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PRIMER on the DRAFT

2009 Cod e of Student Conduc t

For University of the Philipp ines Diliman

1. When d id the p resent bodies of rules and regulations on student c onduc t anddiscipline first take effect?

The Rules and Regulations on Student Conduct and Discipline(RRSCD),

whic h gene ra lly ap p ly to U.P. students, was approve d by the Boa rd of Reg ents on

Sep temb er 2, 1976 and wa s last ame nd ed on August 27, 1998. The Revised Rules

and Reg ulations Governing Fraternities, Sororities and Other Stude nt Organizations

(RRRGFSOSO), on the o the r ha nd , wa s approved by the Board o f Reg ents on

October 24, 1995.

2. Why is there a need to revise the c urrent student rules and reg ulations?

At present, the rules have not adequately addressed issues in student

d isc ipline. From 1996-2006, 349 stud ent d isc iplina ry c ases were filed , or an

averag e o f 31.7 ca ses filed per yea r. The num ber of stud ents c harge d w ith

violations per yea r is 61.3, or 675 over the 11-yea r period . With reg a rd to c ases

involving fra ternities, sororities and other stud ent o rganiza tions, the num bers a re

d isturbing . In the last 43 yea rs, there have b een 13 fra ternity-rela ted d ea ths. From

1996-2006, 297 respondents in stud ent d isc iplina ry c ases were me mb ers of 19

fraternities, sororities and o ther stud ent organiza tions. These num bers a re

d isc onc erting, and they have no t d ec lined even with the p resent rules and

reg ula tions go verning stud ents and student orga niza tions.

In a dd ition, there is muc h d elay in the resolution of the se c ases bec ause of

the c urrent p roc ed ure p rovide d in the rules. It ta kes about four (4) to six (6) yea rs

befo re a student d isc ip linary c ase is resolved . The rules a re o utda ted and a re

bec om ing inc rea singly inefficient. Moreo ver, new typ es of offenses have c om e

into e xistenc e due to c hang ing times and c irc umstance s, whic h a re no t

adeq uately add ressed by the current rules.

3. What p roce dure wa s undertak en in d rafting the 2009 Cod e o f Student Conduc t?

Before the review c om mittee b eg an revising the c urrent rules, a tea m o fresearchers from the College of Mass Communication conducted research to

provide for a w ell-informed review tha t is mindful of the we lfare o f a ll sec tors of the

University c om munity. The resea rc h wa s designed so tha t its output ha s bee n

useful not only to the review b ut also fo r understand ing a b roa d rang e o f student

concerns.

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The resea rc h tea m c ond uc ted ten (10) foc used group d isc ussions and 100

foc used interviews with the fac ulty, non-ac adem ic p ersonne l and stud ents of UP

Dilima n and its sa tellite c amp us UP Pamp anga. Approxima tely 150 informants

pa rticipa ted in the resea rc h. In ad d ition, position pa pers we re submitted by som e

memb ers of the fac ulty and ad ministrative p ersonnel c om menting o n the review.

The resea rc h ge nera ted c om me nts and suggestions reg a rd ing the University rules

and reg ulations on stud ents and stud ent orga niza tions, which m ay be summ arized

in terms of six anc hor c onc ep ts:

a . Found a tion The resea rch info rma nts believe tha t the University needs tobe c lear ab out the und erlying fram ew ork/ philosop hy of its rules and

regulat ions. Rules should a lso be p ro-ac tive and p ositive, instead o f be ing

reac tive and p unitive. In ad d ition , these rules should mirror som e aspec ts of

the Filipino .

b . Clarific a tion and a rticulation The informa nts think the c urrent rules need tobe c la rified in terms of their intent , sc op e, and / or app lica tion. Pena lties

should be c la rified; spec ific a lly, tha t for eac h viola tion, the c orrespond ingsanc tion b e ind ic ate d . Clarific ation and a rtic ulation also me an tha t the

rules should be sta ted in a simple a nd c onc ise m anner, using d irec t and

spec ific lang uage, so a s not to leave roo m fo r misunderstand ing.

c . Ad d ition Seve ra l informants suggested tha t the rules and reg ulations beexpande d to c over new er c onc erns. There should be a n inc lusion o f

other pena lties aside from suspension a nd expulsion, or wha t a re c a lled

a lternative pe na lties. Ad d itiona l me c hanisms/ struc turesfor the p roc essing

of c ases a re ne ed ed , given the slow grind of justice in the Student

Disc ip lina ry Tribuna l (SDT).

d . Implementation There is a percep tion tha t the rules and regulations a renot effec tively imp lem ented due to the lac k of politic al will to implement

the rules; lack of resources to enforce the rules; the constituents ignorance

of the rules; the uneven imp leme ntation of the rules; and the g eograp hic al

as we ll as sec toral expanse of the University.

e. Dissem ination The informa nts a lso stressed the need to pop ularize the rulesand reg ula tions, e.g . put the rules online fo r wide a nd ea sy ac c ess.

f. Rep resenta tion The informants stressed tha t c onsultat ion w ith a ll sec to rs ofthe University should b e part of the p roc ess of revising the rules.

The review c om mittee a lso a na lyzed the SDT figures and trend s. It a lso

exam ined the va rious existing rules app lica b le to stud ents and a ll kinds of student

orga niza tions and noticed som e vagueness and d isparity ac ross the d ifferent

bod ies of rules.

