About Restorative Justice on Campus
General Restorative Justice Websites
Academic Programs Examining Restorative Justice
-
Eastern Mennonite University Center for Justice and Peacebuilding
-
Fresno Pacific University Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies
-
Marquette University Law School Restorative Justice Initiative
-
University of Minnesota Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking
-
University of Texas Institute for Restorative Justice and Restorative Dialogue
-
University of Wisconsin Law School Restorative Justice Project
Campus Restorative Justice Programs
Alfred UniversityAlfred University utilizes many of the Restorative Justice concepts in most of our various hearing types. We train administrative hearing officers and board members on RJ principles, as well as the Social Change Model of Leadership and Motivational Interviewing. The combination has resulted in more meaningful and impactful hearing.
Contact: Norm Pollard
Clemson UniversityIn the Fall 2009, the Office of Community and Ethical Standards implemented a restorative justice board (community accountability board), which uses elements of restorative justice to review cases. The purpose of the board is to reconcile cases with referred students in which the harmed party is the Clemson community (e.g. vandalism). Through this intervention the board and student will be able to discuss the student's behaviors and actions that prompted a referral to OCES and together develop a strategy to repair any harm done as a result of these actions.
Contact: Justin Carter
Colorado State UniversityColorado State uses restorative justice as one of many aspects of the student conduct process through their office of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct Services. When the involved parties consent restorative justice or mediation may be used if deemed appropriate. The goal of the process is to create an agreement acceptable to both parties. If the offender does not abide by the agreement, the case may be referred back through the conduct process for disciplinary action.
Contact: Melissa Emerson
Fresno Pacific University At Fresno Pacific, restorative discipline enhances the academic purpose and atmosphere of the campus both educationally and developmentally. The process will enhance maturity and at the same time provide students with the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. It will also provide the opportunity for reconciliation of those who have been injured or estranged. It will encourage students to take responsibility by holding them accountable for their actions including making restitution for damages. And finally, it will enable the restoration of an individual to his or her place in the community. The restorative discipline process at FPU encourages members of the University community to resolve their differences at the lowest possible level of authority.
Contact: Jill Schellenberg
Guilford CollegeRestorative Justice principles and practices currently guide all judicial processes in the Guilford system. All non-suspension level cases are heard through the Community Accountability Process (C.A.P.). CAP hearings are scripted, facilitated conferences based on the C.A.B. program now in place at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Faculty, staff and students are trained to meet with students who have been found responsible. This allows for greater community involvement with the issues of student behavior and documentation through the conversations that occur as part of the hearings. Not infrequently, students are actually sanctioned as part of their own hearing to serve on the hearings for other students. The script for the CAP hearings incorporates restorative justice language and Marshall Rosenberg's work with Non-violent Communication. Suspension level cases are handled by either a restorative justice-based administrative hearing or a judicial board hearing using a similar script and process as the CAP hearings.
Contact: Sandy Bowles
James Madison UniversityAlthough restorative justice processes take various forms, the model used most often at JMU is the "Circle." The restorative justice circle process includes two facilitators. The role of the facilitators is to guide the group through the restorative justice process. Facilitators often use a tool called a "talking piece" which is passed around the circle. In the process, the circle participants develop their own guidelines for coming to an agreement. There may be a written agreement signed by participants which could include obligations for certain participants.
Contact: Josh Bacon
King's University College"Because of King’s mission to “...provide university education that inspires and equips learners to bring renewal to very walk of life…”, Student Life offers students an opportunity to learn through active restoration in matters of misconduct or significant relational stress. King’s Restorative Justice process gives students an opportunity to collaboratively learn from one other when the student code of conduct is broken or when relationships suffer from negative actions. Outcomes, rather than being solely sanctioned by staff members in the Student Life Office, are cooperatively determined by all involved parties and agreed upon in the form of a binding contract. Students engaged in Restorative Justice are not necessarily free from disciplinary consequences. The Restorative Justice process allows participants to evaluate these consequences and determine which are valid in any particular case. At all times, the Dean of Students retains the right to sanction disciplinary consequences as they are deemed necessary.
Contact: Eric McIntosh
Liberty UniversityLiberty University’s motto is to “train champions for Christ.” The basis of Restorative Justice is closely related to biblical references supported by the university’s mission. Liberty University is a Restorative Justice campus. Liberty University is dedicated to creating an environment that is holistically developmental in every area of student involvement. Restorative Justice is key in supporting this goal.
Contact: Keith Anderson
Michigan State UniversityIn addition to using restorative justice as a judicial affairs tool, MSU is implementing
a more holistic approach campus-wide to build restorative justice into the culture
of our residence halls and university systems. All Department of Residence Life Central
Staff and Assistant Hall Directors and many Judicial Affairs Conduct Administrators
have been trained to facilitate conferences and circles. These department leaders
then trained all resident mentors and Intercultural Aides in restorative justice principles
and circles facilitation. By adopting the restorative justice philosophy and training
the front-line staff in its principles and tools, MSU hopes to empower our students
to resolve conflict and address misconduct at the source before situations escalate.
