Student Relations - Section VIII

Student Relations

Introduction

Students are the lifeblood of the University.  The relationship departments have with their students is critical to student success and to higher retention and graduation rates. Since departments are evaluated in part on their enrollment and on the number of degrees they grant each year, it is important that departments have policies that are student-friendly.  At the same time, academic departments need to establish and maintain clear academic standards and to demand excellence from their students.  The department chair is often the person that both faculty and students turn to when they are unable to resolve problems are concerns.  Chairs frequently manage faculty complaints about student conduct, cheating, plagiarism, and other problems, as well as student concerns over grading or faculty conduct.  They are also the ones faculty come to when they notice that a  student is going through difficult times and may be contemplating suicide or other dangerous behavior.  This chapter provides guidance for department chairs on University policies and resources for dealing with these kinds of student issues.

Classroom Issues

Instructional faculty members are free to set standards of classroom behavior as they see fit, up to a limit.  Some faculty members allow or even encourage students talk among themselves in class, allow students to work together, permit students walking around in class, and students leaving or entering the classroom during the class period.  Other teachers have standards that do not allow some or all of these behaviors.  The important thing is that each instructor know what behaviors they are willing to allow or not allow and to make those policies clear to the students at the beginning of the course, both verbally and in their syllabi. 

Attendance

There is no university policy on attendance.  Each faculty member should develop his or her own policy.  Some faculty make attendance a graded part of the course, giving students 10 to 20 percent of their final grade based on attendance.  If it is important that students attend every class session, that policy should be stated clearly in the syllabus, and students should be informed of the attentance policy at the first class meeting.  Faculty who require attendance should have some means of recording students' attendance, in case students question their course grade at the end of term.

If attendance is not important and faculty feel that students are adults who can make their own decisions on this matter, faculty should make that clear to students at the beginning of the term, as well.

Excused Absences

The University has an undergraduate excused absence policy, primarily for students who participate in University-sponsored events, although the policy can also include students who may need to miss class for personal reasons.  University-sponsored events include athletic competitions, class field trips, music performances, and other such events.  The policy is included in its entirety below.

Undergraduate Missed Class Policy 

It is the responsibility of each instructor to determine and publish the class attendance policy in the course syllabus distributed to enrolled students at the beginning of the quarter. The instructor's class attendance policy supersedes requests for approved absences.

• Students are responsible for informing the instructor, in writing and at the earliest opportunity, of absences due to university-sanctioned events or personal responsibilities.
• If a student must miss class due to an unforeseen event, the student must inform the instructor of the reason for the absence. Absences not cleared with the instructor before the specific class event (exam, presentation, assignment due) may require a document from the relevant authority (e.g., coach, employer). If the instructor decides that the absence is justifiable, then he or she should attempt to provide opportunities for equivalent work.
• When absences are approved beforehand by the student and instructor, the instructor will allow students to make up missed work and/or give an option to attain attendance points.  When there is a dispute between students and instructors over the opportunity to make up work or attendances, the issue will be adjudicated by the chair of the department and then (only if needed) the dean of that school or his/her designee.
• The student may not place any undue burden on the instructor to provide opportunities to make up course work due to excused absences.

Classroom Behavior

Sometimes students misbehave in the classroom and usually the class instructor is able to handle such behavior.  However, there are times when student behavior reaches a point where greater authority is needed. There are several tools available when these situations arise.

Student Conduct Code

It would be wise for all department chairs (and, for that matter, all faculty) to be familiar with the Student Conduct Code.  The Code includes descriptions of unacceptable student behavior in the classroom, with other students, and on campus in general.  Particularly Code violations include "Obstruction or disruption of teaching, research, administration, disciplinary procedures or other University activities."  The code also addresses issues of academic dishonesty and cheating, including but not limited to: plagiarism; the buying or selling of term papers or research papers; furnishing false information; forgery; stalking; harassment; and sexual misconduct. 

