Student Conduct Policy

1. Purpose

This policy establishes principles and responsibilities for managing student conduct and for implementing disciplinary actions to manage student misconduct.

This policy should be read in conjunction with:

• Student Conduct Procedure
• Student Code of Conduct.

Note - This policy is not intended to manage complaints made by CIT students, members of the community or staff. The respective CIT policies for complaints should be used for these purposes.

2. Scope

Where this policy refers to CIT, it includes CIT Solutions.

The scope of the policy is impacted by legislative, regulatory and internal business process considerations and these determine how CIT manages student conduct.

Student misconduct may include behaviour that is contrary to:

• an Australian or Australian Capital Territory law
• relevant Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) student policies and
• relevant industry codes of conduct applicable to the learning environment.

In the event of any conflict, external regulations take precedence over this policy and associated procedure.

The policy applies to all CIT enrolled students, including, but not limited, to conduct:

• on campus
• offsite in the conduct of CIT activities
• online
• on approved off campus activities
• on student industry placements
• at CIT student accommodation
• other premises.

This policy does not apply to:

• appeals regarding assessment outcomes and final unit results
• complaints made by a student or a community member to CIT
• issues relating to academic misconduct

Where staff are delivering or assessing at other premises, the policy must be applied after negotiation with the other responsible party(s).

CIT staff are authorised to act and make decisions when managing student conduct.

3. Principles

This policy is underpinned by CIT WHS policies and procedures. CIT is committed to providing students a safe, supportive environment where students are protected from abuse, including harassment, bullying, discrimination, violence, sexual offences, and serious emotional or psychological abuse.

Students enrolled at CIT will share classes and facilities with staff and other students. It is expected that all students will behave in a manner that is acceptable to the wider community. CIT acknowledges that appropriate standards of conduct, by both staff and students, are fundamental to maintaining a supportive, safe, positive, and effective teaching and learning environment.

Misconduct of any type is not tolerated at CIT.

Incidents of misconduct (e.g. bullying, discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment) may pose a threat to the physical and emotional wellbeing of CIT students and staff, and CIT’s reputation and viability.

The safety and wellbeing of staff, students and visitors to CIT campuses and other premises is CIT’s highest priority. CIT will not tolerate threats or violence towards staff, students or visitors to CIT and/or wilful damage to property. In these circumstances, a student will be asked by CIT staff to leave the campus or other premises. Depending on the seriousness of the conduct, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) may be contacted.

Where a CIT student’s conduct is subject to an investigation by the AFP, or another law enforcement agency, proceedings required under that investigation will take precedence, but not necessarily prevent CIT from acting against the student as prescribed by the CIT Student Conduct Policy and Student Conduct Procedure.

All staff are encouraged to seek advice from CIT Student Support as soon as possible to remediate situations involving misconduct before they escalate.

CIT will maintain a register of student conduct management incidents and management activities for WHS reporting and continuous improvement.

CIT students in breach of this policy may be excluded from studying and/or attending CIT premises in accordance with delegated authority.

CIT is committed to:

• informing all staff, as part of the staff Induction process, of the Student Code of Conduct and their responsibilities
• using the enrolment and induction processes to inform students of expected conduct and appropriate behaviour (as described by the Student Code of Conduct, Induction Procedure and relevant policies)
• using opportunities to promote and affirm positive behaviours in CIT learning environments
• implementing fair procedures for managing misconduct
• implementing fair procedures for managing the consequences of misconduct
• promoting the principles of gender equality and mutual respect
• following the principles of natural justice in all proceedings and ensuring the student’s right of reply and confidentiality
• always taking seriously allegations of bullying, harassment or discrimination
• implementing disciplinary actions that are remedial rather than punitive
• implementing practices that are cognisant of legislative, regulatory and privacy requirements
• informing parents/guardians of students under the age of 18 years, of the policy and procedures for dealing with alleged student misconduct
• informing secondary schools about the Student Code of Conduct and CIT procedures for managing alleged student misconduct
• informing employers of Australian Apprentices of the Student Code of Conduct and the procedures for managing alleged student misconduct
• prohibiting the use of mobile phones and other electronic devices in classrooms without approval from the educator.

