this, maybe we should have some sort of value statement, just setting out what our values are," said Scalia.
The group ended up creating a second document that summarizes the rights and responsibilities of students, staff and the FSU. "It's a value statement of what we believe in, what the college believes in," he continued. "It also lists out the rights of the students, and, with that, the responsibilities that follow." It's a much easier read than the entire code of conduct, and students can look to it to get a sense of what is expected of them during their time at the college.
A team of faculty and staff from the college and the FSU worked together to revise the code. "It's really well-rounded because we have all the concerns from all the divisions," said Scalia.
Since the newly revised code of conduct came into effect just weeks ago, "The reaction is pretty much nil at the moment," laughed Clark. "It just started. From my perspective, I think this is going to work a lot better for the students. The appeal policy is the big thing. It makes it a lot easier for the students to understand that they do have the rights."
"I hope that students don't actually have to use the policy," smiled Scalia. "But if they do, we're making sure that it's fair for them, that it's reasonable."
"Look at it this way," said Clark. "They could put me out of work, and that would probably mean that the policy is working tremendously."
For more information about the code of conduct, visit tinyurl.com/fanshawecode.
To view the signed document visit www.fsu.ca/docs/rights.pdf
