If a Meeting Facilitator feels that a student needs to do more reflection in a specific area, they will assign the student a writing assignment designed to focus on that area. Here are some of the prompts that Meeting Facilitators with the Center for Student Conduct may use when assigning the “Written Assignment” Outcome.

 

Letter of Apology

You are required to write a letter of apology to the person(s) impacted by this incident. You should NOT submit this letter directly to the recipient(s), and instead should submit the letter to the Conduct Meeting Facilitator.  This letter should reflect an understanding of the inappropriateness of your actions and the impact it had on the letter's recipient. Be further advised that this letter may not serve to justify your own actions nor evaluate the actions of others. The letter should utilize appropriate language, grammar, and spelling. Prior to being forwarded to the recipient, this letter will be screened by a Conduct Meeting Facilitator. A copy will also be maintained in your Student Conduct records. This letter should be 1-2 pages in length (typed, double-spaced).

Letter to Incoming Student

Please write a 2-3 page letter to an incoming student imagining you have just successfully graduated from The University of Vermont. Your letter will enable you to look back on your college career and candidly discuss your experiences as a UVM student. The purpose of this letter is to assist you in thinking critically about making different choices during the duration of your time at UVM as well as to share the wisdom you've acquired thus far with an incoming student. Be advised that this may not serve to justify your own actions in this incident or evaluate the actions of others. In your letter, please address the following:

  1. Briefly introduce yourself, sharing any information you deem important for the letter's recipient to know about you or your college career (examples include your academic major/minor, campus involvements, employment, major challenges and accomplishments in college, unique circumstances, social identity group memberships, etc.).
  2. Discuss the incident that resulted in your involvement with the conduct process. What happened, and why did you make the decisions that you did? How is this situation similar and/or different from any past incidents in which you have been involved?
  3. Since this incident, how have you avoided situations which would put you at risk for suspension? What specific strategies or changes in behavior helped to ensure you avoided the judicial process and graduated on time? How were these decisions supported (or not) by friends, family, etc? (Do not simply share strategies as to how you remained "under the radar"; instead discuss ways in which you avoided policies, not avoided getting caught).
  4. Reflecting on your experiences, share any pertinent advice you would give to incoming students (many of whom will have the expectation that alcohol and other drugs are part of "the college experience").
  5. Finally, discuss your future and how the University and its resources have adequately prepared you to achieve your post-graduation goals.

This letter must be typed and double spaced. Be advised that this paper may not be used to justify the actions that led to this sanction or to criticize the actions of others.

Personal Journal

You are required to maintain a daily written journal for a two-week period. In this journal, you are expected to address the following questions each day:

  1. What were the most important or significant decision you had to make regarding your own behavior and/or lifestyle today?
  2. What is the best decision you made today and what is the worst decision you made today?
  3. What processes did you use to make these decisions? Were they easy/quick decisions without much thought? Did you have to weigh any competing factors?
  4. What other circumstances might have been present that influenced these decisions?
  5. Were these decisions reflective of personal values and/or societal expectations? If so, articulate how.
  6. Did you compromise any of your own values? Did you feel any societal pressure that influenced today’s decisions?
  7. What is one new thing you learned about yourself today?

Each daily entry is to be no less than 300 words in length (typed, double-spaced). Be advised that this journal may not serve to justify your own actions in this incident or evaluate the actions of others. The journal should utilize appropriate language, grammar, and spelling. At the conclusion of the two-week period, you are to submit your journal.

Policy Review

You are required to write a written review of the policy or policies you violated. In the review, you should summarize the policy, explore how it relates to the violations in questions, state the rationale behind the policy, and elaborate on how the UVM community would be different if the policy did not exist. Be advised that this review may not be used to justify your actions or to evaluate the actions of others, nor may this paper promote a philosophy that is in direct conflict with the law or with University regulations. You are expected to include appropriate citations and to use appropriate language, grammar, and spelling. For your convenience, you can use this link for the Student Code of Conduct. Your paper must be 1-2 pages in length (typed, double-spaced) with Times New Roman, 12pt font, and 1-inch margins.

Statement of Purpose and Action Plan

You are required to compose a 2-3 page personal statement (typed, double-spaced) that explores the following questions:

  1. What are my goals for attending the University of Vermont?
  2. What does it mean to be a member of the University of Vermont campus community?
  3. What are my values and how do my values reflect my behavior thus far while at UVM?
  4. What prevents me from living within the responsibilities of the community and how am I going to modify my behavior?
  5. What does citizenship mean to me and how am I role modeling being an engaged citizen?

After you have crafted responses to these questions, please interview two people that know you well and ask them the following:

  1. What values or principles do you think I stand for and how have I demonstrated these to you?
  2. What are some of my character strengths?
  3. What are some areas of improvement?

