Instructor:
Shawn McGuirk, Director of Student Conduct, Mediation and Education, Fitchburg State College - Massachusetts

Description:
Many entry-level staff are expected to adjudicate student judicial cases as a part of their job responsibilities. This course will assist new professionals in their development toward becoming effective judicial administrators and officers. This course will provide a brief historical context of student judicial affairs. We will then proceed toward more contemporary issues, examining why we do what we do, and how we do it today. The course will then concentrate on the judicial meeting with a student who has allegedly violated policy. Course discussions will take us through the writing of incident reports, initial contact with a student, creating an appropriate office environment, effective communication techniques, questioning do's and don'ts, sanctioning and administrative follow-up. This course is designed for new professionals who adjudicate judicial cases on their campuses.

Course Outline:
Participants will be given some historical and contemporary information concerning student judicial affairs, and how new professionals can help students maintain an appropriate and productive residence hall and campus community. We will then move on to utilizing strategies as a conduct officer prepares for a judicial meeting. From there, participants will be provided information and have opportunities to discuss communication issues with students. This will include initial contact with a student, what your office says about you and your process, how to paraphrase and ask open-ended questions, etc.

Participants will then proceed to case studies, where they initially will try to obtain as much information as they can about an incident so that they are comfortable making a decision on whether a student is responsible or not. The instructor will provide information about a case as questions are asked.

Later case studies will have participants moving beyond responsibility and making determinations about appropriate sanctions.

Topics will be explored in depth on the discussion board where we will "come together" at times convenient to you, for what I hope will be a thought provoking interchange.

Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Gain a historical perspective on student judicial affairs
• Better understand why we do what we do today for the sake of our students and the communities they live in
• Know how to effectively prepare for a judicial meeting with a student
• Know how to effectively communicate with a student during the judicial meeting
• Know how to ask appropriate questions and get as much information as possible about an incident
• Know how to determine whether a student is responsible for violating a policy
• Understand how to assign appropriate sanctions for particular violations, taking into account developmental and educational issues

Participant Expectations:
Participants should plan to spend approximately 3 to 4 hours per week in this course. This will include time to read materials, complete on-line exercises and surveys and participate in asynchronous on-line discussions. Participants will need to log on for course content that will be posted weekly. In addition participants will need to respond to questions posted on the discussion board each week. As the discussion board is asynchronous, students may check in and post at their convenience. This learning tool will be an important part of participant's learning experience.

Instructor Bio:
Shawn McGuirk is the Director of Student Conduct, Mediation and Education at Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts. He has worked in Student Affairs at Brandeis University, Boston College, the University of Maine, and was an RD for 3 years at Marist College in New York. Shawn is heavily involved in ASJA. When he's not at work, he's at home with his wife and 3 children. He enjoys rooting for the Red Sox and Patriots, a good cup of coffee and playing golf when he can.