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November 1, 2011 in Region
UI could get tough on student/teacher relationships
MOSCOW — Faculty senators at the University of Idaho will consider approving a formal consensual relations policy during their regular weekly meeting today on campus in Moscow.
The proposed policy addition comes in the wake of the university release of the employee records of former assistant psychology professor Ernesto Bustamante, who killed graduate student Katy Benoit outside her Moscow home on Aug. 22 before taking his own life hours later in a nearby hotel room.
The personnel documents released last week revealed that Bustamante did not feel he had violated university policy when he engaged in sexual relationships with Benoit and other students, as it was not ”explicitly forbidden” under UI policy.
The proposed policy to be presented to the Faculty Senate at 3:30 p.m. today in Brink Hall could potentially eliminate that ambiguity.
”In order to foster healthy professional relationships at all levels of the institution, it is the policy of the (UI) that no employee shall enter into or continue a romantic or sexual relationship with a student or employee over whom she or he exercises academic, administrative, supervisory, evaluative, counseling or other authority or influence,” the proposed policy states.
The proposal calls on employees to disclose potentially conflicting relationships to their supervisors, ”who must take prompt and appropriate action to avoid or end the relationship of authority between the parties.”
In the case of faculty-student relationships, it states, remedies include appointing another faculty member or teaching assistant to the authority position, transferring the student to another course taught by another faculty member or T.A. or assigning the student to another academic adviser.
The proposed policy states that failure to comply with the rules ”may constitute adequate cause for discipline, up to and including dismissal.”
Carmen Suarez, the university’s director of human rights, access and inclusion, and Hoey Graham, UI senior associate general counsel, sent a memo to faculty senators Thursday that prefaces today’s proposal. The memo acknowledges the university’s Faculty-Staff Handbook currently does not have a formal consensual relations policy.
”An informal policy is distributed at the start of each semester in the ’As the Semester Begins’ publication produced and disseminated by the Office of the Faculty Secretary,” the memo states. ”The informal policy states that a consensual romantic or sexual relationship between a faculty member and student, or between a supervisor and subordinate, is considered to be ’unwise.’ ”
The memo states that administrators had already been working on a formal policy when the Aug. 22 incident caused it to ”take on greater significance and urgency.”
The memo also states that the proposed policy reflects an ”extensive review” of similar policies at other institutions, ranging from ”permissive but discouraging” to ”those that flatly prohibit” consensual relationships. It also reflects comments and suggestions from the UI’s Staff Affairs and Faculty Affairs committees and has been approved by the Associated Students of the UI.
If approved by the Faculty Senate today, the policy will be forwarded to UI President Duane Nellis. The policy will take effect upon Nellis’ final approval.
Police: Seattle cafe gunman may have shot self 
johnclarke on November 01 at 8:44 a.m.
Yeah, awesome how colleges tend to look the other way on this one. They will try to leave loopholes with the wording, but really professionalism should dictate NO relationship between an instructor and any student.
ericdx on November 01 at 9:09 a.m.
Professionalism DOES dictate no relationships between an instructor and a student johnclarke, but this guy was nutty as squirrel poo, so even with tough rules, I doubt he would have followed them. I still agree that they should institute tougher rules, but there are always people that will break them, and I don’t think it would have made any difference in this case, unfortunately. The bigger issue is that U of I and Moscow PD were way too passive in their dealing with this issue.
Truthhurts on November 01 at 9:12 a.m.
JohnClarke: In this case, they had a crazy teaching, and seemed to have had notice.
We do not want to go trampling free association rights between adults in over-reaction.
However, dating a student in your class (whom you evaluate) is like dating an immediate subordinate at work — way too much potential “quid pro quo” problems.
Certainly faculty and students not in each others’ courses should be allowed to date, but if the person is in your class I would say that creates a rebuttable presumption of harassment. (Or there could be a process for independent grading of the student by another faculty member, but I doubt schools would develop such a procedure.)
In any event, unless someone directly controls your grade, then you are all consenting adults.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on November 01 at 10:43 a.m.
^ ^ ^ “…unless someone directly controls your grade, then you are all consenting adults.”
–And free to behave like idiots.
another_perspective on November 01 at 11:11 a.m.
She was a mediocre student boinking him for grades. Happens all the time.
hunternomore on November 01 at 2:43 p.m.
I realize this IS the Pacific Northwest. However, it is also the 21st Century. That being said, NO student should ever be dating a teacher/professor/assistant professor. Ditto the other way around. If the reasons have to be explained, it would be pointless anyway.
Truthhurts on November 01 at 3:09 p.m.
Sorry AnotherPerspective: That does NOT “happen all the time.”
That is a quid pro quo sexual harassment by definition, and it implies a classroom full of victims of “non quid pro quo” and it creates a “hostile environment” to imply that is what you need to do for a good grade.
Sex for grades is absolutely illegal and should be treated as such.
I just did not want a “witch hunt” over-shoot, but your standards are a huge “undershoot” of ethics and of sexual harassment law.
There is certainly no free association right to have sex for grades.
I do believe sex for money — sex work — should be legalized, just as consenting adults should have all freedoms to enter contracts that do not harm others.
BUT, handing out a state-certified grade, and state-certified credits on a transcript, in exchange for sex, is absolutely morally and legally wrong.
JayNW on November 01 at 3:42 p.m.
this one isn’t on the Moscow PD- they were never told of the gun threats and were never told of the specific issues, just that there was a complaint. And that was at the directive of Benoit.
If a woman refuses to tell the truth about domestic violence or refuses to report it to the police, the cops cant do anything to protect her.
johnclarke on November 01 at 5:12 p.m.
So…yes I know the guy was a nutbag. My kid goes to the school. That was hardly my point. I was simply saying that it should not be happening anyway. Perhaps this tragedy could have been avoided? Who knows. Even with rules I suppose they will carry on in secret.