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Student Rights and Freedoms
The following document was formulated in June 1967, and was adopted by The College administration in conjunction with faculty and student groups in August 1968. The statement was revised for its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1992.
Statement of Human Rights, Principles, and Responsibilities
1. Discrimination based on race, ethnic origin, gender, disability, age, religion, or sexual orientation will neither be exercised nor tolerated. Where by law, gender, and religion remain grounds for exclusion (e.g., student organizations and clubs), we challenge those organizations to assess the validity of that discrimination and encourage them to develop strategies for involving all members of The College community.
2. Each individual has the right to fair, unbiased, and courteous treatment in access to education, campus life, employment and services, and in grading and performance evaluations.
3. Equal recognition and reward will be extended to all contributing members of the college community; the contributions of our diverse groups must not be undervalued by patronizing attitudes and behavior or ethnocentric norms. The interests of our diverse groups must be recognized and their input incorporated in decision-making processes.
4. Departments and organizations will promote educational programs and training that prepare all members of The College community (students, faculty, and staff) for productive, responsible, and ethical leadership roles in society.
5. In keeping with The College's affirmative action goals, departments and organizations will devise and implement the means of increasing the number of minority students, faculty, and staff enrolled and employed, and should take measures to ensure minority representation in leadership positions within the college community.
6. Departments and organizations have the collective responsibility to promote constructive interaction among The College's diverse populations through inclusion of all constituents in both formal and informal activities. Each student, faculty, and staff member has the individual responsibility to participate in activities and programs which are culturally diverse and enriching.
All students, faculty, and staff are urged to immediately adopt and promote these principles as a guide for living our ideals as a community of learners. Further, all departments and organizations are challenged to develop strategies for implementing programs and activities which are supportive of these principles.
Preamble
Academic institutions exist for the transmission of knowledge, the pursuit of truth, the personal development of students, and the general well-being of society. Free inquiry and free expression are indispensable to the attainment of these goals. As members of the academic community, students should be encouraged to develop a capacity for critical judgment and to engage in sustained and independent search for truth. Institutional procedures for achieving these purposes may vary from campus to campus, but the minimal standards of academic freedom of students outlined below are essential to any community of scholars.
Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. The freedom to learn depends upon appropriate opportunities and conditions in the classroom, on the campus, and in the larger community. Students should exercise their freedom with responsibility.
The responsibility to secure and to respect general conditions conducive to the freedom to learn is shared by all members of the academic community. Each college and university has a duty to develop policies and procedures which should be developed within the framework of general standards, and with the broadest possible participation of the members of the academic community. The purpose of this statement is to enumerate the essential provisions for student freedom to learn at The College of New Jersey.
I.Freedom of Access to Higher Education
The College of New Jersey is open to all students who are qualified according to its admissions standards within the limits of its facilities. Under no circumstances is a student barred on the basis of race, sex, religion, or handicap. In general, the facilities and services of The College are open to all enrolled students.
II. Classroom Standards
The professor in the classroom and in conference encourages free discussion, inquiry, and expression. Students are evaluated on the basis of academic performance, not on opinion or conduct in matters unrelated to academic standards.
The philosophy of The College of New Jersey perceives success in the class as being closely related to student attendance. The instructor in each course, therefore, assumes the responsibility to explain his/her attendance policy and to report or approve absences from his/her class.
A. Protection of Freedom of Expression
Students are free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study and to reserve judgment about matters of opinion, but they are responsible for learning the content of any course of study for which they are enrolled.
B. Protection Against Improper Academic Evaluation
Students are responsible for maintaining the standards of academic performance established for each course in which they are enrolled. A student, however, who feels he or she has been the victim of prejudiced or capricious evaluation, may bring the matter to the attention of the dean of his or her school. If careful consideration of the information given by the student indicates substantiation of the charges, the dean has the responsibility of taking up the matter with the department chairperson and the instructor involved.
C. Protection Against Improper Disclosure
Information about student views, beliefs, and political associations which professors acquire in the course of their work as instructors, advisers, and counselors is considered confidential. Protection against improper disclosure is a serious professional obligation. Judgments of ability and character may be provided under appropriate circumstances, such as applications for transfer to other institutions of higher education, employment recommendations, and clearance for classified government positions, normally with the knowledge or consent of the student.
III. Student Affairs
A. Freedom of Association
Students are free to organize and join an association to promote their common interests under the advice and consent of the student organizations director of campus life, providing they meet the other standards as set by the governing groups of which they are a part.
1. The membership, policies, and actions of a student organization are determined by the students who are qualified to participate in student activities (see A. Freedom of Association) under the counsel of a faculty adviser and under the general supervision of the student organizations director of campus life.
2. Affiliation with extramural organizations does not of itself disqualify a student organization from institutional recognition.
3. Each organization on campus is required to have an adviser, but recognition by The College is not withheld solely because of the temporary inability of a student organization to secure an adviser of its choice. Campus advisers may advise organizations in the exercise of responsibility, but they do not have the authority to control the policies of such organizations.
4. Student organizations are required to submit and to have accepted by the director of Greek life/student organizations a constitution or a statement of purpose, including criteria for membership, criteria for selection of officers, and rules or procedures. They are not required to submit a membership list as a condition of institutional recognition, however, a current list of officers is to be filed in the Office of Campus Life each year.
5. Campus organizations, including those affiliated with extramural organizations, are open to all students without respect to race, creed, national origin, religion, or handicap. All organizations are open to students of either sex with the exception of sororities or fraternities which have been traditionally single sex organizations.
