Regulations Relating to Conduct

Helping or encouraging another person to engage in violations of College policy or being in the presence of policy violations.

Theft, misuse, or other abuse of technology facilities, technological systems, and resources belonging to the College or any individual. (See Policy on Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources.)

Important Notice: Union College has moved online for the Spring 2020 Term, and in doing so, will be using a number of electronic teleconferencing tools. The predominant tool at this time will be either Zoom Conferencing or Google Hangouts.

We want to remind students that in addition to abiding by the Code of Student Conduct, students are expected to adhere to the following rules and regulations:

• Aggressive and hostile chats, audio, and video intended to humiliate; mentally or emotionally injure or intimidate others, will not be tolerated. Users will not harass, provoke, or demean faculty, staff, and/or students. This includes behavior that infringes on the rights, safety, and/or dignity of others.
  • This includes behavior like "Zoombombing:" the abuse of Zoom features to share offensive images and other media to deliberately disrupt the purpose of the meeting and/or harass or offend participants.
• Behavior that adversely and unfairly targets an individual or group because of prejudice against that individual’s or group’s actual or perceived identity is prohibited. For more information about our Policy Prohibiting Bias Acts, please follow this link.
• Unwelcome verbal, visual or physical conduct that subjects an individual to inferior terms, conditions or privileges of education or employment because of the individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression is a form of sexual harassment and is strictly prohibited by the College’s Sexual Misconduct Policy.
  • Examples of sexual harassment include: the display of suggestive objects or pictures, cartoons, or posters in a public space or forum; persistent, or pervasive visual displays of suggestive, erotic, or degrading sexually oriented images that are not pedagogically appropriate; and Verbal conduct, including making or using derogatory comments, epithets, slurs or humor; verbal abuse of a sexual nature, graphic verbal commentaries about an individual's body, sexually degrading words used to describe an individual, suggestive or obscene letters, notes, or invitations; or objectively offensive comments of a sexual nature, including persistent or pervasive sexually explicit statements, questions, jokes, or anecdotes.
• Giving someone access to a Zoom or equivalent meeting for a Union-designated event who otherwise would not be invited or allowed. This includes the use of Union credentials like your username, email, password(s), or other private information.

A Bias Incident is conduct that adversely and unfairly targets an individual or group because of prejudice against that individual’s or group’s actual or perceived identity. Some Bias Incidents may rise to the level of a Hate Crime. (See the Policy Prohibiting Bias Acts)

Engaging in, or threatening to engage in, behavior(s) that, by virtue of their intensity, repetitiveness, or otherwise, endanger or compromise the health, safety or well-being of oneself, another person, or the general College community, or that disrupt the effective continuation of the academic/educational process for individual students or for the general College community.

This includes, but is not limited to, threatening, tormenting, mocking, intimidating, maliciously or inappropriately ridiculing another’s work or comments beyond the scope of scholarly inquiry, and exploiting known psychological or physical vulnerabilities or impairment, including, but not limited to:

• Abusive behavior toward a College employee or agent acting in performance of their duties.
• Physical violence, actual or threatened, against any individual or group of persons. Includes pushing, shoving, kicking, poking, and/or tripping another person; assaulting or threatening a physical assault; damaging a person’s work area or personal property; and/or damaging or destroying a person’s work product.
• Verbal/Written: Includes ridiculing, insulting, instigating, spreading rumors about, or maligning a person either verbally or in writing; addressing abusive, threatening, derogatory, or offensive remarks to a person; and/or attempting to exploit an individual's known intellectual or physical vulnerabilities.
• Nonverbal: Includes directing threatening gestures toward a person or invading personal space after being asked to move, leave the space, or step away.
• “Cyber”: Defined as bullying an individual using any electronic form including, but not limited to the Internet, interactive and digital technologies, social media, or mobile phones.
• Unjustified abuse, neglect, or violence toward an animal.

The following policies also address conduct that may involve bullying, threatening and/or abusive behavior:

1. Title IX Policy and/or Gender-Based Misconduct Policy;
2. Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliations;
3. Hazing Policy; and
4. Policy Prohibiting Bias Acts and/or any other behavior that threatens or endangers oneself or the well-being or safety of others, or results in personal injury to others, including bullying.

Interference with the right to personal privacy of any member of the community.

Behavior that intentionally causes or recklessly creates a risk of disruption to the College community or local community. These include such acts as:

• violent, tumultuous, or threatening behavior,
• unreasonably loud or belligerent behavior,
• obstruction of vehicular or pedestrian traffic;
• or any behavior that infringes on the rights, safety, and/or dignity of others.

Attempted or actual theft of, unauthorized use of, and/or damage to property of the College, property of a member of the College community, or other personal or public property whether on or off College premises.

The intentional, reckless damage to or destruction of College property or the personal property of another.

Failure to comply with the proper requests of College officials, members of the Campus Safety Department, or emergency personnel acting in performance of their duties, and/or failure to identify oneself to these persons when requested to do so.

In some cases, "officials” may be students employed to act on behalf of the College.

Acts of dishonesty include, but are not limited to:

• Furnishing false information to any College official, faculty member, or office.
• Forgery, alteration, or misuse of any College document, key, or instrument of identification.

Possession or use of any type of firearm, explosive, fireworks, live ammunition, or any other potentially dangerous weapon or dangerous chemicals on College premises; or use of any item, even if legally possessed, in a manner that harms, threatens, or causes fear in others.

Violation of any local, state, or federal laws and ordinances.

Violation of any policy, rule, or regulation published in hard copy or available electronically on the College website, including, but not limited to, violation of the policies listed under Threatening and/or Endangering Behavior (above), the International Programs-Student and Parent Participant’s Agreement and Conduct policies imposed by the responsible International Programs Director, and the Greek Recognition Policy.

Abuse of the Student Conduct System or Academic Honor Code includes, but is not limited to, any behavior that attempts to influence, inhibit, or interfere with the Student Conduct System or Academic Honor Code process such as:

• Falsification, distortion, or misrepresentation of information before a Student Conduct Board, Academic Honor Code Council, or administrator.
• Disruption or interference with the orderly conduct of a Student Conduct or Academic Honor Code proceeding.
• Attempting to discourage an individual from participating in, or using, the Student Conduct System or Academic Honor Code.
• Attempting to influence the impartiality of a member of a Student Conduct Board or Academic Honor Code Council prior to and/or during the course of the Student Conduct or Academic Honor Code proceeding.
• Harassment (verbal and/or physical) and/or intimidation of a member of a Student Conduct Board or Academic Honor Code Council prior to, during, and/or after a Student Conduct or Academic Honor Code proceeding.
• Influencing, or attempting to influence, another person to commit an abuse of the Student Conduct System or Academic Honor Code.
• Retaliation against any individual making a good faith report of a policy violation or for participating in, or cooperating with, the Student Conduct or Academic Honor Code process.
• Inappropriate sharing of information used in a Conduct Code proceeding.