Student Rights and Responsibilities
The Bakersfield College's Standards of Student Conduct is available on the Kern Community College District Board Policy Chapter 5, Student Services, website. KCCD Board Policy 5500 lays out the Standards of Student Conduct and the disciplinary or grievance processes.
Guided by BC’s core values, the Office of Student Life supports a safe and inclusive environment that fosters the intellectual, personal, social, and ethical development of all students. Student Rights and Responsibilities, overseen by the Dean of Students, provides students with the opportunity to consider the ways in which their conduct may define and impact their college experience and relationships with others.
In partnership with college departments and programs, the Office of Student Life helps students see themselves as responsible members of a diverse community. Student Life investigates allegations of student misconduct and determines whether a violation of the Standards of Student Conduct (KCCD Board Policy 5500) has occurred. Students who are found responsible for violations of the Standards of Student Conduct are encouraged to reflect on their behaviors through the use of educationally based sanctioning or restorative measures that assist the students in making informed choices and developing in a holistic manner.
The Board of Trustees of the Kern Community College District (KCCD), in support of public education and the exercise of general supervision of the campuses of the district, believes that student conduct must reflect the standards of good behavior expected by society. Since public education is furnished by the people of the district, it becomes a privilege for students to have this opportunity to further their education.
When working with student grievances, sexual harassment, discrimination, students with reported behaviors, academic integrity, or students of concern, the Office of Student Life at Bakersfield College reviews, investigates, and works with each student case carefully while integrating several student development theories that model after the restorative justice practices. The fundamental premise of restorative justice practices is to engage with the student to lead to a helpful outlook, more cooperative and productive interactions, and more likely to make positive changes when the Office of Student Life and the Bakersfield community interact with them. It has a greater impact on student learning and success than the typical punitive models. The Office of Student Life approaches restorative justice with five objectives in mind to assist the student in their development.
- Reflecting with the student-in-question about their purpose through self-authorship, giving them constructive instruction that allows for self-reflection and clear understandings of self-beliefs
- Aiding the students to self-acknowledge their responsibility and be willing to gear their situation to a positive outcome.
- Providing and connecting students to various on and off-campus resources in hopes to achieve positive student success.
- Assisting the students to connect their energies and interests with meaningful activities.
- Finding closure while supporting the students through facing their consequences, learning from their situation, and moving past it for future success.
Taking a restorative justice approach requires a philosophical shift and a personable professional to interact with the students, parents, faculty, and the community to repair the balance back into the students' life, rather than simply the following protocol and penalizing.
Students are expected to observe proper standards of conduct, showing respect for order, morality, personal honor, and the rights of others as demanded by good citizens. Failure to do so will be sufficient cause for disciplinary review. The Standards of Student Conduct is available in the Office of Student Life located at the Campus Center building, which is in the center of campus.