B. Freedom of Inquiry and Expression
1. Students and student organizations are free to examine and to discuss all questions of interest to them, and to express opinions publicly and privately. They are always free to support causes by orderly means which do not disrupt the operations of the institution, prevent speakers from speaking, or obstruct or restrain members of the academic community or campus visitors by physical force (see Chapter 4, Policy on Dissent and Campus Demonstrations). At the same time, it should be made clear to the academic community that in their public expressions or demonstrations, students, or student organizations, speak only for themselves.
2. Students are allowed to invite and to hear guest speakers of their choosing. Persons considered by the larger community to be extremely controversial must be approved by the vice president for student life and the president of The College of New Jersey, after due consideration of all aspects resulting from the individual's presence on campus. The routine procedures required by The College before a guest speaker is invited to appear on campus are designed to ensure that the scheduling of facilities is orderly; that there is adequate preparation and security for the event, and to ensure that the conduct of the occasion is appropriate for an academic community. Sponsorship of guest speakers does not necessarily imply approval or endorsement of the views expressed, either by the sponsoring group or by The College of New Jersey.
C. Student Participation in Institutional Government
As constituents of this academic community, students are free, individually, and collectively, to express their views on issues of institutional policy and on matters of general interest to the student body. The student body has clearly defined means to participate in the formulation and application of institutional policy affecting academic and student affairs through the Student Government Association and its subcommittees. In addition, the faculty plan of governance guarantees realistic involvement of students in major councils concerned with the development of campus policy.
D. Student Publications At The College of New Jersey
The student newspaper is not an independent corporation financially and legally separate from The College; therefore, The College of New Jersey, as the publisher of student publications, has the legal responsibility for the contents of the publication. However, editorial freedom and financial autonomy for student publications are sufficient to maintain their integrity of purpose as vehicles of free inquiry and free expression in our academic community.
1. The student press is free of censorship and advanced approval of copy by faculty and administration. Its editors and managers are free to develop their own editorial policies and news coverage.
2. The editorial freedom of student editors and managers entails corollary responsibilities to be governed by the canons of responsible journalism such as the avoidance of libel, slander, indecency, undocumented allegations, attacks on personal integrity, and the techniques of harassment and innuendo. Editors and managers are protected from arbitrary suspension and removal from office because of student, faculty, administrative, or public disapproval of editorial content. Only for proper and stated causes or through misuse of their responsibility are editors and managers subject to removal from office by orderly procedures.
3. A statement explicitly indicating that the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The College or student body should appear on the editorial pages of all of The College of New Jersey's student publications and should precede television and radio editorials.
IV. Freedom of Students Off Campus
A. Exercise of Rights of Citizenship College
Students are both members of the academic community and citizens. As citizens, students enjoy the same freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, and right of petition that other citizens enjoy; as members of the academic community, they are subject to the obligations which accrue to them by virtue of this membership. The faculty and administrative officials of The College of New Jersey ensure that institutional powers are not employed to inhibit such intellectual and personal development of students as is often promoted by the exercise of their rights of citizenship both on and off campus.
B. Institutional Authority and Civil Penalties
The College of New Jersey encourages excellence in citizenship by having students, faculty, and staff sustain and advance the communities comprising our campus, township, state, and nation. All individuals affiliated with The College shall serve these interrelated communities as responsible citizens, both on and off campus. Accordingly, all members of the TCNJ community are expected to develop and enhance each of these communities in a manner consistent with the applicable codes of ethical conduct established by The College, as well as local, state, and federal laws.
Although The College neither substitutes for nor interferes with regular legal processes, there may be circumstances when The College should take action through its own applicable judicial or disciplinary processes that potentially overlap with external criminal or civil proceedings. When an act committed off-campus (1) poses a substantial and continuing danger to the safety and/or property of The College or members of its community (for example, sexual assault, the illegal distribution of controlled substances); and/or (2) otherwise constitutes a serious criminal offense, The College may take official internal action to protect its orderly functioning as an academic community. In such cases, the college administrative officials will advise affected parties of sources of appropriate assistance.
V. Disciplinary Standards and Procedures
The philosophy of student involvement at The College of New Jersey places emphasis upon responsible student conduct. Disciplinary proceedings, therefore, play a role substantially secondary to interactive exploration of alternatives, counseling, guidance, example, and admonition. At the same time, The College of New Jersey has a duty and the corollary disciplinary powers to protect its educational purpose through the setting of standards of scholarship, conduct for students who attend, and regulation of the use of institutional facilities. In exceptional circumstances where the preferred means listed above fail to resolve problems of student conduct, proper procedural safeguards will be observed to protect the students from unfair imposition of serious penalties.
A. Standards of Conduct Expected of Students
The general behavioral expectations of the student at The College of New Jersey are those stated in the Student Handbook.
These regulations will be interpreted in a manner consistent with principles of relevancy and reasonableness. Violations will be dealt with according to the procedures stated in the Student Judicial Structure.
B. Investigation of Student Conduct
1. Except under extreme circumstances, premises occupied by students will not be searched unless appropriate authorization has been obtained. An application to the residence hall director and the Vice President for Student Life must be made before a search is instituted. The application must specify the reasons for the search and the objects or information sought. The student will have the opportunity to be present during the search. For premises not controlled by the institution (off-campus rooms, apartments, etc.) similar procedures will be followed and the ordinary requirements for lawful search adhered to.
2. Students detected or arrested in the course of serious violations of institutional regulations, or infractions of ordinary law, shall be informed of their rights. No form of harassment shall be used by institutional representatives to coerce admissions of guilt or information about conduct of other suspected persons.
C. Status of Student Pending Final Action
Pending action on the charges, the status of a student will not be altered, or his/her rights to be present on the campus and to attend classes suspended, except for reasons relating to his or her physical or emotional safety and well-being, or for reasons relating to the safety and well-being of students, faculty, or college property.