Informed with all of the a bove , the c om mittee revised the rules and

prod uc ed the d ra ft 2009 Co de of Stud ent Conduc t. This d ra ft has undergone

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further rev isions based on the suggestions of t he me mb ers of the UP Dilima n

Exec utive Co mm ittee , who in turn d isc ussed the d ra ft w ith their respec tive Fac ulty.

4. Which student rules and regulations have been revised ?

The Rules and Reg ulations on Student Cond uc t and Disc ipline (RRSCD), the

Revised Rules and Regulations Governing Fraternities, Sororities and Other Student

Organizations (RRRGFSOSO), the Guide lines on the Applic ation for, or Renew al o f,

Offic ial Rec og nition of University-b ased Stude nt Organizations (GARORUSO), and

the General Guidelines on Tam ba yanin UP Dilima n (GGTUPD). The last two were

included in the review due to their c onnec tion w ith the ma nag em ent of stude nt

orga niza tions, which affec t the imp lementa tion of the p rop osed new rules.

5. What are the ma jor fea tures of the draft 2009 Code of Stude nt Conduc t?

a. TATAK UP. Article I of the d ra ft 2009 Cod e o f Student C ond uc t (CSC)c onta ins a d ec la ra tion of p rinciples on w hich the d ra ft cod e rests. It is titled

TATAK UP . Itputs in perspec tive the role o f the University and its

c om munity in c ontributing to the be tterment of the Philipp ine na tion. It

em bod ies the impo rtanc e o f the University to the history, c ulture a nd

identity of the Philipp ines. It a lso responds to the first key suggestion tha t

em erged out o f the resea rc h c ond uc ted prior to the review. (See Artic le I

of t he d ra ft 2009 CSC.)

b. Harmony of p rovisions. The d ra ft 2009 CSC harmo nized the definitions andd ispa ra te rules of the c urrent bod ies of rules and reg ulat ions. To ensure tha t

rules a re c onsistent with ea c h o ther, the old bod ies of rules we re integ ra tedinto o ne. This is expe c ted to simp lify and ma ke more e ffic ient the p roc ess

of imp lem enting the rules.

c . Clarific ation of violations and ad dition of new viola tions. The violat ionsprovide d in the d raft 2009 CSC ha ve b een c la rified , suc h that ade qua te

de finitions have be en p rovided to d etermine the sc op e o f the violations.

The Code c lassifies misc ond uc t into five c a teg ories, nam ely Intellec tua l

Dishonesty, Fraud , Ha rm to Person and Property, Inappropriate Behavior,

and Violations of the Ac c ep ted Use Policy for Information Tec hnolog y

Resourc es of the Unive rsity.

An example of the c larifica tion of vio lations is found in Artic le VI, Sec tion

1.1, on Intellec tua l Dishonesty. Instead o f using c hea ting as in the o ld

rules to identify this spec ific m isc onduc t, the d ra ft 2009 CSC uses the

broa der term Intellec tua l Dishone sty , and spec ifies the kinds of

intellec tua l d ishonesty a stud ent ma y co mm it. (See Article VI Sec tion 1.1.)

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Another examp le: The sc op e of Fraud ha s been b roa de ned a nd

pa rtic ular a c ts of fraud have be en spe c ified , indica ting respe c tive

pena lties for eac h ac t. (See Artic le VI Sec tion 1.2.)

Moreover, new offenses have been spe c ified or ad de d in order to a dd ress

the c hanges in culture a nd the soc ial environm ent o ver the yea rs, suc h as

sexua l ha rassme nt (Article VI Sec tion 1.3.1f) and v iolation o f the Approved

Ac c ep tab le Use Policy for Informa tion Tec hno logy Resources of the UP

System (Artic le VI Sec tion 1.5).

d. Rationa lization of pena lties. Pena lties for certain viola tions have beenamended in orde r to emp hasize the reforma tive or d isc iplina ry ra ther than

punitive na ture o f these p ena lties. There is now a g rada tion in the

rec koning of the o ffenses and the c orrespond ing pe na lties. Also,

a lternative pe na lties a re p rovide d to e nc ourag e refo rm. For instanc e, the

req uirem ent to g o to c ounseling is p rovide d in som e c ases. Comm unity

service is a lso an a lternat ive in som e o the r ca ses.

e. Simp lifica tion of p rocedure for student disc iplinary c ases. The p roc ed urefor hea ring c ases, from the filing o f the c om plaint to the p rom ulga tion of a

dec ision, has bee n simp lified. It takes into a c c ount the c om plexity of the

Universitys structure (i.e. severa l Co lleg es) a nd is designed to p revent

delays.

f. Introd uc tion of Alternative Dispute Resolution. Alterna tive d ispute resolutionma y be app lied to c ases of less serious misc ond uc t b y which the d ispute is

resolved by the p a rties themselves w ith the a ssista nc e o f a th ird pa rty.

g. Same rules for Frate rnities, Sororities, and Organizations. The draft 2009 CSCc overs fra te rnities, sororities, and organiza tions evenly, in order to be fa ir

and to a fford all stude nt groups eq ual protec tion.

6. Where c an UP Stude nts find a c op y of the 2008 Code of Cond uc t?

Clickhere to a c c ess a soft c op y of the draft 2009 Code of Student

Conduc t. Ema il a ll c om ments and suggestions to student-cod e@up.ed u.ph

http://upd.edu.ph/~ovcsa/Draft-2009-Student-Code-of-Conduct.pdfhttp://upd.edu.ph/~ovcsa/Draft-2009-Student-Code-of-Conduct.pdfhttp://upd.edu.ph/~ovcsa/Draft-2009-Student-Code-of-Conduct.pdf