VCOM College Catalog and Student Handbook

7. Improper relationships or activities involving persons entrusted to a student as part of their education including patients or other students under supervision; 8. Improper sexual advances toward faculty, staff, administration; 9. Unwanted sexual advances toward students or others (see sexual harassment); or 10. Excessive absences or falsified excuses for absence. I. Breach of Integrity: Any behavior at any time that is considered a severe lapse in judgment and damages the professional, ethical or moral integrity of the VCOM community. Suspected violations in this category are: 1. Harassment, harm, abuse, or damage to any person or property in the VCOM community. This includes knowingly or purposely causing damage to or vandalizing VCOM community property; 2. Conviction of a criminal offense (other than a minor traffic offense); 3. Participating in academic or clinical endeavors in the VCOM community while under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances. This includes alcohol in the VCOM building or in the international environments where alcohol is prohibited. 4. Use, possession, or distribution of illegal drugs on or off the VCOM community campus at any time. This also includes a positive drug test and may include the student’s verbal or written discussions regarding the use of illegal drugs, the verbal or written promotion or encouragement of use of illegal drugs to the VCOM community or community by a VCOM student, or similar types of activities. 5. Communicating or posting of sexually explicit information or unclothed images in a public arena (includes written or electronic/Internet communications), which would result in a loss of respect by patients or other members of the public toward the offending student or toward VCOM. 6. Knowingly failing to follow any of VCOM Policies and Procedures for students. 7. Actions that may be viewed as harassment of any type that would interrupt a fellow student, faculty, administration, or staff member’s success. 8. Sexual harassment or unwanted sexual advances, and to avoid any sexual acts that may be against the recipient of such action’s will. (See Sexual harassment and Sexual Violence section of the handbook for additional information). 9. To extend one’s medical treatment to a situation that is unsupervised and/or beyond one’s medical knowledge, training, and approval by supervising faculty. The Honor Code Council Intervention Sub-Committee (HCCIS) Recognizing that the goals of the Honor Code Council (HCC) include the education and preservation of the VCOM Honor Code, the HCC has developed a subcommittee to intervene on professional and integrity matters in order to educate a student and to prevent them from repeated behaviors that may rise to the level of a HCC panel. A. The HCCIS reviews complaints informally referred to the members of the HCC from students, faculty, and staff when the person providing the complaint believes the matter does not warrant a full HCC panel to formally review and act upon the complaint; but believes the behavior is of concern and that repeated behaviors could lead to a HCC. B. Students, faculty, and staff must submit matters of concern within two (2) weeks of the date of discovery or suspicion and within two (2) calendar months of the date of violation; with both requirements being met. C. Matters that may be brought to the HCCIS include dress code violations; being repeatedly tardy and disturbing others; parking in undesignated areas on campus; eating in the classroom; disturbing classmates by talking in class; or other violations the reporter believes do not warrant a full HCC but if repeated would lead to a referral for a formal HCC. Repeated unprofessional behaviors are referred to the formal HCC. More serious honor code violations should not be brought to the HCCIS and should be referred to the HCC. D. Matters brought to the intervention committee are often addressed and resolved in a meeting between the HCCIS or a designated member of the HCCIS and the student against whom the complaint has been made.

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