Consensual Relationships
The college’s educational mission is promoted by professionalism in staff, faculty, and student relationships. Professionalism is fostered by an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. Actions of faculty, staff members, and students that harm this atmosphere undermine professionalism and hinder fulfillment of the college educational mission.
Trust and respect are diminished when those in positions of authority abuse or appear to abuse their power. Those who abuse or appear to abuse their power in such a context violate their duty to the college community.
Faculty and staff members exercise power over students, whether in giving them praise or criticism, evaluating them, making recommendations for their future studies or their future employment, or conferring any other benefits on them. Amorous relationships between staff/faculty members and students are wrong when the member has professional responsibility for the student. Such situations greatly increase the chances that the member will abuse his/her power and sexually exploit the student. Voluntary consent by the student in such a relationship is suspect, given the fundamentally asymmetric nature of the relationship. Moreover, other students and employees may be affected by such unprofessional behavior because it places the employee in a position to favor or advance one student’s interest at the expense of others and implicitly makes obtaining benefits contingent on amorous or sexual favors. Therefore, the college will view it as unethical if employees engage in amorous relations with students, even when both parties appear to have consented to the relationship.
- Consensual Relationships in the Instructional Context
No faculty member shall have an amorous relationship (consensual or otherwise) with a student who is enrolled in a course being taught by the faculty member or whose academic work (including work as a teaching assistant) is being supervised by the faculty member.
- Consensual Relationships Outside the Instructional Context
Amorous relationships between employees and students occurring outside the instructional context may lead to difficulties. Particularly while the member and student are in the same academic unit or in units that are academically allied, relationships that the parties view as consensual may appear to others to be exploitative. Further, in such situations (and others that cannot be anticipated), the member may face serious conflicts of interest and should be careful to distance himself or herself from any decisions that may reward or penalize the student involved. A member who fails to withdraw from participation in activities or decisions that may reward or penalize a student with whom the member has or had an amorous relationship will be deemed to have violated his/her ethical duty to the student, to other students, to colleagues, and to the college.