POLICIES AND PROCEDURES |General Policies | 2.0 Policy Enforcement | 2.0.1Policy Enforcement



Policy Enforcement

When an employee of the college observes a violation of an institutional policy or procedure, it is that employee’s responsibility to take action. The level of action depends upon the event observed. In some instances the employee should confront the individual violating the policy or procedure; in others, the individual should report the violation to a supervisor, campus security, or the dean of students. The controlling factors determining the course of action include the following:

  • The level of danger of the violation, e.g. someone parking in a restricted area is less dangerous than a person physically threatening another individual.
  • The seriousness of the violation, e.g. someone smoking on campus is less serious than a person carrying a weapon on campus.
  • The location and the time of day of a violation, e.g. confronting an individual smoking on campus during the day in a public area with frequent traffic is less dangerous than confronting an individual at night in an isolated parking lot with no one else around.
  • The level of anxiety or fear that the idea of confronting an individual violating a policy or procedure creates in the observer, e.g., being mildly uncomfortable as opposed to being fearful for one’s safety.
  • The individual’s role at the time of the observation, e.g., a person supervising a class has more direct responsibility for enforcing institutional policy within that environment than someone walking across campus and observing something from a great distance.

In all instances, employees must be prudent in exercising their responsibility for enforcement. But in all instances of observed violation, employees are responsible for taking some level of action.