Standards of Conduct
The University of Scranton, as a community of scholars seeking to sustain a culture of excellence, requires that its students conduct themselves in ways that allow for their personal growth and development and for that of others in the most positive ways possible. The University strives to foster the fullest development of its students in an atmosphere of care and concern. Members of the University community are held to a high standard of behavior because of the nature of the University's enterprise - education and the development of students.
The University of Scranton is a community dedicated to the freedom of inquiry and personal development fundamental to the growth in wisdom and integrity of all who share its life. Our mission is to educate men and women in the Catholic and Jesuit tradition which encompasses the search for truth, the discovery and sharing of knowledge, the promotion of personal and professional excellence, and service to others and the community through a spirit of caring. At the University, we educate the whole person, spiritually, physically, and emotionally in the spirit of cura personalis. This education of the whole person is characterized by openness, honesty, respect, fairness, and responsibility.
Students who engage in conduct not aligned with the University’s behavioral standards as set forth in the Student Code of Conduct are subject to University disciplinary action. The student discipline process is first and foremost an educational process that is designed to foster learning and development particularly as it relates to decision making. This consistent and fair-minded process provides a means of adjudication that is commensurate with the skills and abilities of the participants. The effectiveness of the student discipline process rests upon the participation of all members of the University. Active participation in the process by students, faculty, and staff reflects a willingness to address the difficult issues brought before them for the betterment of individual students and the University community.
The Vice President for Student Life & Dean of Students is responsible for enforcing the Student Code of Conduct though certain responsibilities relative to the student conduct process have been delegated to the Office of Student Conduct. Given the educational focus of the student discipline process, the conduct officer who is responsible for the adjudication of a conduct matter will communicate directly with the involved student(s) when resolving the matter and not with the parents of the student(s) or others.
For the benefit of individual students and the entire University community, students, their guests, and student organizations are prohibited from engaging in the following conduct:
1. Academic cheating, plagiarism and other violations of the University Academic Code of Honesty. (Such misconduct is reviewed using the procedures listed in the Academic Code of Honesty.);
2. Sexual harassment and sexual misconduct including, but not limited to, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, and other forms of sexual harassment as set forth in the University’s Sexual Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Policy-. (Such misconduct is reviewed using the procedures listed in the Sexual Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Policy);
3. Physical violence or threats of physical violence, including, but not limited to, assaulting, striking, shoving, slapping, kicking, fighting (regardless of who started the fight) or in any way threatening or causing physical harm to another (See Anti-Violence Policy);
4. Harassment:
Discrimination or discriminatory harassment based on race, color, national origin, religion, ancestry,
sex, pregnancy, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, genetic information,
national origin, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law in the University’s
Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy. (Such misconduct is reviewed using the procedures
and standard of review listed in the Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy);
Harassment by any means of communication verbal and/or non-verbal including, but not limited to,
in person and via text message, e-mail or any form of social media including any actions, threats,
gestures, and/or words directed toward another person that incite a breach of the peace, create a hostile
environment, or cause emotional distress because of the humiliating, degrading, intimidating, insulting,
and/or alarming nature of the conduct. It may involve a pattern of conduct;
5. On-campus or illegal possession of weapons (or replicas), implements used as weapons, or other dangerous items including, but not limited to, firearms, ammunition, explosives, fireworks, martial arts paraphernalia, knives (except for kitchen knives possessed and used in their intended manner), pistols, rifles, shotguns, handguns, air guns, pellet or BB guns, paint guns, stun guns/tasers, potato guns, slingshots, balloon launchers, or dangerous chemicals (See Firearms & Weapons Policy);
6. Attempted or actual theft, mutilation, destruction, defacement and/or damage to property;
7. Violation of the University’s Alcohol Policy including, but not limited to, underage possession or consumption of alcohol; alcohol impairment; social hosting; or furnishing alcohol to underage persons;
