Residential Life Student Staff Accountability System

Levels of Accountability

1)Warning

  1. Definition:
  2. A “Warning” for an RA or CA is an RD level event and may be either a conversation (verbal warning) or a more formal written warning in the form of a letter.
  3. Verbal warnings must be noted in a RDs weekly report as a form of documentation in case the need arises to establish a pattern of behavior.
  4. A copy of any written warning letters must be placed in the staff members personnel file in Residential Life so as to establish a “paper trail” in the case where an RD leaves PLU or an RA is moved from one supervisor to another as a returner.
  5. If an RD feels that significant enough warnings have been issued, they are to discuss with their supervisor putting that staff member on probation.
  6. Possible “offenses” that could lead to a warning include tardiness for staff meetings, missed desk shifts, poor “attitude” surrounding the position, pattern of missed paperwork deadlines, failure to complete RD specific tasks, etc.

2)Probation

  1. Definition: A period of time in which the staff member has the opportunity to gain good standing in the Residential Life Department. During this time, the staff member and his/her direct supervisor will implement a detailed action plan. Failure to succeed in the action plan will result in termination of employment. Additional actions or failure to meet job responsibilities that warrant probation will also result in termination of employment.
  2. Probation is a department level action done in consultation with the supervising RD and an office management member.
  3. Probation means the same thing for each “offense” (i.e. failure to complete STEP or University policy violation), but the terms of the probation will be case specific. This is to protect again a staff member being on “double probation” for multiple shortcomings.
  4. The “terms” of the probation for departmental expectations (i.e. programming, STEP, grades) will be consistent for all cases. Other cases will be more individualized and based on the offense (i.e. policy violation, RD wanting to bump someone up from a warning status, etc).
  5. A probation letter will be distributed to a staff member who finds them self in this situation. It will be signed by both an office management member and the supervising RD.
  6. The probation letter generally will be delivered in person by the supervising RD. This meeting will include a discussion of the terms of the probation and an outlining of steps to ensure that the staff member is set up for success in completing these terms. In cases where the RD is not comfortable with having this meeting alone or believes that the message would be more impactful coming from someone else, an office management member may be asked to join the meeting.
  7. If a staff member has been put on probation for a specific event (i.e. STEP, Programming, Policy Violation, etc) and has completed the terms of their probation, they will be returned to “good standing” within the department. However, if a second “offense” of the same kind occurs during the time on staff, they may be terminated. This is to avoid a staff member “yo-yoing” between probation and good standing and only completing their requirements every other semester. JJ Comments - If the same offense occurs that one was on probation for previously, that will mean that the RA's employment is terminated.
  8. Probation may lead to termination.
  9. Possible “offenses” that could lead to termination include failure to complete STEP or Programming requirements, violating University policy, cumulative GPA not meeting 2.50 minimum, multiple warnings, etc.

3)Termination

  1. Definition:
  2. Termination is a department level action done in consultation with the supervising RD.
  3. A termination letter will be signed by both an office management member and the supervising RD
  4. The termination letter will be delivered in person with an office management member and the supervising RD. This meeting will include a discussion of the terms of the termination (i.e. when they need to be “out”, how to turn in keys, if they can reapply for a position, etc).
  5. Possible “offenses” that could lead to termination include failure to complete terms of a probationary period, egregious policy violations (i.e. assault, severe alcohol violation, etc), etc.

Other Things of Note

1)A staff member “becomes” an RA once they have been offered a position. For new hires this means that we will hold them accountable for policy violations, grades, etc even if they are not actively performing the duties of or getting paid for being on staff.

  1. Whomever is coordinating the selection process will be working closely with the conduct coordinator to ensure that Residential Life is notified if staff members are documented for a policy violation. It is also the responsibility of RD staff members to keep this on their radar as they are reading incident reports that are generated in their buildings.
  2. This will be communicated to new staff members in their offer letter.

2)When an Incident Report is filed that alleges a staff member’s involvement in a policy violation, the following steps will be implemented.

  1. The supervising RD will have a conversation with the involved staff member as soon as possible after the IR has been filed. This conversation will not be a hearing, but in it the staff member will be asked to identify their level of involvement. If a staff member admits to violating University policy, they will be put on probation or terminated (depending on the “severity” of the violation). Terms of the probation or termination will follow the guidelines listed above.
  2. If a staff member denies violating University policy, they will be put on an interim probation or suspension pending the outcome of the student conduct hearing.
  3. The decision to put someone on an interim probation or suspension legitimizes the seriousness of having a staff member being documented and allows for the department to address the issue while supporting our staff member. It also allows for a formal documentation reminding the staff member to “keep their nose clean” while the conduct process is moving forward.
  4. Depending on the severity of the alleged violation, a staff member may be immediately suspended or terminated whether they admit responsibility or not. Possible scenarios for this case include assault, weapons, etc.

3)In all cases where a staff member is involved in a incident report, Residential Life will work with the student conduct system to expedite the hearing process. This addresses the severity of having a student leader involved in an incident, shows the community we take these situations seriously and that staff members are not “above the law”, and allows for a quick resolution to the situation.

Comments to keep in mind

1)Regarding different “offenses” - Just because “it” is measurable, doesn’t mean “it” should be worse.

2)Regarding STEP & Programming - If “they” are cornerstones of our program and “they” are reasonably achievable, then we need to hold our staff accountable for “them.”