All CIT staff and students have a right to confidentiality and privacy as described by the CIT Privacy Policy.

3.1 Student Behaviour Agreement

A Student Behaviour Agreement is a formal notice that a student has breached the Student Code of Conduct. The Student Behaviour Agreement outlines the:

• requirement for students to abide by the Student Code of Conduct
• particular behaviours that have been displayed by the student that are in breach of the Student Code of Conduct
• potential consequences of further breaches of the Student Code of Conduct.

The purpose of the Student Behaviour Agreement is to ensure students and teachers feel comfortable in all learning and assessment environments and have strategies to deal with behaviour of concern.

Before a Student Behaviour Agreement is issued, the Educator, Head of Department or Director will meet with the student informally to discuss the behaviour breach. If the behaviour breach is significant or ongoing, the student will be invited to a formal meeting and be required to sign a Student Behaviour Agreement prior to continuing their studies and attending classes. The student may bring a non-participating support person to the meeting. The consequences of further breaches will be outlined in the agreement. Where a student chooses not to sign the Student Behaviour Agreement, they are not permitted to resume study or return to class.

Refusal to sign the Student Behaviour Agreement may result in exclusion from study and/or CIT premises until the document is signed.

The Student Behaviour Agreement will include:

• student and course details
• purpose of the agreement
• the student’s rights and responsibilities under the Student Code of Conduct and relevant excerpts
• examples of the student’s breach or breaches from the Student Code of Conduct
• consequences of further breaches
• confirmation of future behaviours aligned with the Student Code of Conduct
• student support options
• review of the agreement
• signature and date block for the student and CIT staff member.

Student Behaviour Agreements will be treated as confidential and be provided to CIT People and Culture and Student Support.

3.2 Pathways Hold/College Hold

A Pathways Hold or a College Hold may be placed on a student’s record as an outcome of managing serious incidents of misconduct.

3.3 Review of decisions

Any student can apply for a review of the way the alleged misconduct has been dealt with by submitting a complaint through the Student and Community Members Complaint Procedure.

3.4 Responsibilities

3.4.1 Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director Education Futures and Students

The Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director Education Futures Students are responsible for:

• any decisions to exclude a student from studying and/or attending CIT premises for a period greater than 12 months
• reviewing decisions of College Directors, Heads of Departments and other CIT staff.

3.4.2 Executive Director Education Futures and Students

The Executive Director Education Futures and Students is responsible for:

• instigating reviews or changes to Institute procedures or systems to reduce the likelihood of instances of student misconduct recurring
• actioning any review of decisions using CIT Student and Community Members Complaint Policy and Student and Community Members Complaint Procedure
• ensuring completion of follow up actions arising from any formal investigation of misconduct.

3.4.3 College Directors

College Directors are responsible for:

• making decisions to exclude a student from studying and/or attending CIT premises for a period up to six months (two consecutive instances) or for the duration of the course
• reviewing decisions of Heads of Departments and other CIT staff
• ensuring all educators, staff and student in the College are aware of the Student Code of Conduct and this policy
• initiating processes to exclude a student where alleged misconduct provides an immediate and direct threat to staff or student wellbeing, or to the integrity of CIT’s network
• initiating and convening meetings with students, parents/guardians (where required) and other parties to action misconduct involving serious incidents
• undertaking a disciplinary investigation to determine if evidence of misconduct relating to serious incidents is proven
• advising parties in a timely manner of the decision to exclude a student.

