In order to help students better understand the University conduct process, the Student Conduct Board has launched informational office hours. The SCB began the program last semester, offering resources and information to students in need.

“The Student Conduct Board is looking to find ways to be a better resource for students who are the subject of Community Standards Reports,” Assistant Director of Student Rights and Community Standards Melissa Woolsey wrote in an email to the Justice. “SCB Members’ roles are not limited to just hearing cases. They are meant to be peer educators and offer resources and information for students going through the student conduct system.”

Through the office hours, which took place on Monday mornings and afternoons last semester, the SCB is looking to help students better understand their resolution options before entering the conduct process, according to Woolsey. She wrote that a lot of students go over the three options available — administrative hearing, SCB hearing or administrative agreement — in a meeting with a hearing officer. However, “Students tend to make a resolution decision on the spot, perhaps because they want to move through the process as quickly as possible,” Woolsey wrote. “We think that more students might choose to participate in a hearing if they understood the process better. Our goal is that students will use the SCB Office Hours to better understand their resolution options before they enter our disciplinary meetings, allowing for more thoughtful and intentional resolutions.”

She added that her hope is that the office hours make the student conduct process less anxiety-provoking for students involved by providing information and support. While she noted that the members of the SCB who run the office hours do not counsel students, they can give pros and cons for each resolution option. Additionally, she wrote, any member who aids a student through office hours will not sit on that particular student’s board hearing.

Another bonus that the office hours provide is confidentiality, Woolsey said. “For instance, a student ... may be anxious about their potential allegations, but also might not want to share their involvement in the conduct process with peers who are not bound by confidentiality. SCB members can listen and work with students in this position,” she wrote.

The SCB is also fairly diverse, made up of students of different backgrounds, academic areas, extracurricular activities and class years, she wrote, adding that this diversity allows students in need to access a more tailored experience.

Though the office hours were not widely utilized in the fall semester, Woolsey wrote that she is hopeful that better marketing and additional time slots will encourage more students to utilize the program. “The office hours are new and so students are slowly becoming aware of them,” she wrote.

Looking forward, the SCB has plans to work on a website, table around campus, produce informational videos and host open space sessions in order to open up the conduct process — as well as the SCB itself — to the student body, Woolsey wrote.