1.
Scarlet Honor Council
Authored by:
Anish Patel, ​President, Scarlet Honor Council Outreach Team
Astha Saini, ​Vice President, Scarlet Honor Council Outreach Team
Christopher Kay, ​Member, Scarlet Honor Council Outreach Team

2. Overview
This report will detail areas of improvement and recommend changes for the Scarlet Honor
Council (SHC) in order to better serve the students of Rutgers University ­New Brunswick. It
contains viewpoints and opinions from the Office of Student Conduct, primarily current
members of the SHC, as well as perspectives from students outside the SHC. The SHC is an
opportunity to engage with students on the issues of student discipline. It includes opportunity
for students to be involved with the conduct process through recruitment. It allows students to be
aware of the Code of Conduct and Academic Integrity policy, as well as their rights and
responsibilities as students. Lastly, it is a measure by which students can discuss the policies that
govern them, in an educational and collaborative setting.
The mission of the SHC is:
“committed to upholding Rutgers community standards and promoting a safe and
civil campus environment.”
The SHC understands that there is a shift in the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) to take
a more educational approach, and sees this as an opportunity for peer­to­peer engagement
and education to create a better campus community with regard to student discipline.
Organization of SHC
The current structure of the SHC has 3 overlapping units:
1. University Hearing Board (UHB)
a. Members serve on University Hearings.
2. Campus Appeals Committee (CAC)
a. Members serve on Appeals.
3. Outreach Team (OT)
a. Members present academic integrity presentations and program events to promote
academic integrity and proper student conduct.
Currently, only the OT has leadership positions, which are President, Vice President, and
Secretary.

3. There is another group called Campus Advisers. These individuals advise students
already in the disciplinary process. Their makeup is not limited to faculty, however at this
time, only faculty and staff Campus Advisers exist. Students are permitted to be Campus
Advisers.
Problems with this system
● No student executive administration or oversight.
● No external representation to other groups.
● Lack of proper in­service training beyond initial training
● No refresher courses or training available
● Lack of meetings.
● UHB and CAC are essentially the same thing
● Few hearing board members/poor recruitment.
● Few faculty hearing board members/poor recruitment.
● Few Campus Advisers/poor recruitment.
● No student Campus Advisers.
● Poor student knowledge of conduct process.
● Untimely scheduling of hearings.
● Lack of expected presence in University community
Recommendations on Organization:
It is recommended a restructuring of the SHC. The proposed structure reflects that of a student
governing association.This hierarchical structure allows leadership and guidance, as well as
mentoring for younger members. It furthers the ability of the SHC to accomplish its mission as
stated above.
● Executive Board​ (President and Secretary, VP of Outreach Team, VP of Campus
Advisers)
○ Supervision of other committees
○ External representation
○ Internal management
○ Communication with faculty members of the SHC
● Hearings and Appeals Boards​ (9­10 student members)
○ General membership­­all members begin in this committee
○ Discuss sanctioning, explore new ideas for sanctions
○ Sit through appeals and hearings
○ This is the minimum involvement of any member of the SHC
● Campus Advisers​ (3­4 student members)
○ Discuss best ways to advise students on Conduct process and procedure

4. ○ Deliver presentations on Conduct process and procedure in coordination with OT
○ Hold office hours by appointment for student advising on disciplinary process
○ Recruit new Campus Advisers
○ Attend extra training in advising
● Outreach Team​ (12­13 student members including own executive board)
○ Program and present on Academic Integrity Policy and the Student Code of
Conduct
○ Contains its separate executive board
Executive Board
The Executive Board consists of a President, three Vice­Presidents, and an Executive Secretary.
It shall meet bimonthly, at a time to be determined by the board.
President
● Supervise the aforementioned committees
● Communicate with the Director of the OSC, Student Affairs administration and when
appropriate, the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA)
● Supervise recruitment to the committees
● Schedule and preside over meetings
● Communicate with faculty of SHC
● Lead Preliminary Review Board
VP of Outreach Team
● Fill the current role of the President of the OT
● Overlook administration of OT
● Externally represent OT in all programming matters
● Supervise and create the OT executive board
VP of Campus Advisers
● Supervise student advising
● Administrate office hours
Executive Secretary
● Create meeting agendas and minutes
● Create attendance records
● Handle internal communication

5.
Having an executive leadership team allows for effective administration and communication,
both internally and externally. The president is someone who should have a standing meeting
with the Director of Student Conduct or advisor to discuss issues related to discipline. This
person also serves as a representative to the student government and the Student Affairs
leadership. The VP of the OT is a retitled from the former President of the OT. Essentially, the
former President of the OT will have a new title, but the same roles and responsibilities. They
will also be part of the larger SHC executive board. The former Vice President of the Outreach
will be retitled Chief of Operations in order to reduce confusion. Team will also be redesignated
as The only new aspect is communication with the other newly formed executive board
members. A secretary is vital for maintaining meeting notes, scheduling meetings, and
facilitating communication within the SHC.
The VP of Campus Advisers is a new role that will help organize and initialize office hours for
the general student body. This person will manage the schedule of office hours, make changes
when necessary, and publish the schedule to all members of the student community.
Office Hours
The biggest change is an expansion of the role of campus advisers, who now have office hours
during which students can ask questions about the OSC and student discipline procedures. These
office hours will be held by appointment. Members of the SHC will be required to specify times
during the week when they are free to meet with students to discuss. These meetings can be held
wherever permitted, whether in the Bishop House or in private areas in the student centers on the
five campuses. This would allow much greater flexibility for accused students. Office hours will

