Engineering senior Kavon Stewart said he wishes he could date a
graduate student instructor. He said attraction to his GSI is
natural and he would benefit from “increased office
hours.”

A proposed University policy on student-professor relationships,
however, will call for the reporting of relationships in which a
University employee is dating a student with whom they have any
sort of academic association. It is expected to be brought to the
University Board of Regents at next month’s meeting.

“What we’re focused on is the power relation between
a faculty member and the student they supervise. There is an
inherent conflict of interest. It is not a healthy situation for
the student,” University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said.

The policy currently in effect discourages such relationships
but does not require them to be reported.

The new policy, drafted by Associate Provost for Academic
Affairs Janet Weiss, obligates the faculty member to disclose a
relationship to avoid biased grading that may take place,
complaints of sexual harassment from the student and the negative
effect such a relationship might have on other students.

For these reasons, the policy states, “If a faculty member
has direct supervisory responsibility over a student, it is the
obligation of the faculty member to immediately disclose the
romantic and/or sexual relationship to his or her administrative
superior.”

If the policy goes into effect, the faculty member’s
supervisor will then take measures in devising a
conflict-management plan for the student. This may include
switching the student out of the class or having another faculty
member grade them for the semester.

“If these arrangements can not be made, the relationship
might have to end,” Peterson said.

She added that if the policy is put into effect, a relationship
that is discovered but not reported could lead to the dismissal of
the professor, GSI, academic advisor, or coach who failed to
disclose it.

The policy does not concern relationships among University
affiliates who have no academic link. A relationship between an
engineering student and a GSI in the School of Architecture, for
example, does not pose any threat to the educational environment of
the student and is therefore not an issue.

LSA sophomore Megan Schmidt said she feels this policy will have
a positive effect because it should end unjust grading. Her
roommate last year dealt with a professor who favored a male
student in the class.

“Whenever (the student) would talk she would pay so much
more attention. She quite obviously gave him a little bit of a
higher grade … even though they all did the same amount of
work. Everyone in her group noticed,” she said.

Such interactions between students and instructors are common,
said Stewart.

“I’ve had friends who’ve dated GSI’s.
Male GSI’s especially tend to spend more time with female
students that they find attractive,” he said.

Stewart believes that if the policy is passed, it will be
successful in eliminating unfair advantages given to students in
relationships with their instructors.

“I think it would be effective because the professor would
want to keep his job and wouldn’t want to put his job in
peril,” he said.

But other students question whether the policy will be effective
if approved. LSA senior DaNitra Lindsey said she disagrees with the
policies goals and believes that instructors and students would
keep their relationships secret.

“I don’t think they would report it. The professors
should be professional enough to know how to distinguish between a
personal relationship and a school relationship,” she
said.