8. Violation of the University’s Drug Policy including, but not limited to, possession or use of illegal drugs, controlled substances, or other mind altering substances; possession of paraphernalia; manufacture, transfer, sale, distribution or intent to distribute any amount of illegal drugs, controlled substances, or other mind altering substances; or misuse of over-the-counter or prescription drugs;
9. Violation of the University’s Hazing Prohibition Policy;
10. Acts of dishonesty, including but not limited to the following: furnishing false or misleading information to a University official or law enforcement officer; forgery, alteration, or misuse of a document, record or form of identification; tampering with the election of officers of any University student organization; or possessing false identification;
11. Failure to comply with the directives of University employees, conduct bodies/officers, or law enforcement officials who are acting in performance of their duties and/or failure to identify oneself to or report to these persons when requested to do so;
12. Participation as an individual or a member of a group in behavior that disrupts or obstructs the normal operations of the University (e.g. teaching, research, housing, administration, public service functions) and/or infringes on the rights of other members of the University community; leading or inciting others to disrupt scheduled and/or normal activities within any campus building or area; intentional obstruction that unreasonably interferes with freedom of movement, either pedestrian or vehicular, on campus or at sponsored or supervised functions of the University; taking over buildings;
13. Conduct that is disorderly, lewd, or indecent; reckless behavior that places oneself or others at risk; breach of the peace; or aiding, abetting or procuring another person to breach the peace;
14. Unauthorized possession, duplication, or use of keys to any premises of the University or unauthorized entry to or use of such premises;
15. Dispersing litter in any form onto the grounds or facilities of the campus;
16. Reckless use of a vehicle;
17. Falsely reporting the presence of an unlawful explosive or incendiary device in a way that misleads, deceives, or disrupts the operation of the University or a scheduled event sponsored by the University;
18. Failure to evacuate University facilities when ordered to do so, disregarding any emergency or fire alarm signal; inappropriate use of emergency exit doors;
19. Any act of arson, falsely reporting a fire or other emergency, falsely setting off a fire alarm, tampering with or removing from their proper location fire extinguishers, hoses, or any other fire emergency equipment except when done with real need for such equipment;
20. Illegal gambling including, but not limited to, contests of chance, illegal lottery, bookmaking, and selling pools on athletic events, promoting or advancing gambling; gambling using University computing/network facilities; possession of gambling devices or gambling records;
21. Unauthorized use or misuse of the University’s computing facilities to including,but not limited to, logging on an account without the knowledge and permission of the owner; changing, deleting or adding to the programs, files and/or data without authorization of the owner; theft of program data or machine resources; attempts to thwart security of the computer system; attempts to disrupt the normal operations of the computer system, including hardware and software;
22. Conduct against the student discipline process, including, but not limited to, misrepresentation of information before a conduct officer/body; disruption or interference with a conduct hearing; initiation of a conduct proceeding knowingly without cause; discouraging another person’s proper participation in, or use of, the conduct process; attempting to influence the impartiality of a conduct body; harassment and/or intimidation of a conduct body; influencing or attempting to influence another person to commit an abuse of the conduct system; willful non-participation in the conduct process or a related investigation; impeding an official University investigation; retaliation against a person due to his/her good faith submission of a complaint and/or participation in an investigation;
23. Shared responsibility for a community standards violation, includes but is not limited to the following: presence during another person's violation of the Student Code of COnduct; one's choice not to intervene or notify University staff/law enforcement, or one's choice not to remove oneself from reasonable proximity of the violation as appropriate;
24. Violation of written policies and regulations as stipulated in the Student Handbook (i.e., Off-Campus Behavior Policy, Parking Policy, Acceptable Use of Information Technology Policy) or as promulgated and announced by authorized University employees;
25. Violation of Residence Life and Housing Regulations (i.e., Prohibited Items, Noise & Guest & Visitation Policy) as stipulated in the Housing Contract, the Student Handbook, or as promulgated and announced by authorized University employees; and,
26. Violations of federal, state or local laws regardless of where they occur.
Related policies that are referenced in the Standards of Conduct can be viewed in full in the Student Handbook at http://www.scranton.edu/studenthandbook.