Amorous relations revisited

By Kern Vijayvargiya     5/14/09 7:00pm

Don't stand so close to your professor! The Faculty Senate updated its Statement on Consensual, Amorous Relations with Students for the first time in over a decade last month. The new statement, which goes into effect in September, prohibits any romantic relationships between faculty and all undergraduate students, and between faculty and graduate students directly under their supervision or in their department. The updated statement, which was approved in a 17-2 vote by the Senate on April 15, includes stricter language and more precise definitions of expected behavior, Faculty Senate Speaker Deborah Harter said.

Chair of the Working Group on Rice's Amorous Relations Policy Rebekah Drezek urged the Faculty Senate to examine the university's policy on consensual, amorous relations between faculty and students during the Senate's March meeting. Drezek, a professor in the Bioengineering Department, noted that the existing policy had not been updated in over a decade and that the language was very vague.

"Many faculty felt it was a confusing document and did not provide clear guidance on expected behavior," Drezek said. "In addition, it was among the least restrictive policies in the country."

---

---

According to Harter, a French Studies Professor, Drezek also noted at the meeting that weak policies on amorous relations often end up hurting female students disproportionately.

The working group, consisting of Drezek, Bioengineering Professor Rob Raphael and Chemistry Professor Matteo Pasquali, began working on an updated policy, which it presented to the Senate during its April meeting.

The updated statement says that "in an academic setting such romantic or sexual relationships conflict with the implicit trust we encourage our students to enjoy vis-?-vis their professors [and] can result in emotional and psychological damage, and always have the potential for an abuse of power that constitutes unprofessional conduct."

The policy also states that "accepting or exercising professional responsibility for any student with whom a faculty member has had a previous sexual or romantic relationship within the previous three years is presumed to create a conflict of interest and to violate professional ethics."

The previous policy, which was approved in 1998, only prohibited relations between faculty and students directly under their supervision, Harter said, adding that some senators argued that the Faculty Statement should keep this definition.

"These faculty argued strongly that students over 18 are in a position to make good decisions, and that to prohibit relationships with them is to meddle unnecessarily in the private lives of consenting adults," Harter said.

However, Harter said an overwhelming majority of senators felt differently.

"Their view was that undergraduate students come to Rice with an implicit trust in the university's intellectual and social environment and in the faculty who make up a large component of this," Harter said. "Relationships of a romantic or sexual nature work against such an environment, often leading to significant psychological damage for the student involved and affecting negatively third parties."

The updated statement also introduces the possibility of "severe sanctions, including suspension and dismissal" for those faculty members who fail to adhere to the policy. Harter said some senators were concerned that this provision was unduly harsh since it is difficult to define amorous relations between faculty and students. She said Electrical and Computational Engineering Professor James Young had the best response to this argument, which was to have violations judged by a panel of faculty that would apply severe sanctions only when there is egregious conduct as judged by this panel.

"The punishment covers a very wide range of possibilities, just as it always has, from minor warning all the way to dismissal," Harter said. "The punishment should fit the severity of the case."

The policy is a statement of the Senate and therefore, Harter said, it does not require the approval of the Administration or the Board of Trustees.

"This is a statement of the Faculty rather than a university policy," Harter said. "But its effect is just as strong."

Violations of the policy and its enforcement will be handled by the Senate, Harter said.

Brown College freshman Shubha Soman said that she approves of the decision to make the language stricter.

"A stronger policy will prevent teachers from exploiting their students," Soman said. "Also, it will prevent students from gaining an unfair advantage."

However, Jones College sophomore Jeff Miller said he was concerned about the policy's impact on student life.

"This will restrict the already-limited dating options here at Rice," Miller said.

---