Oakridge College Faculty Handbook

Overview

Faculty are expected to act with professionalism, fairness, care, and good judgment. Faculty must respect students, colleagues, college authority, and the responsibilities attached to their role. Misuse of authority, harassment, unsafe conduct, impairment during official duties, and serious neglect of responsibility may result in review or discipline.

The Details

Faculty hold a position of trust at Oakridge College.

This trust applies in classrooms, department spaces, offices, meetings, events, student advising, public college activities, and any situation where a faculty member is acting as a representative of Oakridge.

Faculty are expected to support the academic life of the college. They should teach responsibly, communicate clearly, respect the college hierarchy, protect students from misuse of authority, and avoid conduct that damages the learning environment.

Faculty conduct is not judged only by intention. It is also judged by effect, context, repeated behavior, and the responsibility attached to the faculty role.

General Professional Conduct

Faculty are expected to:

• Treat students, colleagues, staff, and visitors with respect
• Use their authority fairly
• Maintain appropriate professional boundaries
• Communicate clearly and in a reasonable time
• Attend accepted classes, meetings, events, and duties
• Follow department and college procedures
• Respect the academic hierarchy
• Keep student information private when appropriate
• Avoid favoritism, retaliation, harassment, or intimidation
• Report serious concerns to the proper authority
• Act in a way that supports the reputation and function of Oakridge College

Faculty should remember that their words and actions carry weight. A faculty member may intend to speak casually, but students may still hear the statement as instruction, pressure, approval, or threat because of the faculty member’s position.

Respectful Treatment

Faculty must treat others with basic respect.

Faculty may correct students, challenge student work, enforce classroom standards, and disagree with colleagues. However, they should not use insults, humiliation, threats, mockery, personal attacks, or public embarrassment as a normal method of instruction or leadership.

Respectful treatment does not require faculty to avoid difficult subjects or serious criticism. It requires faculty to handle those matters in a way that serves the academic purpose of the college.

Professional Boundaries

Faculty must maintain appropriate boundaries with students.

Faculty should not use their position to seek:

• Romantic attention
• Sexual attention
• Personal loyalty
• Money
• Gifts
• Favors
• Private services
• Special treatment
• Personal involvement unrelated to the academic role

Faculty may be friendly and supportive. They may mentor students, answer questions, encourage growth, and participate in appropriate campus life. However, the faculty member remains responsible for keeping the relationship suitable for an academic setting.

A student may feel pressure to agree with a faculty member because of the faculty member’s authority. Faculty should be careful not to place students in situations where refusal may feel unsafe, embarrassing, or academically risky.

Personal Relationships and Conflicts of Interest

Faculty should avoid situations where personal relationships interfere with academic judgment.

A conflict of interest may exist when a faculty member has a personal, financial, romantic, family, or close social relationship that could affect their decisions about a student, colleague, course, appointment, promotion, discipline, grade, recommendation, or opportunity.

Faculty should disclose possible conflicts to the Department Chair or Dean.

When a conflict exists, the faculty member may need to step away from a decision, review, recommendation, or disciplinary matter.

Faculty should not make academic decisions for someone when their judgment may reasonably be questioned.

Misuse of Authority

Faculty may not misuse their position.

Misuse of authority may include:

• Threatening students without proper cause
• Punishing students for personal reasons
• Using grades, recommendations, or opportunities as pressure
• Blocking student participation unfairly
• Favoring students because of friendship, romance, loyalty, gifts, or personal interest
• Ignoring misconduct because of favoritism
• Retaliating against a student or colleague for making a complaint
• Acting outside the limits of rank, appointment, or assigned duty
• Representing the department or college without approval
• Pressuring students or junior faculty to support personal disputes

Faculty authority exists to support education. It should not be used for personal control.

Harassment, Discrimination, and Hostile Conduct

Oakridge College expects faculty to maintain an academic environment where students and colleagues can participate without harassment, intimidation, or discrimination.

Faculty must not harass, threaten, target, or exclude students or colleagues on the basis of identity, protected status, personal background, role, academic interest, disagreement, or social position.

Harassment may include repeated unwanted conduct, severe verbal abuse, intimidation, sexual misconduct, bullying, targeted humiliation, or conduct that interferes with a person’s ability to participate in college life.

Faculty should report serious harassment or discrimination concerns to the Department Chair, Dean, Student Affairs, Campus Security, or senior administration as appropriate.

