The Judicial Educator on www.reslife.net:
Bringing Together Education and Discipline

By Terri Scanlon, Managing Director, Reslife.Net and Current Institutional Users

Bringing education and discipline together is challenging. Equally as difficult is monitoring and managing the completion of an educational sanction after it has been issued.

In May of 2002, ACUHO-I and Reslife.Net formed an alliance to market and sell The Judicial Educator, a service that provides an easy to administer solution for adding an educational component to campus discipline sanctions. Since the launch of the service in April 2002, 71 institutions nationally have signed on and are using this new and innovative approach to combining student discipline and education.

The Judicial Educator consists of 11 PowerPoint technology modules that educate students who are involved in disciplinary problems. The educational topics that are provided are extensive, including alcohol and marijuana education, community living, personal responsibility and decision making, anger management, healthy relationships, dating violence and date rape, fire safety, safe living on a college campus, diversity, and living successfully with a roommate.

As part of a disciplinary sanction, a student logs onto www.reslife.net, and completes an assigned educational module. Upon successfully passing a test by getting 7 of 10 test questions correct, the student completes an e-mail notification form, which is automatically sent to the campus judicial administrator.

Reslife.Net will add 3 new modules to the service in the coming months, on topics related to: Civility and Respect, Ethics and Integrity, and Living Responsibly in an Off-Campus Location.

Response from current users has been extremely positive. Check out the comments below:

Feedback from the University of Northern Colorado

From Ron Hicks, Coordinator for Student Conduct

“I am the Coordinator for Student Conduct at the University of Northern Colorado located in Greeley, Colorado. We house 3000 students and we were looking for some new ways of educating our students on positive choices. When we heard about The Judicial Educator from Reslife.Net, we thought we would try it and incorporate it into our conduct system. The different educational topics have been very helpful in responding to a wide variety of policy violations. Many times in conduct, trying to come up with a creative sanction or teachable moment is difficult and The Judicial Educator has alleviated some of those problems. I like the current information and technology that is contained in the slides. The notification process has helped out quite a bit as the service automatically sends an e-mail stating the sanction has been completed. Overall I am very satisfied with the content and variety that The Judicial Educator has to offer. The follow up with Reslife.Net has been extremely positive. If a question comes up, I have received answers within the day and very personal follow up. I would recommend the use of this service for incorporation into any conduct system.”

Feedback from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County

From Kim Leisey, Ph.D., Director, Residential Education

“The Judicial Educator has provided us with another option for educational interventions when working with students who have been found responsible for violating a university or residential life rule or regulation, or who need assistance when navigating community living. Along with assigning the module, a community director may ask a student to write a reflection paper in response to the module, or meet with a faculty or staff person to discuss what was learned from the module. Students report that they like the PowerPoint format and it is easy to use.”

Feedback from the University of Denver

From Gail Howard, Director of Residence Life

Here at DU, we are really enjoying The Judicial Educator service. It's been a great way for our hearing officers to assign meaningful educational sanctions that aren't huge amounts of work and follow up for them. I've heard nothing but positive things! My peer review board especially likes it.

Feedback from the hall director staff at the University of North Texas

From Norman D. Nieves, Residence Hall Director/RLAC Advisor, University of North Texas

“All of the students I've assigned it to have said that is has made them more aware of their decisions all around, not just in the halls. I also like that it gives us another alternative to the usual sanctions like doing outside rounds with an RA, etc. I have a resident that is also doing a program on fire safety and some of what he has to present needs to come from the module. I personally feel that it was a good investment on the department's part.”

From Cindy McClanahan, Assistant Hall Director, University of North Texas

“I love the Judicial Educator! I have used it several times - mostly the fire safety program. I like the fire safety one the best because it gives me an option other than a direct fine. The messages seem valid without being too "preachy." I'm glad we have it as an option.”

From Earl Skelton, Assistant Hall Director, University of North Texas

“I think the Judicial Educator is a useful tool in discipline. It's a good, creative way to show students "the error of their ways" without tarnishing their record or being extreme without need. It gives us the flexibility to actually be creative.”

From Chevondolyn N. Hamilton, Kerr Hall Director, University of North Texas

I have used the Community Living module about 5 or 6 times this semester. We have been having problems with quiet hours and visitation and I've found this module to be especially helpful for students who don't understand how their actions affect the community overall. Overall, I have found it to be a helpful tool and I usually couple it with making signs for the floor or writing a reflection paper. Two thumbs up!

From Edna Obi, Assistant Director, University of North Texas

It is the easiest program to use to educate our residents. The person who came up with this idea should be crowned.”