Contact: Rick Shafer or Nancy Schertzing
Michigan Technological UniversityMichigan Tech utilizes restorative practices as one of the pathways to address student conduct. If a charged student accepts responsibility (along with the harmed/impacted parties) voluntarily agrees to the process, group conferencing may be utilized to seek a mutual agreement between the parties on how the harm/impact will be addressed, integrity restored, and community preserved. If the process is not successful, the case may be referred back to a hearing officer for formal sanctions to be imposed.
Contact: Robert Bishop
Naropa UniversityThere are three options in our judicial program depending on how much responsibility the student takes for her/his actions and the specifics of who and what the impact was in the incident. In a community conferencing circle, the student of concern sits in a circle with at least three other members of the Naropa community, generally one staff member, a faculty and another student, as well as a Facilitator and a Co-Facilitator to discuss the incident, the impact and ways to repair any harm. A peace-making circle also goes through examining the story of what happened and ways to repair the harm but the members of the circle are all directly impacted parties in the situation as well as the Facilitators. In both circles, all members of the circle consent together on a forming reparative contract. The Accountability Board is a process where three members of the Naropa Community and a Facilitator come together to share the story of the incident, discuss the impact and devise a reparative contract with the person of concern.
Contact: Bob Cillo
Rochester Institute of TechnologyThe RIT Restorative Conferencing (RC) process seeks to resolve violations of community expectations in a manner that satisfactorily meets the needs of all parties affected by an incident through a facilitated “conference”. The conference is attended by those parties both directly and indirectly involved in an incident and is facilitated by a staff member from the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Management Services (SCCMS) and other trained professional staff members. The conference process provides an opportunity for all parties to discuss the incident, how they and others were affected and to determine appropriate actions to make amends to the individuals and the community. The RC process will be offered for specific types of incidents in which an individual(s) accepts responsibility for the policy violation(s) and both the responsible party and those affected are willing to participate in a conference. Participation in the conference is voluntary. Students who are accused of misconduct but do not accept responsibility and/or are unwilling to participate in the conference will be referred back to the Student Conduct Hearing process.
Contact: Joe Johnston
Skidmore CollegeSkidmore’s conduct process involves the use of the Integrity Board (IB), a body of hearing officers comprised of students, faculty, and staff. In 2000, the IB adopted restorative justice principles and practices by having students who have violated Skidmore’s Honor Code or code of conduct take responsibility for their actions, make amends, and return to good standing at the College.
Contact: David Karp
Trinity UniversityTrinity uses RJ conferencing when there is an identifiable victim and the respondent has admitted participation in the incident. This is most typically used with our Greek Life system when off-campus parties negatively impact the neighborhood. Trinity has also used RJ for cases of harassment and bias incidents. Although Trinity only organizes RJ conferences a few times each year, this option was officially incorporated into it student conduct code.
Contact: Melissa Pinchback
University of AkronThe University of Akron currently looks at all cases carefully and decides which case
could qualify for the restorative justice process. If all parties involved agree
to participate they will go through the steps of the restorative justice process.
Students are allowed to stop the process at any point, which will take the case back
into the traditional conduct process. Also if agreements are not met on time the
case is referred back to the traditional conduct process as well. The goals we strive
to accomplish at the University of Akron are: Having students accept responsibility
for their actions, allowing students to have an opportunity to discuss whether they
feel the consequence are fair, sanctions that require student to reflect, voluntary
apology letters and less recidivism.
Contact Dale Adams, Jr.
University of AlbertaThe University of Alberta implemented a new Restorative Justice program in all Residences. RJ has been identified as our preferred process to handle student conduct in residences, although it forms part of a suite of possible responses, including the Code of Student Behaviour and the Residence contract enforcement process. The new policy includes mechanisms for informal resolution or Restorative conferences involving the responsible and harmed parties in arriving at a Restorative Agreement.
Contact: Deborah Eerkes
University of California-Santa BarbaraRestorative Justice is used when residents who violate University and/or Housing policy admit wrongdoing. We bring together offenders, harmed parties, supporters of offenders, supporters of harmed parties and affected community members to have a discussion (called a "conference" or "circle"). All parties present, including the offender, develop and sign a contract involving specific actions the offender will take to repair the harm done to relationships and to the community by her or his actions. In general, Restorative Justice gives those affected; including the offender, a voice in the justice process, focuses on repairing the harm, reduces the recidivism rate and builds community.
Contact: Stephanie Franklin
University of Colorado-BoulderUC-Boulder started the first campus restorative justice program in 1999. The program offers restorative conferencing as well as a community accountability board for off-campus violations as a partnership with the Boulder municipal court.
Contact: Vanessa Kunz
University of FloridaThrough a diversion program or as an addition to adjudication, SCCR provides space and facilitation for students taking ownership for harmful behavior and parties affected by the behavior to jointly repair harm. The process involves several meetings and an approximately 2-hour Restorative Justice session.
