Student Rights and Responsibilities

STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The following statements of rights and responsibilities are not viewed as a final accomplishment of a completed institution, but rather as themes of a direction for a growing and changing educational environment.

1. The Students enjoy the same basic rights and are bound by the same responsibilities of respecting the rights of others, just like all citizens. Virginia Christian University considers individuals as students upon receipt of deposit for admission.
2. The student as a citizen has the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, freedom of political beliefs and freedom from personal force and violence, threats of violence and personal abuse.
3. The student as a citizen has a right to be considered equally for admission to, employment by and promotion within the campus in accordance with the provisions against discrimination in the general law. Virginia Christian University is no sanctuary from the general law; furthermore, the campus is a community of growth and fulfillment for all rather than a setting described in the concept of in loco parentis.
4. All students of VACU have other responsibilities and rights based on the nature of the educational process and requirements of the search for truth and its free presentation. These rights and responsibilities include the following: Each student has the freedom, dependent on level of competence to teach, learn and conduct research and publish findings in the spirit of free inquiry. Each student of VACU has the right to pursue normal curricular and co- curricular activities, including freedom of movement.
5. Students of VACU have the right to expect that records maintained on them contain only information which is reasonably related to the educational purposes or to the health and safety of the individual or others. Furthermore, it is assumed that the student has the right to protection from unauthorized disclosure of confidential material contained in university records.
6. Students of VACU have the right to reasonable and impartially applied rules, designed to reflect the educational purposes of the institution and to protect the safety of the campus.
7. Students of VACU have the right to recourse if another member of the campus is negligent or irresponsible in the performance of his/her responsibilities, or if another member of the campus represents the work of others as his/her own.
8. Students of VACU who hold opinions about basic policy matters of direct concern to them have the right to have them heard and considered at appropriate levels of the decision-making process. It should be noted that students who have a continuing association with the institution and who have substantial influence have an especially strong obligation to maintain an environment supportive of the rights of others.
9. The student has the responsibility to act in a manner that is conducive to learning by the student and by other students by: being prepared, prompt, attentive and courteous in all academic settings (including classrooms, laboratories, libraries, advising centers, departmental and faculty offices, etc.) and complying with requests made by a faculty or staff member in an academic setting.

RIGHTS IN VIOLATION PROCEDURES

1. All students have the right to fair and equitable procedures which shall determine the validity of charges that they have violated university regulations.
2. Students have a right to expect that the procedures shall be structured to facilitate a reliable determination of the truth or falseness of the charges, provide a fundamental fairness to the parties and be effective as an instrument for the maintenance of order.
3. Students have the right to know in advance the range of sanctions for violations of university policies. The definition of adequate cause for separation from the university should be clearly formulated and made public.
4. Students charged or convicted of violations of a general law may be subject to university sanctions for the same conduct, in accordance with university policies and procedures, when the conduct is in violation of a university rule.
5. Virginia Christian University does not represent accusing faculty or staff members or students, but provides a process for fact finding and fair decision making.
6. Virginia Christian University reserves the right to hold students accountable for certain types of off-campus behavior.
7. Disciplinary action will result if a student’s behavior compromises the educational atmosphere or mission of the institution. Examples of such off-campus behavior would include, but not be limited to, crimes of violence, sexual assault and/or alcohol or drug violations, as determined by the Office of Student Affairs.