6. be by appointment as demand for them is not very high, so as long as students keep the time
open for appointments and stay on the campus they said they would be on, they are free to work
on other things during these times. With agreement, these meetings can be kept confidential as
are current meetings with Campus Advisers. We believe that in some cases, a student­to­student
conversation may be more effective than connecting an accused party with a faculty or staff
member.. Office hours will be held by appointment
Meetings:
All members ​must ​be trained to serve on hearings and appeals, and be encouraged to do so (see
section on Training). Mandatory meetings will take place ​monthly​, on Mondays at 7:30 pm, the
current slotted time for the weekly OT meetings. The OT will continue to meet in a weekly
fashion, however once a month it will attend the greater meeting of the SHC.
Meetings will be held on a variety of topics:
● In­service training on the AI Policy and Code of Conduct.
● Discussion of sanctioning protocol, hearing process
● Social events to reward members for service
● Professional development
Meetings are a way to engage with members of the SHC and help them develop as student
leaders and connect with existing student leaders.
Training
Currently training for the Hearing Boards and Campus Appeals Committee occur concurrently in
a single 6­8 hour session held each semester. However, the current training model does not test
retention. In order to be certified a student must simply be present during the entire training
session.
Trainings consist of: a review of the University Sanction Guide, academic integrity violations,
and member expectations. Furthermore, applicants participate in activities that emphasize the
different qualities a member should have, such as objectivity and deduction. After reviewing
potential violations and their respective sanctions, applicants participate in a mock hearing. The
mock hearing is staged to resemble an actual hearing. All applicants are given the role of a UHB
or CAC member and current HB and CAC members play the roles of the complainant and
defendant. After training is complete, applicants receive invitations to join the HB and/or CAC
via email.

7. Recommendations to improve the training process are as follows:
● Implement an application, which will aim to screen applicants prior to their attending the
training sessions.
● Separate the training session into 2 sessions of 4 hours each.
● Observe and critique the performance of each applicant during the training session and
offer acceptance to those who perform consistently throughout the training session.
● Recruit through nomination (ie: established student leaders).
● Include training during the semester and presentations from administrators from the OSC
and other Student advocacy groups (Dean of Students, case managers etc.)
Presence
Currently, there is an insufficient presence of the SHC in the university community. While the
OT hosts events and delivers presentations on academic integrity, there should be a greater
involvement of the SHC with the student population. Increased awareness will give the student
body a greater understanding of the resources the SHC and the OSC provides. Additionally, it
will increase recruitment by clearly stating the requirements, expectations, and benefits of the
SHC.
Recommendations to increase presence of the SHC are as follows:
● Review the current website for the SHC and make appropriate changes that explain the
application process
● A more streamlined brand messaging process involving the Student Affairs Marketing
Team
● More student input on giveaways and trinkets to have at events
Faculty Involvement
Part of the problem in University Hearings is a lack of available faculty Hearing Board members.
The SHC can be used to recruit these members in a number of ways. Firstly, an increase in SHC
members will allow the SHC to contact faculty members and promote the role of Campus
Advisors. Secondly, students will be allowed to nominate faculty members. Lastly, executive
leadership will give representation to the members of the SHC to engage with faculty members.
First Year Enactment
During the first year of implementation of the new SHC, there were will specific conditions that
will help mitigate projected concerns or issues that might arise with the change in structure of the
organization. They are as follows:

8. ● The former president of the OT, Anish Patel will serve as President of the SHC for its
first year enactment.
● The executive board and graduate advisors of the current school year (2015­2016) will
consider applications for for the positions of Vice President for the Campus Advisors,
Executive Secretary, already elected members of the OT will remain in their current
positions
● Current members of the OT can apply for the executive board positions of the new SHC,
however they will be expected to remain a part of the OT in addition to their new
leadership position.
● Current members of the OT can apply for any of the new leadership positions that will be
available upon the implementation of the new SHC.
● All current SHC members will be grandfathered into the new system and asked to come
to monthly Monday night meetings pending their availability.
● The president will have a standing meeting with the Director of the OSC and advisers
● The e­board will schedule a weekly meeting with the Graduate Advisor(s)
● All members will undergo training at the start of the Fall semester to be scheduled with
the staff
● The new e­board will create a governing document to lay out the procedures and bylaws
of the SHC
○ Many provisions will be taken from the recently created governing document of
the OT
Relationship with the Strategic Plan
The overall goal of the University Strategic Plan is “to be broadly recognized as among the
nation’s leading public universities: preeminent in research, excellent in teaching, and committed
to community.” To achieve this overarching goal the Plan lists four key priorities, “Envision
Tomorrow’s University, Build Faculty Excellence, Transform the Student Experience, Enhance
Our Public Prominence”. The suggestions in this report will allow the Office of Student Conduct
to achieve great strides in transforming the student experience at our University.
● The creation of a pan­SHC e­board will allow the organization to make more efficient use
of resources and ensure better communication and representation with the greater Rutgers
community.
● The creation of more comprehensive training and continuing education for members of
the SHC will ensure that the Rutgers community has a fair and equitable Conduct
process.

9. ● The adoption of a system of Restorative Justice will shift the message of a sanction away
from an inconvenience to the sanctioned and towards an opportunity for personal growth
and development.
● Greater faculty involvement will help reduce rates of Conduct violations at their source,
in the classroom. Increased involvement will also build relationships between students
and facility which can translate to better faculty support for other programs.
● Enlarging the Campus Advisor corps and increasing its responsibilities will enable the
SHC to combat conduct issues from a different perspective. It also allows students to
gain a greater stake in the well­being of their campus.
The reorganization of the SHC, as suggested in this report, will give the Office of Student
conduct the tools it needs to transform into a more student­friendly organization. With greater
student participation and better training the SHC will be able to provide both a more efficient and
fair conduct process. This is something that students, who as the Strategic Plan shows, currently
find lacking throughout their Rutgers experience.