Board of Governors - APPENDIX IV - May 3, 2001

REPORT OF THE CAMPUS & COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

FOR APPROVAL

1. Code of Student Conduct

Recommended: That the Board of Governors approve The University of Western Ontario Code of Student Conduct as set out in Annex 1.

Background Documents:

Report of the Vice-Provost's Advisory Committee on a Code of Student Conduct, issued April 25, 2000. The draft code that followed that consultation process (dated November 24, 2000) can be seen at http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/board/code.html Annex 2
Report of the ad hoc Senate Committee to Review the Draft Code of Student Conduct, presented to Senate on March 23, 2001. The recommendations included in that report are proposed changes to the above-noted November 24, 2000, draft Code. Annex 3
A summary of the actions taken by Senate on March 23, 2001. Annex 4

Review by the Campus & Community Affairs Committee:

The CCAC received a briefing on the Draft Code of Student Conduct, as prepared by the Provost's Advisory Committee, on January 11, 2001 (i.e., the November 24, 2000, version). Dr. Brian Timney (Chair of the Advisory Committee) and Dr. Peter Mercer informed CCAC that the Code addresses the current ad hoc approach to student discipline, provides an explicit process and gives students rights they do not have now. The Code applies to all students registered on Main Campus. Sanctions do not apply to students registered at the Affiliated Colleges and in limited circumstances may apply to behavior off campus. The structure of the Code attempts to deal with most offences informally at the lowest level. Procedures at the decanal/vice-provost level are based on current Scholastic Offences policy. The University Disciplinary Appeals Committee (UDAC) described in the draft Code is modelled on the Senate Review Board Academic (SRBA), the academic appeal body that has been in operation for 30 years. The rationale for the proposed Code includes the need to define the University's jurisdiction with respect to student conduct, the need to define the classes of misconduct that may be subject to discipline, the need to define potential sanctions for misconduct, the need to establish transparent, fair and consistent procedures for dealing with complaints and the need to provide a well-defined appeal mechanism.

The CCAC postponed its deliberation on the draft Code of Student Conduct pending the review and recommendations of the ad hoc Senate Committee to Review the Draft Code of Student Conduct which was established by the Senate in November 2000. That Committee's report (Annex 3) was presented to Senate on March 23, 2001, and most of the Committee's recommendations were approved by Senate. A summary of Senate's advice to the Board (via CCAC) appears in Annex 4.

On April 5, 2001, the CCAC held a public meeting at which time it considered the following: