Restorative Resolution Options

In Student Rights & Responsibilities we use restorative approaches in a number of proactive and responsive ways.

  • We train decision-makers in our process on how to use restorative tools such as inclusive decision making and restorative questions.
  • Our sanctions focus on restoring harm to individuals involved and the community as a whole.
  • We have implemented Circles of Support and Accountability to reintegrate students after a separation from the university.
  • We offer all respondents the opportunity to create an outcome agreement in which they accept responsibility for the alleged violations and work with us to develop appropriate outcomes.

By using restorative approaches to address conflict and harm, SRR is able to provide both accountability and support to the parties involved in an incident while balancing the needs of all parties, including the community.

These strategies promote real accountability, genuine efforts to repair harm, and active efforts to resolve conflict. 

Harm can take many forms. Harms can include emotional/spiritual, material/physical, communal/relational, and inflamed structural/historical types of harm. A focus on identifying, acknowledging, and repairing harm in our restorative practices and conflict management strategies highlights the impact of behaviors on others and requires a dialogue on those impacts.  These practices in turn support student development and build trust with the community.

Alternative Resolution Process (ARP)

The Alternative Resolution Process (ARP) is designed to allow students who have caused harm the ability to engage in a restorative process with the individual or individuals who experienced that harm. Participating parties will have the opportunity to create an agreement to address and repair the harm.

Alternative Resolution Process (PDF)

Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA)

Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) is a rehabilitation program intended for the smooth re-integration of students, referred to as “Core Members”, into their academic community. The Core Members receive support and accountability from members of their community in order to facilitate their establishment of new relationships and understanding of community standards. Community members consider the needs of both the community and the students in helping students develop necessary life skills through a series of three meetings that strengthen the student’s communal ties. This program was created to achieve this re-integration in a supportive way while also preventing further harm and improving students’ self-esteem. The COSA model depends on voluntary participation that engages the community in addressing harms and healing.

Informal Mediation

Information mediations, led by a third-party individual with no ties to the incident or event, serve to assist in the process of resolving disputes. The mediation process may occur in one or multiple sessions in order to separately and jointly address two sides of a conflict. Through these mediation sessions, the third-party individual will assist both sides in understanding the other’s perspective, in addition to addressing the individual’s concerns and issues, and using joint mediation sessions to formulate an effective resolution in addressing the conflict, incident, or event at hand. 

Restorative Circles

Restorative Circles provide a facilitated opportunity to engage with responsible, impacted, affected and supporting parties involved in an incident or event. This option helps the parties impacted by or responsible for harmful behavior by providing a space to discuss what happened, how to repair the harm caused, and how to move forward.