ucsc policies

sex offense policy
appendix d: resolution of romantic relationships
(UCSC Academic Senate - 5//20/87)

WHEREAS, in the special case of faculty-student relationships, a single and even mutually welcomed occurrence of certain kinds of behavior of an implied or explicit romantic or sexual nature can be unacceptable from the standpoint of inflicting irreparable or irremediable damage to the immediate or shortrun educational environment; and

WHEREAS, even a single advance to a student by an instructor can dramatically harm the environment not merely between the student and the instructor but between the instructor and other students in the class or under the instructor's supervision, whether or not the advance is welcomed, invited, or rebuffed; and

WHEREAS, therefore even a single occurrence must be regarded by the academic community as a serious breach of professional ethics and proper standards of professional behavior;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this Division adopts as its own the sense of the "Statement of Position" presented in the Annual Report of the University Committee on Privilege and Tenure for 1982/83, Part V;

TO WIT, members of the University faculty have always understood:

1. that a faculty member who initiates with a current student a personal relationship with romantic or sexual implications or intentions, or who acquiesces in such a relationship initiated by a current student,

a) can seriously compromise the student-teacher relationship, to which all faculty members have primary professional responsibilities;

b) can, in a course or class environment, seriously impair the educational environment not only for the principals in the relationship but for the faculty member's other student;

c) can give rise to charges of unacceptable discrimination by the faculty member's other students in regard to grading, references, access to laboratory equipment or other resources and educational opportunities;

d) may prejudice the faculty member's defense in the eventuality that sexual harassment or discrimination charges arise from such a relationship;

2. that "current student" shall be understood to mean

a) any student currently enrolled with the particular faculty member in a course offered for credit;

b) any student currently engaged in research under the official supervision or direction of the particular faculty member, in pursuit of undergraduate honors, in graduate research/writing projects for credit, in a doctoral dissertation program in tutorials offered for academic credit, or in field research projects for academic credit;

3. that this "Statement of Position" does not refer to

a) relationships existing before the faculty/current student relationship, or

b) relationships that become established after the conclusion of the coursework or the period of supervision or direction of research and writing projects undertaken for academic credit.

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Given the seriousness of these problems, and the difficulties they may cause in the professional and emotional lives of the individuals concerned, under no circumstances should a faculty member become romantically or sexually involved with a student while that student is enrolled in his or her classes. This is imperative not only for the welfare of the student in question, but also to protect the interests of other students in the class. Any faculty member who becomes romantically involved with a student under any other circumstances must at the very least take all necessary steps to protect the student from any possible prejudicial consequences for his or her professional future. The faculty member's acknowledgment that sexual and romantic involvement constitutes a clear conflict of interest shall include, but not be limited to the following:

1. informing the department chair that he/she has a conflict of interest and will:

2. resign from any supervising committee (dissertation, advisory) affecting the student;

3. refrain from writing letters of recommendation for the student (for grants, fellowships, jobs, and so forth);

4. generally remove him- or herself from any position of authority over or responsibility for that student's professional and scholarly career, inside or outside the University, at any time in the present or future.

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Amended 2001