Student Conduct Board Seeks Alternatives for Conflict Resolution

Next year, more options will be offered for students seeking resolution of conflicts through the Office of Student Conduct.

Judicial Coordinator Michael Gilmer has been working with others in the Office of Student Conduct to provide the “Power of Choice” for students, which will vastly redefine the current process of student conduct.

Basing the new procedures on ideas presented in the book Reframing Campus Conflict: Student Conduct Practice Through a Social Justice Lens, the goal is to provide new pathways beyond the traditional disciplinary process to resolve conflicts between students.

“There have been students who violated the letter of a policy, but not the spirit of what it means to be a Spartan,” said Gilmer.

“I believe that all students are deserving of the time needed . . . to listen to their story and to help them find resolution that will maximize their educational experience and marginalize the punitive effect of the process.”

What these changes come down to is reminding students to ask themselves what it means to be a Spartan.

My hope is that they are proud enough of their education and degree to want to make it better,” Gilmer said. “My belief is that students of this university are good people that sometimes make mistakes. . . . In essence, what I want is more of a menu of action for the students.

When it is appropriate, the students can have options [regarding] how the . . . process will work for them,” Gilmer explained.

Gilmer described a case that would be better handled by processes other than what the University of Tampa currently has to offer.

“Let’s say two students are in an argument regarding personal abuse,” he said.

“One student (Student 1) slapped another student (Student 2) on the leg. Student 2 punches Student 1 in the face in retaliation. Student 1 files a complaint with safety and security describing the incident in detail. Both students are charged and held responsible for violations of Article 7: Personal Abuse.

“The record of their behavior and outcomes are kept as part of their educational records for seven years after the incident. What was left out was that Student 1 was laughing and lightly slapped Student 2 without realizing Student 2 was sitting next to Student 1. Moreover, Student 2’s legs were sore from participating in dance happenings.”

Gilmer’s problem with the current procedure to resolve student conflict is that students do not have the opportunity to explain their reasoning or justification for their actions.

Gilmer’s concern is that “as the students graduate and apply to graduate programs, they will be asked if there were any previously documented incidents at their undergraduate institution.

Both students would answer this question, ‘Yes, I violated Article 7: Personal Abuse.’ Beyond applying for graduate programs, these documented misconducts can also affect students’ applications to the study abroad program as well as applications to various jobs.”

Two pathways of resolution that Gilmer said will go into practice in the Office of Student Conduct in the fall are mediation and restorative justice.

The goal of restorative justice is to allow a student to ask himself, “How has my behavior affected the community? What can be done to restore the community back to where it was before I did this?”

“The people involved get to talk and share the community impact that was made by those actions,” Gilmer said.

According to Gilmer, when a student is willing to admit the responsibility of his or her own actions, and those involved are able to share how they were affected, a resolution can come about — not simply a punishment.

Another alternative pathway to resolve conflict among students will be mediation.

Gilmer cited incidents in which conflicts arise between roommates about something as small as a belt. As she asked, “Do you really need a decision of responsibility through the current student conduct process for that?”

Alisa Smith, an associate professor of criminology at UT, is one of six individuals currently in training to provide mediation services next fall.

“Mediation will better resolve long and short term conflicts between and among students,” she said. “It’s a more productive and less destructive method of resolving student disagreements.”

At the end of the training for the six faculty and staff, they will be certified by the Florida Supreme Court, which will give mediation among students more integrity for privacy issues.

“For a true mediation to take place, the information has to remain confidential,” Gilmer said. With mediators coming from a variety of areas within UT, students will be provided with a mediator best suited to their interests.

“It’s impossible for me to completely remove the fact that I’m a judicial coordinator,” Gilmer said. “Are students coming to me going to be as forthcoming when it comes to a conflict issue that might violate one of UT’s policies? Probably not.”

Mediation is not appropriate for all student conflicts. Crimes of violence and sexual assault will never be resolved through mediation.

Also, in Gilmer’s words, “Mediation has to be bought into. If it has more of a buy-in, if it’s more voluntary, it will be more successful.” For this reason, all students involved must agree to mediation for it to take place.

Restorative justice and mediation are just two pathways of resolution that the Office of Student Conduct is working toward.

Others in the works include shuttle diplomacy (where students are separated and the conflict is resolved by a judicial coordinator going between them to create a form of dialogue), conflict coaching, facilitated dialogue, and restorative practices.

“Worst case scenario,” Gilmer said, “we’ll still have a conduct process as a fall-back.”

The new changes are meant to provide supplements to the current conduct process.

As Gilmer said, “The principle is built on education and learning. . . . If you make a violation part of a record, it becomes punitive. Students should be given an opportunity to face their behavior and learn from it.”

Smith agreed. “Students at the University of Tampa are typically traditional-aged college students, who are in the process of growing,” she said.

“I believe this will be more effective in resolving less-serious disagreements and disputes.”

Channing Hailey can be reached at channing.hailey@spartans.ut.edu.