Discipline - IHE

Students who have been suspended are significantly more likely to drop out of school and become involved in the justice system than their peers. Students of color, especially young men, and students with disabilities are disproportionately punished. IHEs that approach campus discipline punitively affect the overall campus climate, creating a more negative environment for all students, including those without discipline issues.

Establishing and maintaining a positive campus climate allows an IHE to proactively prevent disciplinary issues by increasing the strength and the quality of college students’ activities in and out of the classroom. This approach provides the essential conditions for nurturing, support, clear expectations, and guidance that foster healthy student development and motivation. Additionally, cultivating a sense of belonging can reduce disciplinary issues. Students feel emotionally and physically safer at IHEs that have a fair campus disciplinary structure, which has been linked with reductions in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and conduct problems.

A positive approach to disciplinary procedures shifts the focus of discipline from punitive to restorative of relationships and the understandings of and commitment to building a safe and supportive campus environment. The purpose of discipline then becomes the teaching of civility and interpersonal skills and the reconnection of alienated students. Preventive methods and multi-tiered models can provide pre-planned responses to disruption/violence, laying the foundation for positive discipline methods to be successful in creating a safe campus and the appropriate conditions for faculty to instruct effectively and for students to learn.

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