The Student Conduct Code also includes procedures for complaints against students, including procedures for complaints of academic dishonesty.

Grading:

At Portland State University, grades are submitted online.  In order to submit grades, the instructor must have a PSU ODIN account and be able to login to the PSU Information System.  The grading process is relatively self-explanatory.   Instructions, including dates and deadlines for final grades, how to deal with incomplete grades, how to change grades, and other issues can be found at http://www.pdx.edu/registration/online_grading.html. 

The following tables presents PSU's grading policy.  Beyond this general advice. the University has no specific rules regarding grades.  Faculty are free to do develop their grading criteria as they see fit; however, grades must be assigned in a fair and objective manner.  Furthermore, the grading policy in a course should be specified in the syllabus or otherwise made clear to all students on the first day of class.  Any instructor bias toward individual students should not be a factor in grading.

Grade Appeals

Students have the right to challenge their grade in a course. There are two parallel processes for appealing course grades.  The informal process is for the student to talk to his or her instructor about the grade that is being challenged.  If this conference does not resolve the issue, or if the student is not able to talk with the instructor, the student may meet with the department chair or program director to discuss the grade.  If this does not resolve the issue, the student then has the option of talking to someone in the Dean's Office.       

If this process does not resolve the issue, the student has the right to make a formal academic appeal to the Academic Appeal Board, coordinated through the Office of Student Affairs.  This board is composed of six faculty and three students.  Once students have appealed to the instructor, the department chair, and the Dean's Office, the student may submit a written appeal to the Academic Appeal Board based on the Academic Appeals Guidelines.

At the Academic Appeal Board hearing, the instructor has 20 minutes to present his or her case.  The student then has 20 minutes to rebut the instructor's presentation. The board then makes a recommendation to the Provost, who issues a final decision on the case.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is included in the Student Code of Conduct, discussed elsewhere in this chapter.  The Student Conduct Code includes prohibition of "all forms of academic dishonesty, cheating, and fraud, including but not limited to: (a) plagiarism, which includes, but is not limited to, word for word copying, using borrowed words or phrases from original text into new patterns without attribution, or paraphrasing another writer's ideas; (b) the buying and selling of all or any portion of course assignments and research papers; (c) performing academic assignments (including tests and examinations) for other persons; (d) unauthorized disclosure and receipt of academic information; and (e) falsification of research data." 

If a student is caught plagiarizing or engaging in any other act of academic dishonesty, the course instructor may issue a zero or a failing grade for the assignment in which the academic dishonesty was found, but they may not remove the student from the course or fail them on other academic assignments.   Academic units may, however, suspend the student engaging in academic dishonesty from the department or program, or expel them.  In addition, the instructor or the department may submit a written complaint to the Office of Student Affairs regarding the student's misconduct.

FERPA

One of the most important legal issues a chair should be aware of is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.  FERPA is a Federal law that protects the privacy of the student's records.  The FERPA rules are complicated and extensive, but, in a nutshell, the rules specify when and who gets to see a student's records.  Records include not only files in offices or computerized information, but also student exam scores, student essays, or other student work that may be in a faculty office or in other locations. 

Essentially, the FERPA rules specify that:

• Students or their parents have the right to inspect and review the student's educational record, although the school does not need to provide copies except in special situations.
• Students and/or their parents have a right to request that a school correct that record that they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school disagrees over this, the student has a right to a hearing.
• The school must have the written permission of the student to release any information from the student's record, except to certain parties.

Sexual Harrassment and Consensual Relationships

Issues of sexual harrassment and the complexities of consensual relationships between faculty and students generally come to the department chair first.  Below are the university's policies in these situations.

Sexual Harassment Code

The Sexual Harassment policy forbids "sexual harassment, in all its forms, as unethical behavior, disruptive of workplace and campus life, and inherently antithetical to the University's mission, purpose and functioning. PSU administration, faculty, staff, and students are responsible for assuring that PSU maintains an environment for work, study, and the provision of services and activities that is free from sexual harassment."  Allegations of sexual harassment are a serious concern, and department chairs are responsible for ensuring that they dealt with promptly and effectively.  Don't hesitate to contact the Dean's Office if your department is confronted with this issue and you are unsure about how to proceed.

