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This website publishes administrative rules on their effective dates, as designated by the adopting state agencies, colleges, and universities.

Rule 3358:5-7-08 | Faculty-student relations.

 

(A) Classroom procedures

(1) It is expected that a healthy atmosphere, conducive to the learning process, shall be maintained at all times in classroom and laboratories. The faculty-student relationship should be one of mutual respect and acceptance of the rights and privileges of each individual.

(2) At the beginning of each semester, faculty members are expected to provide students with a syllabus and use the first class period to orient the student to the course goals and objectives and the expected classroom routine.

(3) Student regulations concerning class attendance, testing, grading, and make-up policy should be spelled out in detail in the syllabus and explained during the first class meeting. Instructors should be specific concerning the educational objectives of the course as students have a right to understand what will be expected of them and the instructor.

(4) Instructors are expected to give tests, quizzes and/or other graded assignments. These should be viewed as a part of the students educational experience. As such, they should be presented in a variety of styles requiring the student to draw on his or her ability to organize data, compare, make distinctions, and arrive at warrantable conclusions. Final examinations are to be given according to the published final exam schedule. Final examinations should cover the work of the entire course and should be sufficiently comprehensive to challenge the students efforts during the entire time period assigned.

(B) Success coaches

(1) Basic to all educational effort is the function of advising. The college accepts this principle in all its implications. Accordingly, a primary function of its faculty and staff is to provide competent educational and career advising.

(2) Recognizing that growth and acceptance of responsibility occur only to the degree that the student personally assumes self-direction for them, the role of the academic advisor is necessarily one of assistance, guidance and advisement. Helping the student realize and accept the fact that he or she is primarily responsible for his or her own actions, his or her decisions, and ultimately his or her own education is a vital element of the success coach's role.

(3) The college and its faculty (in both their instructional and advisor roles) consider each student an adult and responsible agent and thus perceives itself as functioning in its own integrity as an institution and not "in loco parentis."

(4) All students shall be assigned a faculty advisor based on their program area and on an equitable basis.

(5) The following guidelines are offered to help faculty in the definition of their role as academic advisors:

(a) Faculty advisors shall keep a current file on each of their advisees. In addition to documents describing the students history at Clark state and other colleges/universities, advisors can access computer screens to gain current registration information about a student. This information should be used to advise students determining their abilities to succeed in the attempt of various credit hour loads. The faculty advisor shall be expected to follow established college policy on the sharing of student record information with anyone except the student. No information should be released from a student's personal file (even to employers) without prior permission from the student. Any information release shall be in compliance with federal regulations (FERPA) and with college regulations dealing with the privacy of student information.

(b) Graduation requirements for the faculty member's program area should be firm in his or her mind as he or she attempts to guide students toward that end. The advisor should also be familiar with the Ohio board of regents/state department of education standards for technical, basic, and general education credit. Naturally, the faculty advisor should be cognizant of all institutional regulations (catalog and student handbook) regarding graduation requirements.

(c) Students may need some assistance in deciding upon and working toward their career and life goals. Faculty advisors might wish to plan, along with the student, an entire sequence of courses to be taken during the student's tenure at the college. While most students follow prescribed curriculum, some, because of academic or personal reasons, might not. Therefore, a faculty advisor should prepare this kind of schedule instrument taking into consideration frequency of course offerings and prerequisites.

(d) Faculty advisors should discuss reasons for drop/adds with their advisees prior to any action. Students should be referred to the financial aid office for financial aid implications. Drop/adds should be processed through the records office as soon as possible after decisions have been reached.

(e) Many advisees will seek to have a channel for individual guidance and personal problem solving. Faculty advisors should be aware that it may be necessary for them to consult with or refer students to counseling services.

(f) Faculty advisors must practice appropriate confidentiality with regard to student information.

(C) Consensual relationships

(1) The colleges educational mission is promoted by professionalism in faculty-student relationships. Professionalism is fostered by an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. Actions of faculty members and students that harm this atmosphere undermine professionalism and hinder fulfillment of the colleges educational mission. Trust and respect are diminished when those in positions of authority abuse, or appear to abuse, their power.

(2) Faculty members exercise power over students and this faculty-student power is manifested primarily in the instructional context, which includes coursework, advisorships, student evaluation, recommendations and similar processes.

(3) Amorous relationships between faculty members and students are wrong when the faculty member has professional responsibility for the student. Such situations greatly increase the chances that the faculty member will abuse his or her power and sexually exploit the student. Voluntary consent by the student in such a relationship is suspect given the fundamentally asymmetric nature of the relationship. Moreover, other students and faculty may be affected by such unprofessional behavior because it places the faculty member in a position to favor or advance one students interest at the expense of others and implicitly makes obtaining benefits contingent on amorous or sexual favors.

(4) Therefore, the college shall view it as unethical if faculty members engage in amorous relations (consensual or otherwise) with students enrolled in their classes or subject to their supervision even when both parties appear to have consented to the relationship. Amorous relationships outside the instructional context, while not specifically prohibited, should be discouraged and are very unwise.

(D) Referral procedures

(1) Academic reasons When a student needs assistance in his or her courses, the student should be directed to the student academic success center (SASC) for tutoring or other assistance. If the student has a disability and needs accommodations, the student should be directed to accessibility services also within the SASC.

(2) Behavioral support services (BSS)

(a) "Behavior Intervention Team (BIT)" consists of a team of faculty and staff that are trained to pro-actively assess threat or risk and provide faculty resources or interventions as appropriate. Current BIT members include the dean of student affairs, director of student life, director of evening services, college counselor, campus police representative, and one faculty member.

(b) Counseling/mental health referral: The college has a licensed professional counselor available to assist students in addressing problems and concerns that may impede academic performance. Meetings with counseling services are confidential (except in cases in which disclosure of information is necessary to protect the student or others from physical or life-threatening danger), and no information shall be released without written permission. Referrals to community agencies may be made when appropriate.

(c) Peer listeners are also available to meet with students on a walk-in basis. The peer listeners are trained in a variety of areas including listening skills, crisis management, and problem solving. The counselor maintains oversight of the peer listener program.

Last updated October 17, 2022 at 8:33 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 3358
Amplifies: 3358
Prior Effective Dates: 3/13/1978, 7/1/1982, 7/1/1998, 6/26/2000, 5/17/2004, 8/20/2012, 3/18/2015