After 10 years of service as director of the Longwood University Office of Student Conductand Integrity,Dr. Richard Chassey abruptly left the position and the university in spring 2013 in a move that Dr. Tim Pierson, vice president for Student Affairs, called “a decision on [Chassey’s] part.”
Taking Chassey’s place is Stephanie Rowland, J.D. “Her streng thin policy development and policy writing were things that I saw that really were strengths that she possessed, so I was really excited to have someone of her quality accept the position,” Pierson said of Rowland.
Rowland, wife of Dr. Bryan Rowland, chief development officer, joined the university staff last year. She assumed the position of a policy analyst for the reaccreditation program through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACs) reaffirmation office before taking her current position.
Rowland, a former attorney in the state of Virginia, is eager to be in a position where she can not only flex her legal prowess but also be more involved and connected with the student body.
“The student-run aspect is wonderful and also very rare ... it really fosters the educational aspect of the board,” Rowland said.
While Rowland doesn’t foresee any changes in structure for either the Conduct or Honor Boards in the immediate future, she is implementing serious changes to the Student Handbook in both appearance and policy.
Any modifications made to the handbook will be done in conjunction with the Community Standards Team, which consists of Longwood University Police Department (LUPD) Chief of Police Bob Beach and LUPD Sergeant Stuart Raybold; Student Affairs staff members Marcy Cole, Jonnelle Davis, Danny Fulcher, Cameron Patterson and Jean Wilwohl; Dr. Eric Laws, associate professor of psychology; Jordan McWilliams, Honor Board Chair; Darnell Royster, Conduct Board Chair; and Shana Hoffman, Conduct Board vice chair.
Members of individual offices on campus will also be involved in any rewrites to sections pertaining to their area of expertise.
One of the areas under heavy focus in the reworking of policies is the university’s alcohol policy.
“There are things in there that are old, just really old, as far as if sororities and fraternities can have alcohol at their parties on campus and things like that; there are things that are not done anymore that are still in the handbook that need to be removed,” Rowland said.
“I think that it’s important that there’s an ongoing review of those policies,” Pierson explained. “At one time, you got the three strike policy, [there] was a disciplinary probation for the first offense, we reevaluated that and looked at it and we went to admonition on that. I thought that was a good change.”
Rowland also expressed interest in reworking the sexual misconduct policy, last visited in 2012.
Along with policy changes,Rowland hopes to have done a complete redesign of the Student Handbook by the beginning of the spring 2014 semester with the goal of making it more manageable, user-friendly and accessible to the student body.
Rowland is currently looking into working with online publication creator Issuu to design a cleaner, easier to navigate and more visually appealing online version of the handbook.
The policies inside of this handbook are vital for students to understand, and Rowland believes the current design and framework does not allow for that to happen easily.
Another change Pierson is hoping Rowland will bring to the system is more defined sanctions, especially for the Honor Board.
“For the conduct policies we have recommended minimum sanctions, and for the honor code there isn't really any recommended sanctions at all,” Pierson explained.
Pierson added, “Should there be some guidelines for the board to follow that the students can see? ‘What kind of results might I expect from this kind of violation for academic dishonesty versus stealing versus something else’ you know, how do you go about that? I want her to work with the boards on that, and so I think that will be a healthy thing for us.”
With all these changes on the horizon, the administration seems hopeful about the future of the Conduct and Honor Boards.
According to Pierson, in the end, it all comes back to the students.
“We want students to succeed,” Pierson said. “We want students to understand with clarity and own responsibility for themselves.”