ASU cracking down on student-faculty relationships

PHOENIX — In the wake of allegations over several romantic and sexual encounters between professors and pupils, the ASU Faculty Senate voted Monday to strengthen the university’s policy on student-faculty relationships.

“This policy updates the previous policy which had problems because it allowed professors to be involved with a student as soon as their grades were in,” Cynthia Tompkins, ASU Faculty Senate president of the Tempe Campus, said.

The new policy bars professors from dating students if there’s a chance the faculty member could eventually have influence over a student’s grades or have authority over them according to Tompkins.

“Basically it says that we, as university employees, have to hold ourselves up above standard,” she said.

The updated policy states:

“Faculty and academic professionals are prohibited from engaging in a romantic or sexual relationship with a student over whom the faculty member or academic professional exercises, or can reasonably be expected to exercise, academic or employment authority or influence. Such authority or influence includes, but is not limited to, employment-related decisions such as hiring, evaluation or discipline, and academic-related decisions such as grading, transfers, evaluations, formal mentoring or advising, supervision of research, employment of a student as a research or teaching assistant, exercising substantial responsibility for honors or degrees, or considering academic disciplinary action involving the student.”

Tompkins said ASU faculty members should be committed to making student’s well-being and education their primary focus. She hopes the new policy reiterates those core values to professors.

“It aligns us with other universities and it shows that ASU is putting students at the center,” she said. “They are the focus of our mission.”

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