Consensual Relationships Policy

Consensual relationships are relationships that are amorous, romantic or sexual in nature, legal within the state of Oregon, in which both parties are willing participants.  This includes relationships between faculty members and students.  Obviously, as a general policy such relationships are to be avoided, especially between faculty members and students who are enrolled in the faculty members class at the time of the relationship. However, consensual relationships do occur and the most important part of the policy is that the relationship should immediately be reported to the supervisor, usually the department chair, and the faculty member should not be involved in grading or otherwise evaluating the student.

Students of Concern

Instructional faculty may come to the department chair for advice on dealing with a "student of concern."  This term refers to students that faculty believe might be a danger to themselves or others.  The University has several resources for addressing the needs of these students and protecting the safety of the campus community, including a brochure developed by the Students of Concern Committee. 

This brochure lists a number of warning signs to which teaching faculty should pay attention.  These include:

• Is this student's behavior distressingly out of the ordinary?
• Is this beyond my skill level?
• Is the behavior getting worse?
• Does the behavior place anyone at risk?
• Am I feeling like I want to talk with someone about my observation and concerns?

If the faculty member's answer to any of these questions is yes, he or she is advised to call the Student Health and Counseling Service at 503-725-2800 and ask for the on-call counselor.

For students who are troubled or struggling, but do not appear to be a danger to themselves or others, the following campus resources are also available:

Counseling and Psychological Services

Periodically students with psychological or emotional difficulties appear in our offices or classrooms.  The Counseling and Psychological Services office provides short-term individual therapy and can assist with crisis intervention, problem solving, adjustment issues, and similar matters.  CLAS has found that this is a wonderful service with a highly professional staff.  Students should be directed to this office if it appears that they need its services.

Student Legal Aid and Mediation Service 

The Student Legal Aid and Mediation Service is a fully functioning law service available to registered students at PSU.  SLMS has a lawyer on staff and can represent students in family or divorce issues, criminal offenses, including victims of crimes, personal injury and traffic cases, including traffic tickets, landlord-tenant issues, consumer/debtor-creditor law, and employment issues.  The service is not available to faculty or staff.

Campus Safety

Department chairs and directors should also be aware of the services offered by the Campus Public Safety Office.  This office combines several functions that are important to campus safety, including campus police, emergency management coordinator, crime prevention, office and building security, and a host of other functions.  They have campus security officers that can respond to criminal or other disturbances on campus and they coordinate with the Portland Police Bureau on issues of mutual importance. 

The Campus Public Safety Office also provides information and support for several personal safety issues, including bicycle safety, building security, issues of telephone harassment, credit card protection, identity theft protection, and guidelines for public demonstrations. 

Of particularly importance, given that PSU is an urban campus close to downtown, the Public Safety Office provides a safe escort service for people who may be walking across campus at night.  The following is a list of suggestions the Public Safety Office offers to people who may be on campus in the evening.

• Notify the Public Safety Office regarding any safety hazards (burned out lights in hallways or stairwells, inoperative doors, broken windows, malfunctioning elevators).
• Do not enter a dark building: Call Public Safety at 503-725-4407 and wait for an officer to advise you whether you will be permitted to enter the building.
• Always walk in pairs or in groups: Please call the 24-hour Public Safety Escort Service at 503-725-4407, if you feel the need for an escort.
• Please use the Public Safety Escort Service rather than walk alone at night on campus. In addition, the Women's Resource Center also provides a similar escort service called Safewalk, which can be reached at 503-725-9255.
• Know the location of the nearest emergency blue light signal or call box to your residence hall, study room, practice room, classroom, parking lot, etc.
• Know the locations of all the campus telephones in every building.
• Know the names and locations of all campus buildings.