Dear ASCA Members,

As conduct practitioners, we face unique professional and personal challenges when domestic and international crises arise. We must be champions of due process on our campuses, explain and uphold freedom of speech and the right to assemble, manage our emotions while providing tools and avenues for students to manage their emotions, and enact behavior and care interventions. Simultaneously, many of us are personally impacted by such crises as the recent traumatic shootings on HBCU campuses as well as the ongoing, horrific violence in Israel and Palestine. We recognize many of our members are helping to navigate protests, classroom challenges, bias-related comments and actions, all while engaging in their own activism, personal reflection, and mourning.

ASCA is therefore bringing a series of educational opportunities focused on how we help our students and ourselves during these times. We encourage professionals to also seek out support from mental health professionals, close family and friends, and trusted colleagues.

You submit anonymous questions for any of these webinars using this form. Please note presenters may not respond to all submitted questions.

Supporting Students During Domestic and International Crises

Conduct and conduct-adjacent practitioners fill unique roles in supporting students during times of upheaval and unrest. This webinar will focus on how to listen to support, how to help students dialogue successfully, and how to advise students to engage in social action meaningfully and safely. We will also spend time discussing how the effects of current incidents are manifesting on campus, particularly in behavior, and how to address those behaviors through your role. Finally, we will discuss how to support students on all sides of an issue.
Date: November 30, 1-2 pm ET

Cost: Free to members; $49 for non-members

Presenters: Dr. Amanda Mesirow, Erika Crawley, & Kavaris Sims
REGISTER

Speaking Truth to Power: Navigating Your Personal and Professional Boundaries During Domestic and International Crises

Our professional and personal lives often intersect, and especially when current events weigh so heavily on so many of us and our colleagues. This webinar will focus on how to balance representing your authentic self with the professional expectations of your employer. In other words: how do you maintain your integrity without sacrificing a (needed) paycheck? How can you support students in a neutral professional way, when you are not neutral personally? Strategies for action and engagement will be shared, as well as how to set and maintain boundaries that ultimately serve to keep you safe as you engage in social action. We will also discuss ways to immerse yourself in learning about current issues, uplifting the action of minoritized groups, and supporting professional colleagues who have a personal connection to ongoing crises.

Date: December 5th; 2-3 pm ET

Cost: Members: $29; Non-Members: $49; Students: $15

Presenters: Dr. Amanda Mesirow, Dr. Shay Gresham Howard, & André Clanton
REGISTER

Free Speech, Protests, and Due Process During Domestic and International Crises

Our campuses are subject to the domestic and international incidents that occur. Our campus community members (students and employees, including faculty) have opinions on these happenings and are often not shy about voicing their opinion. What happens when those opinions clash with an opposing viewpoint? As student conduct administrators, we are often called on to hold accountable those who may voice an opposing view. It can be easy to set aside our existing policies and procedures for the sake of popular opinion. We cannot and must not do that. This webinar will briefly cover introductory information about the First Amendment and due process, as well as responding to campus protests, demonstrations, and reports from members of the campus and outside community. Additionally, we will provide recommendations on preparing staff to respond to concerns, institutional processes around retaliation and reporting, as well as defining what behavior or speech can be adjudicated. Finally, we will also address how to manage reports of “threats,” “safety concerns,” or “aggression,” which must be addressed, but which are often coded to further marginalize minoritized students.
Date: December 6th; 1-2 pm ET

Cost: Members: $29; Non-Members: $49; Students: $15

Presenters: Kristi Patrickus, J.D., Dr. Brian Glick, Christina Liang, J.D., Briyanna Jenkins
REGISTER

Please note all webinars will be “webinar style” where participants can engage via confidential Q&A to presenters, but cannot communicate with other attendees.

ASCA recently hosted a webinar on supporting MENA students: “Understanding and Addressing Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Students in Code of Conduct”

(“aired” on September 5th). This webinar is available for purchase (Members $29; Non-Members: $49; Students: $15) by emailing our Central Office (asca@theasca.org).

Additionally, ASCA offers opportunities to become involved. Our Committees, CoPs, and Regions provide members connections with other professionals facing the same concerns and questions around conduct work. Here are a few in particular if you are looking for ways to engage in activism:

• Public Policy and Legislative Issues Committee Legislation Tracking: Legislation “trackers” are needed to monitor and update membership on legislation occurring throughout the United States impacting higher education and conduct. Contact Co-Chairs Kristi Patrickus & Sherry Koshi at policy@theasca.org for more information.
• Equity and Inclusion Committee is always looking for ways to engage our members in educational opportunities and connections around our core values of advocacy, belonging, and equity and intentional inclusion. Contact Chair Erika Crawley at equityinclusion@theasca.org for more information.
• Consider proposing an ASCA webinar or other educational opportunity
• Consider submitting an ASCA blog.

Again, we encourage you to seek support through local organizations, mental health professionals, your institution's employee assistance program, and friends and family. Taking care of yourself can be challenging but necessary to prioritize.

We hope you will join us at these webinars and stay connected with your professional association for support. If you have any ideas for further engagement or ways ASCA can support practitioners, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Board President, Christina Parle, at pres@theasca.org or our Executive Director, Dr. Tess Barker, at tess@theasca.org.

In solidarity,

ASCA Board and Central Office