Law, Policy, and Governance
“The Law, Policy, and Governance competency area includes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes relating to policy development processes used in various contexts, the application of legal constructs, and the understanding of governance structures and their effect on one’s professional practice” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010).
Competency Growth:
Through my coursework, internship experience, training sessions, and participating in case study, I have developed the law, policy, and governance competency, which is an important aspect of the work of all student affairs professionals.
As a graduate hall director in the Office of Residence Life at Bowling Green State University, I acted as a conduct hearing officer, adjudicating various student conduct cases and creating educational sanctions. Utilizing the “Bowling Green State University Student Code of Conduct,” I called upon various university, local, and state policies and law to deliberate the outcome of cases brought to my attention. The types of cases that I have heard include, but are not limited to: noise violations, underage alcohol use, drug use, running personal businesses in the hall, physical altercations, public indecency, and sexual assault. If I deemed a violation did, indeed, occur, I then worked to determine creative, educational sanctions to be completed. Depending on the severity of case, content, and students’ prior violations, I followed policies to report cases up to the University level, where the Dean of Student Office would adjudicate the case. Outside of conduct hearings, I also worked to uphold policies set forth from the Office of Residence Life, especially in regard to student worker job action and room reservation policies.
Having worked through a few sexual assault cases as a conduct officer, I have worked to educate myself on the laws and policies surrounding sexual misconduct. During the fall of 2013, I attended a Title IX Training run by Bowling Green State University’s Chief Equity & Diversity Officer, who is also the university’s Title IX Coordinator. This training session taught participants about Title IX, provided examples of common violations, and informed participants of the correct policy and procedure for report such crimes. During the spring of 2014, I worked with three of my peers on a case study run through StudentAffairs.com, where we invoked various policies, such as the Violence Against Women Act’s (VAWA) Reauthorization and its Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act (SaVE) in conjunction with the Jeanne Clery Act (Clery), to create a strategic plan for our institution that would educate campus and community constituents about sexual misconduct prevention. It was our hope, through our goals and action items, to alter the culture around sexual misconduct on campus and in the surrounding community.
Through CSP: 6010: Foundations and Function of College Student Personnel, I gained valuable knowledge about the history of higher education and student affairs, including insight into important court cases whose outcomes have changed laws, policies, and procedures of the field. In particular, Gott v. Berea, Brown v. Board of Education, Dixon v. Alabama, Gratz v. Bollinger, and Grutter v. Bollinger (Schuh, Jones, Harper, & Associates, 2011), were discussed in class, along with their outcomes’ implications for student affairs practice.
Competency Growth:
Through my coursework, internship experience, training sessions, and participating in case study, I have developed the law, policy, and governance competency, which is an important aspect of the work of all student affairs professionals.
As a graduate hall director in the Office of Residence Life at Bowling Green State University, I acted as a conduct hearing officer, adjudicating various student conduct cases and creating educational sanctions. Utilizing the “Bowling Green State University Student Code of Conduct,” I called upon various university, local, and state policies and law to deliberate the outcome of cases brought to my attention. The types of cases that I have heard include, but are not limited to: noise violations, underage alcohol use, drug use, running personal businesses in the hall, physical altercations, public indecency, and sexual assault. If I deemed a violation did, indeed, occur, I then worked to determine creative, educational sanctions to be completed. Depending on the severity of case, content, and students’ prior violations, I followed policies to report cases up to the University level, where the Dean of Student Office would adjudicate the case. Outside of conduct hearings, I also worked to uphold policies set forth from the Office of Residence Life, especially in regard to student worker job action and room reservation policies.
Having worked through a few sexual assault cases as a conduct officer, I have worked to educate myself on the laws and policies surrounding sexual misconduct. During the fall of 2013, I attended a Title IX Training run by Bowling Green State University’s Chief Equity & Diversity Officer, who is also the university’s Title IX Coordinator. This training session taught participants about Title IX, provided examples of common violations, and informed participants of the correct policy and procedure for report such crimes. During the spring of 2014, I worked with three of my peers on a case study run through StudentAffairs.com, where we invoked various policies, such as the Violence Against Women Act’s (VAWA) Reauthorization and its Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act (SaVE) in conjunction with the Jeanne Clery Act (Clery), to create a strategic plan for our institution that would educate campus and community constituents about sexual misconduct prevention. It was our hope, through our goals and action items, to alter the culture around sexual misconduct on campus and in the surrounding community.
Through CSP: 6010: Foundations and Function of College Student Personnel, I gained valuable knowledge about the history of higher education and student affairs, including insight into important court cases whose outcomes have changed laws, policies, and procedures of the field. In particular, Gott v. Berea, Brown v. Board of Education, Dixon v. Alabama, Gratz v. Bollinger, and Grutter v. Bollinger (Schuh, Jones, Harper, & Associates, 2011), were discussed in class, along with their outcomes’ implications for student affairs practice.
References:
ACPA & NASPA (2010). Professional competency areas for student affairs practitioners. Washington, DC: Authors.
Schuh, J. H., Jones, S. R., Harper, S. R., & Associates. (2011). Student services: a handbook for the profession (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
ACPA & NASPA (2010). Professional competency areas for student affairs practitioners. Washington, DC: Authors.
Schuh, J. H., Jones, S. R., Harper, S. R., & Associates. (2011). Student services: a handbook for the profession (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.