Contact: Chris Loschiavo
University of GuelphIn order to better develop community and emphasize relationships over rules, the University of Guelph chose to embrace Restorative Justice as a philosophy. Employing a systematic approach, staff member and stakeholder capacity was developed by first exposing them to Restorative Justice principles and having them attending an RJ Workshop (which was largely based on David Karp's foundational work).
In Fall 2012, Residence Life Staff (RLS) engaged with restorative principles to build community (i.e., collaboratively exploring the type of community members wanted to develop and how members would hold each other accountable), build relationships (through an RA chat program: a formal and outcome-based program where RLS have 1on1 discussions with each student), and address harms through restorative conversations where RLS ask students (a) what happened, (b) who was impacted, and (c) how things can be put right, before summarizing the agreement as an informal community resolution (and thereby providing an alternative to the formal conduct process).
The formal conduct process remains for those with a certain number of community resolutions and for serious cases or in cases that cannot be readily resolved. The University of Guelph will be moving towards the formal end of the restorative practices spectrum in Fall 2013 with the adoption of community circles and restorative conferences. Preliminary assessment has been exceptionally positive from both RLS and professional staff and stakeholders.
Contact:Neil Buddel nbuddel@uoguelph.ca
University of MichiganUM’s Office of Student Conflict Resolution (OSCR) uses restorative practices as one alternative to resolving student disputes. The OSCR bases its work of off three key principles – building trust, promoting justice, and teaching peace. In addition to more traditional ways of dispute resolution, the OSCR provides a number of services in Adaptable Conflict Resolution including conflict coaching, mediation, and restorative justice circles.
Contact: Jay Wilgus
University of Michigan-Residential Life
UM Housing infuses restorative justice philosophy throughout the conduct process both within their arbitration, and their community circle program. Participation in community circles is reserved for those respondents who are taking responsibility for alleged violations. This process is facilitated by trained student facilitators, and brings together identified impacted parties and respondents.
Contact: Stacy Vander Velde
University of OregonThrough a collaborative effort between Conflict Resolution Services and The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, the UO has created the Campus Restorative Justice Program (CRJP). Restorative justice is an approach to addressing violations that focuses on the needs of those harmed by violations, offender accountability, repairing harm to the greatest extent possible, and on building community. The CRJP process is called a "community circle" and brings together the offender, harmed and affected parties to talk about the incident and its impacts. Often, supporters of the offender and of the harmed parties are present as well. In preparation for the circle, the CRJP coordinator meets with each circle participant individually to describe the process in detail, to answer questions, and to prepare everyone for the process. The process itself typically lasts about two hours and is facilitated by two trained student and/or faculty facilitators. These facilitators are required to complete 30 hours of basic mediation training in addition to 16 hours of campus restorative justice facilitator training. During the circle, the offender accepts responsibility for their actions and talks about how the incident unfolded, the harmed and affected parties describe how they have been affected, and then all participants develop an agreement that reflect s ways that the offender can do their best to repair the harm that has been done.
Contact: Caitlan Hendrickson
University of RochesterRestorative circles are used at the University of Rochester when an incident or conflict is impacting a group of community members. Restorative circles are also used in some disciplinary cases involving interpersonal or intergroup conflicts, if the director of the CSCM believes that the traditional disciplinary process is unlikely to be successful at resolving the conflict.
Contact: Morgan Levy
University of San DiegoIn the fall of 2011, USD began implementing restorative practices through conferencing, peace circles, and mediations. USD is beginning to use a restorative lens in all conduct cases, whether it be a hearing with a conduct officer or through a student board. Restorative conferences are used simultaneously along with administrative hearings for conduct cases where students take responsibility for their actions and have a desire to meet impacted parties. Peace circle processes are also used for residence hall and community conflicts on campus. Restorative Justice connects with our mission of being a “Roman Catholic Institution committed to advancing academic excellence, expanding liberal and professional knowledge, creating a diverse and inclusive community, and preparing leaders dedicated to ethical conduct and compassionate service.” USD’s goal is to expand restorative practices beyond the residence halls and student conduct, through trainings and targeted workshops in partnership with the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies.
Contact: Sean Horrigan
University of Wisconsin-River FallsUWRF collaborates with local non-profit, St. Croix Valley Restorative Justice Program (SCVRJP). Students are referred directly to the services available. Student housing, rights and responsibilities and the counseling departments all utilize SCVRJP. Sessions address underage consumption, controlled substance use, disorderly conduct and other incidents as needed. SCVRJP also helps train students in Circle process for student leadership and social justice programming. SCVRJP provides students with service-learning and internship opportunities. SCVRJP responds as requested by the UWRF campus, providing education and interventions.
Contact: Kris Miner
Additions and Changes: If you would like your campus profile added or changes made to your profile, simply email David Karp
