Do the next right thing after a mistake has been made.

That’s the core belief that guides Student Conduct and Community Standards in their work with students facing conduct violations or investigations.

“At UT, the conduct process is educational in nature and centered around student development,” says Amanda Samsel, director of the 11-person team. “Staff take a restorative and empathetic approach to their work.” While the office can issue disciplinary outcomes, approximately 2,000 cases were resolved during the 2023–2024 academic year through an educational and developmental approach.

“UT’s conduct process is designed to promote learning and development for members of the Volunteer community, helping them grow in appropriate decision-making and in understanding human dignity,” adds Samsel. As a national leader in personalized approaches to student success, innovative programs at UT like a restorative conduct process enrich the student experience and improve outcomes on campus.

During conduct violation investigations, staff guide students in answering important questions. For example, was the root cause of the violation alcohol consumption or was it poor decision-making? And once a root cause is determined, staff can recommend unique educational sanctions to foster and grow the student’s overall decision-making skills. From courses on dignity and empathy to ethical decision-making and academic integrity, the Student Conduct and Community Standards team works to move beyond being the “principal’s office” of the university to a place where students can reflect on mistakes and grow into full, authentic, mature adults.

Often, Student Conduct and Community Standards staff find that students are struggling to maintain the Student Code of Conduct because they are making decisions in conflict with their own values. Staff have developed an educational sanction course that guides students to identify their own values and make choices accordingly called VolsREACH.

VolsREACH incorporates CliftonStrengths and leads students in crafting a personal mission statement. Rather than focusing on the wrong judgment or bad choice that led students to this moment, VolsREACH focuses on how respect, ethics, action, civility, and honesty impact daily decision-making and the entire Volunteer community in a 90-minute interactive class taught by staff.

Dean of Students Byron Hughes notes that “we can embed CliftonStrengths in so many places students don’t expect. It reconnects them with the information at a point when they can most benefit from it.” Emphasizing a student’s strengths at a moment when a poor decision is being scrutinized helps re-establish confidence and dignity, giving students an opportunity to own their mistakes and move forward with a growth and change mindset.

Another educational sanction developed by Student Conduct and Community Standards staff is a program called VolsGrow. This program, based on the work of human dignity expert Donna Hicks, helps students understand the importance of their own dignity and the dignity of others, while also helping to restore dignity that may have been lost after a conduct violation. VolsGrow focuses on teaching students the importance of dignity, making them aware of the role it plays in their everyday lives.

Student Conduct and Community Standards partners with other Student Life and campus departments in developing and offering educational sanctions. The Center for Health Education and Wellness, the Office of Title IX, and the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life each play a role in specific aspects of the restoration process.

Student Conduct and Community Standards at UT is unique in the fact that, unlike many other university conduct offices, it is only empowered to make recommendations regarding responsibility and sanctions to students. Students then decide for themselves whether to accept the recommended outcomes or request a formal hearing. When a student accepts the recommendations suggested by Student Conduct and Community Standards staff, the case resolves itself without a formal hearing.

In a formal hearing, students can contest the allegations of misconduct or the sanctions proposed by presenting their case to a decision maker other than the university employee who conducted the investigation. Every student responding to allegations has the right to a formal hearing, but a formal hearing is requested in less than one percent of cases at UT. This indicates that students feel the recommendations made by staff are appropriate and equitable to their situation.

In an average academic year, Student Conduct and Community Standards facilitates only 1–2 formal hearings, a rarity in the field across the higher education landscape in the US. Samsel attributes this remarkably low number to the restorative process wherein staff take the time to understand a student’s why and develop outcomes that are best from a student-centric lens and that contribute to a student’s overall growth and development. For cases related to student organization misconduct, there have been zero formal hearings in the last eight years.

“When students get in trouble, they may feel like they’re being sent to the proverbial principal’s office, but we want them to leave feeling heard and respected, vested in the outcome of their case, and equipped to make better choices moving forward,” says Samsel.