Upon completion of these interviews, please write a brief reflection (no less than 500 words) of what you found as part of your interviews and discuss how your interviewees' perceptions of you are in line with your values and behaviors. Be advised that these papers may not serve to justify your own actions or evaluate the actions of others.

Our Common Ground

The purpose of this assignment is to engage you in purposeful thought about what it means to be a member of the University of Vermont community. While it is intended to be a reflective assignment, and your completed work will not be evaluated on its content (other than to make sure that you addressed each question), be advised that your paper can not serve to justify your own actions or evaluate the actions of others. Your paper should be 2-3 pages in length (typed, double-spaced) Please review the following statement: To be a student at the University of Vermont, we expect you to recognize the strength of personal differences, while respecting institutional values. You are encouraged to think and act for yourself, as that is the purpose of higher education. However, we expect you to understand that the University has nonnegotiable values in which it believes strongly. These values from \"Our Common Ground\" include: Respect, Integrity, Innovation, Openness, Justice, & Responsibility. The full \"Our Common Ground\" statement of these values can be found on the University's website: Our Common Ground. These values are the hallmark of the University, and will be protected diligently. Each person has the right and ability to make decisions about his or her own conduct. Just as importantly, each person has the responsibility to accept the consequences of those decisions. When individual behavior conflicts with the values of the University, the individual must choose whether to adapt his or her behavior to meet the needs of the community or to leave the University. This decision, among others, assists each person to determine who he or she is with respect to the rest of society.
Answer the following questions; each answer should be of at least the specified length:

  1. Why are these six values important to the University community? What does the University hope to accomplish by promoting these values? (250 words)
  2. Discuss these six values as they relate to your life. In what way have you demonstrated each of these principles in your life? (250 words)
  3. Discuss the incident that led to this assignment. In what ways were the values of the University compromised by your actions? (250 words)
  4. If you were to write a Common Ground for other students to follow, what would be in it? What is the rationale for your statement? (250 words).

Reflection on Career Success

Write a 1-2 page (500-1000 words) reflection addressing the following questions:

  1. What does being successful at UVM mean for you?
  2. What do you hope to achieve this year? What are your academic, personal, career and/or social goals?
  3. What action steps will you take to work towards your future success?
  4. What will you need to do for yourself in order to be successful at UVM in future semesters?
  5. What, if any, support will you need from others?

Reflections on Loyalty

You have been found responsible for a policy violation despite the fact that your testimony indicated that another person was actually the responsible party. When asked to provide written testimony or to gather testimony supporting that claim, you indicated that you would rather take responsibility for the violation yourself than become part of the process through which another might be held accountable. Consider the process by which you decided to accept responsibility for the violation rather than becoming a part of the process through which another party might accept part or all of the responsibility. You are required to compose a 2-3 page personal statement (typed, double-spaced):

  1. Briefly describe the incident that led to this conduct meeting decision.
  2. Why have you opted not to play a more deliberate roll in identifying others who may have been involved with the violation?\
  3. What is the threshold you are willing to endure with regard to accepting responsibility for the sake of avoiding holding others truly accountable (i.e., where do you draw the line for "taking the hit")?
  4. How do you define "loyalty"? How do you perceive that definition as it relates to others you feel should have been held responsible, but have not, for this incident?

Be advised that this paper may not serve to justify your own actions or evaluate the actions of others.

Standard Reflection Paper

You are required to write a 2-3 page paper (typed, double-spaced) reflecting on your actions in this incident. This paper should address the following questions:

  1. Reflect on the policies you were found in violation of: Why do they exist? What purpose do they serve?
  2. Explain the impact of your actions on your success and safety at UVM, other students, and members of the larger UVM community.
  3. The six tenets of UVM's Our Common Ground, are: Respect, Integrity, Innovation, Openness, Justice, and Responsibility. Describe how your behavior is inconsistent with the University's Values?
  4. Describe your understanding of the impact of your actions on the greater UVM community.
  5. If placed in the same situation again, how would your actions be similar or different?
  6. Why would your actions be similar or different?
  7. What is the most important thing you have learned from this experience?

Reflections on Bystander Intervention

You have been found responsible for a policy violation due, in part, to your unwillingness to interrupt the process leading up to the violation. Consider the role you played, first as a silent bystander, then as an actual participant with the incident. You are required to compose a 2-3 page personal statement (typed, double-spaced):

  1. Briefly describe the incident that led to this conduct meeting decision.
  2. Why did you opt not to play a more deliberate roll in interrupting the decisions leading up to the incident?
  3. What is the threshold you are willing to endure with regard to staying silent rather than interrupting the actions of others that might be defined as harmful or alarming (i.e., where do you draw the line for staying silent in high-risk scenarios)?
  4. How do you define "loyalty"? How do you perceive that definition as it relates to this incident?
  5. List some specific strategies you plan to employ should future scenarios present themselves to you as a potential bystander to high-risk incidents. List strategies beyond merely removing yourself from the scenario.