Consensual Sexual Relationships Between Faculty and Students Sample Clauses

Consensual Sexual Relationships Between Faculty and Students. Commentary The University defines itself as an academic community that upholds principles of fairness, equal opportunity, and nondiscrimination. Specifically, all students have the right to be treated fairly, held to the same requirements and standards, and afforded an equal opportunity to seek achievement, recognition, and reward based on their accomplishments. Members of the faculty are expected to maintain professional relationships with all University students, act in accordance with standards of professional conduct (§3.5), and avoid conflict of interest (§3.5.6), favoritism, bias, or creation of a hostile environment for their students (§3.5.2, especially ¶II). A sexual relationship between a faculty member and a student enrolled in any University program can compromise professional standards and expose both the faculty member and the University to charges of harassment or unlawful discrimination—either from the student involved or from other students who allege they are disadvantaged because of the faculty member’s nonprofessional relationship with one of their peers. Moreover, sexual relationships between faculty members and students are fraught with the potential for exploitation. The respect and trust accorded a professor by a student, as well as the actual or apparent authority of the professor, make voluntary consent by the student suspect. Even when both parties have in fact consented, the development of a sexual relationship renders both the faculty member and the University vulnerable to subsequent allegations of harassment. Therefore, faculty members are advised that entering into a sexual relationship with any student of the University—whether covered by the following policy or not—is not only unwise but also can potentially undermine their professional relationships with other students and with colleagues. The University disapproves of all sexual relationships between faculty members and students and discourages them in the strongest possible terms. Definition Faculty members are mentors to students (“mentees”) who are under their direct tutelage (e.g., in a class, in an independent study, in an honors project), who will be under their direct tutelage in the future (e.g., to complete a degree program), who are their academic advisees, or who are under their academic authority in some other way (e.g., the faculty member chairs the student’s major department).