Student Support Resources

Planning Ahead to Prevent Student Problems

Many instructors make the assumption that college students are already aware of expected classroom behavior.  However, often there is a discrepancy between what faculty and students see as acceptable deportment.  Behavioral standards and consequences for violating them should be explicitly stated in course syllabi.

Establish Guidelines for Contact with Students:

• Let students know how and under what circumstances they may contact you, including the appropriate use of phone mail and email.   Let your comfort level be your guide about what types of concerns you would welcome from students.  It is appropriate to establish personal and professional boundaries with students. 

• Email and phone mail are not always a completely confidential means of communication.  Phone mail left for a student can be accessed by anyone in that room.  Email as well, can go astray or be read by others. Both parties need to consider the content of electronic communication and the level of confidentiality required.

Establish Expectations for Classroom and On-line Conduct and Electronic Communication:

• Most professors have an expressed code of conduct for civil classroom behavior as part of their syllabus or introductory remarks to their classes.  It is best to make these expectations known, and if students deviate from behavioral guidelines, they can be reminded of them as a first step in addressing disruptive behavior.

• The number of students taking online classes has increased, as has the use of electronic communication tools, such as Blackboard. With the increase in use comes an avenue for disruptive and unacceptable behavior. Students may make comments electronically that they would not make in person-to-person contact. Just as faculty members establish classroom conduct they must also establish expectations for students during on-line classes and through electronic communications. It is recommended that specific language regarding expectations for electronic communication be included on the syllabus for the course.  For example:

• Introduction

• A Snapshot of our Engle Center Clients

• Plan Ahead to Prevent Problems

• Reactions to Class Assignments

• Identifying Distressed Students

• Students in Crisis

• Responding to a Student in Difficulty

• Referral Difficulties

• Confidentiality Concerns

• Understanding Medical Leave

• Additional Campus Resources

• NCHA-II Fall 2008 Survey results (PDF)