Academic discussion of difficult topics is not automatically harassment. Faculty may teach and discuss difficult material when it is relevant to the course. However, academic freedom does not protect targeted abuse, threats, discrimination, or misconduct.

Alcohol and Drug Use

Faculty must be fit to perform their duties.

Faculty should not teach, supervise students, handle disciplinary matters, attend official meetings, operate college activities, or represent Oakridge while impaired by alcohol, drugs, or any substance that affects judgment, communication, safety, or professional conduct.

Alcohol may be present at approved college events only when permitted by the event rules and location. Even at approved events, faculty are expected to maintain professional judgment and appropriate boundaries.

Substance use becomes a faculty conduct issue when it affects:

• Classroom instruction
• Student safety
• Professional judgment
• Department duties
• Public behavior at college events
• Communication with students or colleagues
• The reputation or functioning of Oakridge College

A faculty member who appears impaired during official duties may be removed from the duty and reported to the Department Chair, Dean, or senior administration.

Violence, Threats, and Unsafe Conduct

Faculty must not threaten, encourage, or engage in violence.

Faculty should not use physical intimidation, cornering, blocking, aggressive pursuit, threats, or hostile behavior to control students or colleagues.

A safety concern should be reported immediately when it involves:

• Threats
• Physical aggression
• Weapons
• Stalking or pursuit
• A person refusing to leave after removal
• Intimidation or harassment
• A situation that cannot be safely controlled by ordinary classroom authority

Campus Security should be contacted when immediate safety or enforcement support is needed.

Classroom Conduct by Faculty

Faculty are responsible for maintaining orderly and functional academic spaces.

Faculty should:

• Begin and end classes in a reasonable manner
• Keep instruction connected to the course topic
• Explain expectations clearly
• Give students a fair chance to participate
• Correct disruption calmly when possible
• Avoid escalating conflict through insults or personal attacks
• Remove a student from a class session only when appropriate
• Report serious or repeated issues

Faculty should not punish students simply for disagreement, difficult questions, or unpopular views. Disagreement is part of academic life.

Faculty should intervene when behavior becomes disruptive, threatening, harassing, unsafe, or prevents others from participating.

Public Conduct and Representation of Oakridge

Faculty should use good judgment when representing Oakridge College in public spaces, public events, official messages, college pages, academic ceremonies, student activities, or community settings.

Faculty should not claim to speak for the college, a School, or a department unless they have authority to do so.

Faculty may express personal views, but they should avoid creating confusion between personal opinion and official college position.

When using an Oakridge title in public, faculty should remember that their conduct may reflect on the college.

Communication Standards

Faculty are expected to communicate clearly and respectfully.

Faculty should:

• Respond to reasonable academic messages in a reasonable time
• Use clear language with students and colleagues
• Avoid unnecessary hostility
• Keep serious discussions factual
• Give notice when they cannot attend accepted duties
• Keep Department Chairs informed of problems affecting courses or students
• Send concerns through the proper chain of responsibility

Faculty should not use messages, notices, or public posts to harass, shame, threaten, or pressure students or colleagues.

Confidentiality and Student Information

Faculty should handle student information with care.

Faculty should not share private student concerns, academic problems, disciplinary matters, or personal information casually or publicly.

Faculty may share information with a Department Chair, Dean, Student Affairs, Campus Security, Registrar, or senior administration when there is a proper college reason to do so.

A proper reason may include:

• Supporting the student
• Addressing misconduct
• Protecting safety
• Handling academic records
• Resolving a complaint
• Carrying out department or college duties

Faculty should avoid discussing student problems in public spaces or unrelated social settings.

Reliability and Duty

Faculty are expected to be reliable in the duties they accept.

Reliability includes:

• Attending scheduled classes
• Attending required meetings
• Giving notice when unavailable
• Completing accepted department tasks
• Supporting assigned students
• Following through on agreed responsibilities
• Communicating when a problem prevents completion

Repeated failure to appear, communicate, or complete accepted duties may result in review by the Department Chair, Dean, or senior administration.

Respect for College Hierarchy

Faculty are expected to respect the academic structure of Oakridge College.

Concerns should normally move through the proper chain of responsibility:

• Classroom matters are handled by the faculty member
• Department matters are brought to the Department Chair
• School matters are brought to the Dean
• College-wide matters are brought to the Vice President or President
• Safety or enforcement matters are brought to Campus Security

Faculty may disagree with leadership decisions. However, they are expected to raise concerns through appropriate channels.

Bypassing the chain of responsibility may be appropriate when the matter is urgent, unsafe, involves the person who would normally receive the report, or requires immediate senior review.

