The Waiting Room

Two of my students are going before the conduct committee today. They got into a verbal altercation with another student that turned into a shouting match. This isn't the first time these two have gotten into trouble. They were the duo involved in a "Mean Girls" incident last term. I had them complete the conflict resolution protocol. During our follow-up meeting, they appeared to understand what they did and were sincere. I thought the issue was settled.

I was wrong.

Since this is the second offense for the Mean Girls duo, it warrants a visit to the committee. It's not that I have to bring them before the Conduct Committee that bothers me. It's the committee that bothers me. The committee consists of faculty and administrators, who are charged with holding a hearing on serious violations of the student code. They are supposed to able to weed through the crapola and make a decision. Sometimes, the decision they have to make means a suspension or dismissal from the college. No one wants to kick someone out, but it has to be done in some situations.

There have been cases where students have been involved in verbal and physical assault that warranted a hearing and dismissal. The specific facts are unbloggable, but suffice to say, kicking out the students who were involved should have been a no brainer, with the hearing being merely a formality.

I was wrong.

It has become apparent to me that these people could not decide their way out of a paper bag. We recently had an incident that went before the committee, where it took two hours to decide to dismiss a student who verbally assaulted an administrator and had to be physically removed from campus. This was witnesses by five people!!!!

At a recent impromptu meeting of faculty and members of the committee, I gave the committee my input on how these cases are decided and what protocol should be used. The Student Code is very ambiguous and open to interpretation, so I suggested that they consider creating a step-by-step protocol so that it will make things easier in deciding cases. I offered to help in the process. I figured my legal background would be helpful. (And, yes, I was very nice about it).

I was told by one member of the committee that my ideas would never work and furthermore, there was no way they would let me work on the committee becuase I am too hard on students.

Well, alrighty then.

Later during the week, during our administrator's meeting, someone suggested exactly what I had said during the impromptu meeting. The person who said my ideas wouldn't work actually said it was a good idea.

You could have peeled me off the ceiling. I just about cussed some folks out and stormed out of the meeting. Somehow, I maintained my dignity and composure.

But, this has sent me into a whole new dimension of pissed off.

So, you can see why I dread today's hearing. I have zero confidence in the people handling this hearing. And that sucks because the two students involved really need to understand that they cannot do what the did without some repercussions.

And, the committee needs to understand that sometimes you have to make the hard decisions. And if you can't, you need to step aside and let someone else do it.

Good luck getting any help from me. I'm done.