Adopt a student-centered approach
Faculty and staff should adopt a student-centered approach by recognizing the diverse and unique needs of all students involved in campus interactions, whether they are involved in a formal conduct process or not. This means fostering a supportive and productive environment (Karasova & Nehyba, 2023).
Emphasize education over punishment and prioritize restorative practices
Faculty and staff should consider educational approaches and restorative practices in their interactions with students. While formal conduct processes may be necessary in some cases, non-punitive methods like reflection, mediation, and repair plans help students learn from their actions and create opportunities for healing and growth (Karp & Sacks, 2014).
Integrate trauma-informed and anti-oppressive practices
All members of the campus community should recognize how common trauma is and integrate trauma-informed and anti-oppressive practices into their work with students. Understanding the impact of trauma ensures that students are not re-traumatized by campus procedures, policies, or interpersonal interactions (Schroeder et al., 2024).
You can learn more from CICMH’s Trauma-Informed Practice & Care Toolkit and our two-part Anti-Oppressive Practices Toolkit.
Balance student accountability with compassion, empathy, and care
Faculty and staff should hold students accountable for their actions while demonstrating compassion, empathy, and care. This balance is important for creating an environment where students can take responsibility for their actions, while also feeling supported in their personal growth (Karp & Sacks, 2014).
Confront historical and ongoing harm
Acknowledge the colonial and systemic inequities embedded in traditional student conduct systems. Recognize how policies and processes have disproportionately impacted equity-deserving communities.
Make conduct policies fair and inclusive
Review and revise conduct policies to eliminate bias, incorporate trauma-informed and restorative practices. Shift away from punishment as the default response and prioritize healing.
Center equity-deserving student voices
Students with lived experience should help shape the development and review of conduct policies to ensure they are inclusive and fair. While students should not be involved in peer-to-peer adjudication, they can be trained, mentored, and supported as peer mediators, who are compensated, to assist with early conflict resolution, de-escalation, and prevention efforts, helping build a safer, more connected campus environment. To assist with early conflict resolution, de-escalation, and prevention efforts, helping build a safer, more connected campus environment.
Redefine safety and accountability
Expand definitions of safety and harm to reflect diverse realities and ensure fairness in all disciplinary practices. Embrace definitions that reflect cultural and psychological safety and ensure accountability measures consider context and power dynamics.
Integrate mental health throughout
Consider mental health at every stage of the conduct process and train staff to recognize and respond to distress. Normalize conversations about stress, burnout, and mental health in your classroom, residence, or office. Identify the signs of distress and know where to refer students for help.
Check out the More Feet on the Ground training to identify some of the mental health concerns students on your campus may be living with.
Foster cross-campus collaboration
Coordinate with departments (e.g., counselling, accessibility, equity, security services) to provide wrap-around holistic support. Building relationships across departments helps ensure students get the appropriate care. You are not expected to manage student conflict on your own.
Ensure transparency and trust
Communicate clearly and consistently to build trust, especially with students who may have experienced systemic harm in the past. Be upfront about what is happening, what comes next, and what supports are available.
Center accessibility
Proactively offer accommodations and flexible approaches. Make accessibility a visible, standard part of conduct policy and practice.
Ensure staff are trained on confidentiality and privacy
Provide training and resources so faculty and staff understand the boundaries and parameters of confidentiality according to their professional roles.