Academic Freedom and Responsibility

Faculty have academic freedom to teach, discuss, question, research, write, and present ideas connected to their field and assigned academic work.

Academic freedom protects serious teaching and inquiry. It allows faculty and students to examine difficult, unpopular, complex, or controversial subjects.

Academic freedom also carries responsibility.

Faculty should not use academic freedom as an excuse for harassment, threats, discrimination, personal attacks, neglect of course purpose, or misuse of authority.

A faculty member should be able to explain how classroom material, discussion, or activity connects to the course, department, program, or academic purpose.

Reporting Faculty Conduct Concerns

Concerns about faculty conduct should be reported to the proper authority.

Possible reporting paths include:

• Department Chair
• Dean
• Vice President
• President
• Student Affairs
• Campus Security

The correct path depends on the concern.

A minor concern within a department may begin with the Department Chair.

A serious concern, repeated problem, boundary concern, harassment concern, or concern involving a Department Chair should be brought to the Dean or senior administration.

A safety concern should be brought to Campus Security or senior administration immediately.

Review of Conduct Concerns

A faculty conduct concern may lead to review.

Review may include:

• Conversation with the faculty member
• Written warning
• Department Chair review
• Dean review
• Temporary removal from a duty
• Change in assignment
• Loss of leadership responsibility
• Suspension from teaching or events
• Formal disciplinary process
• Removal from appointment

Not every concern requires discipline. Some matters may be corrected through guidance, clarification, apology, training, or closer supervision.

Serious misconduct may require immediate action.

Academic Integrity

Proposed, not yet ratified.

Oakridge College expects academic work to be honest, and the standard binds faculty and students alike. Academic misconduct falls within the jurisdiction of the Oakridge Disciplinary Committee, and Section XI lists academic dishonesty among the grounds for disciplinary review.

Academic dishonesty is work that misrepresents who did it, how it was done, or what it shows. It includes:

• Plagiarism, meaning another person’s words, ideas, images, or work presented as one’s own
• Cheating, meaning help, materials, or answers the instructor did not permit
• Falsified work, meaning invented results, invented sources, or forged documents
• Doing another student’s work, or arranging for someone else to do one’s own
• Submitting the same work in two courses without the permission of both instructors
• Altering a grade, an attendance record, or a completion record

A wrong answer, a weak paper, an unfamiliar method, or an argument the faculty member disagrees with is not dishonesty. Faculty should be clear about which of the two they are describing.

The standard applies to coursework carried out in class as much as to work that is written down. A student who copies an essay, takes an examination with a hidden answer sheet, or reports a laboratory result they never obtained has committed academic dishonesty at Oakridge. A finding of dishonesty is a matter to be corrected, not a reason to remove a student from the life of the college.

Faculty should also make the standard easy to meet. When a course allows shared study, group work, open sources, or reused material, the faculty member should say so before the work is assigned.

A faculty member who believes academic dishonesty has occurred should speak with the student first, and privately.

The student should be told:

• Which piece of work is in question
• What the faculty member believes happened
• What the faculty member is relying on
• That the student may answer before anything is decided

A student should not learn of an accusation from a grade, a record, or a rumor. Faculty should not accuse a student in front of a class.

A first, limited, or unclear matter may be settled inside the course. The faculty member may require the work to be done again, refuse credit for that piece, correct the record, and give a warning. The matter should be documented briefly and reported to the Department Chair, so that a pattern across courses can be noticed.

The matter should be referred to the Department Chair, and through the Chair to a Disciplinary Committee, when it involves:

• A repeat, in the same course or across courses
• Dishonesty that was planned or deliberate
• An examination, capstone, certification, program requirement, or graduation requirement
• Falsified college records
• More than one student
• A student who disputes the finding
• A penalty heavier than the loss of credit for a single piece of work

Faculty may correct work, refuse credit, and warn. Faculty may not place a student on academic probation, suspend a student from the college, or expel a student. Those outcomes belong to the Disciplinary Committee, and suspension and expulsion go from the Committee to the President as recommendations.

The same standard binds faculty. A faculty member who plagiarizes, falsifies research or records, or improperly alters a student record is subject to review under Section XI.

General Rule

Faculty are expected to use their authority with care.

They should teach honestly, communicate clearly, respect students and colleagues, maintain boundaries, remain fit for duty, and follow the proper chain of responsibility.

Oakridge College depends on faculty who can be trusted with students, classrooms, academic standards, and the public reputation of the college.