3.4.4 Heads of Department/Managers

Heads of Department/Managers are responsible for:

• assigning a case manager for a student conduct issue
• case managing and reporting student conduct management activities
• reporting any dangerous and/or illegal behaviour to police
• ensuring all educators are aware of this policy, procedures and documents
• ensuring all students are made aware of the Student Code of Conduct
• responding quickly to alleged misconduct
• reviewing decisions of educators and other CIT staff
• recording and storing evidence of student misconduct and outcomes of meetings related to allegations of misconduct
• providing students with a verbal warning and excluding a student from the classroom and the immediate area, for the remainder of that class/online session
• developing and completing a Student Behaviour Agreement
• monitoring achievement of any Student Behaviour Agreement and reporting progress as requested
• advising students of the right of review and the review process.

3.4.5  Educators

Educators are responsible for:

• reporting any dangerous and/or illegal behaviour to the relevant manager, Head of Department and College Director
• adopting a tiered approach of informal warning where minor incidents of misconduct occur
• providing a verbal warning in the case of repeated or continued minor incidents
• providing students with a verbal warning and excluding a student from the classroom and the immediate area, for the remainder of that class/online session
• recording any instances of issuing verbal warnings to students
• communicating actions to exclude students to the Head of Department
• recording exclusions in the attendance register.

3.4.6  General Staff

General Staff are responsible for reporting any dangerous and/or suspected illegal behaviour to the relevant manager, Head of Department and College Director.

3.4.7 CIT People and Culture

CIT People and Culture is responsible for:

• providing ACTPS Safety Portal and other training to support implementation of this policy to CIT staff
• providing advice on strategies and techniques to be used by departments to manage unsatisfactory student behaviour that is inconsistent with the Student of Code of Conduct (including the management and reporting of any related WHS risks)
• maintaining the ACTPS Safety Portal, and reviewing the CIT student conduct management incidents and mitigation strategies implemented by management/business areas
• providing reports of all student-related conduct incidents reported on the ACTPS Safety Portal to CIT Academic Council and EMC meetings as part of regular WHS reporting.

Reporting must include but not be limited to the following information:

• the name of the student concerned or CIT number
• date of incident
• incident details (including any ACTPS Safety Portal incident reference numbers)
• CIT staff member responsible for reporting and managing the student’s conduct
• status of the student conduct management process (including any alerts of holds etc).

3.4.8 CIT Student Support

CIT Student Support is jointly responsible with CIT People and Culture for:

• providing training to CIT staff to support implementation of this policy
• providing advice on strategies and techniques to be used to manage unsatisfactory student behaviour that is inconsistent with the Student of Code of Conduct (including the management and reporting of any related WHS risks)
• maintaining a register of all CIT student conduct management incidents and management activities
• recording data provided by CIT staff through the safer community email address.

Reporting must include but not be limited to the following information:

• the name of the student concerned
• date of incident
• incident details (including any WHS CIT Safe incident reference and CIT Risk Register reference)
• CIT staff member responsible for reporting and managing the students conduct
• status of the student conduct management process (including any alerts or holds etc).

3.4.9  CIT Students

CIT students are responsible for

• reporting any dangerous and/or suspected illegal behaviour to the relevant educator, Head of Department, College Director or CIT staff member
• behaving in a manner consistent with the Student Code of Conduct.

4. Documentation

4.1 Related Legislation/Regulation

• Information Privacy Act 2014
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Commonwealth)
• Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Commonwealth)
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Commonwealth)
• National VET Regulator Act 2011 (Commonwealth)
• Race Discrimination Act 1975 (Commonwealth)
• Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth)

4.2 Related Policy and Procedures

• Workplace Health and Safety Arrangements Policy
• Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy
• Bullying and Harassment Prevention Policy
• Student and Community Members Complaint Policy
• Student Code of Conduct
• Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Policy
• Privacy Policy

4.3 Related Documents

5. Definitions

All terminology used in this policy is consistent with definitions in the CIT Definition of Terms.

6. Policy Contact Officer

Executive Director, Education Futures and Students.

Contact CIT Student Services on (02) 6207 3188 or email infoline@cit.edu.au for further information.

7. Procedures

This policy is implemented through the associated procedures. Authority to make changes to the procedures is with the policy owner.