Lifestyle and Behavioral Standards for Students Attending Greenville University
Greenville students are expected to come to the university eager to enter into a life of learning. They are expected to join together with faculty to develop informed and critical views of the arts and humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. In short, students are expected to come to the university to become active participants in their education.
Education, from our perspective, should be holistic. Greenville University seeks to help students develop intellectually, socially, and spiritually. University programs and activities are designed to educate all members of the community to reach for wholeness, truth, and service to God and humanity. We desire to produce graduates who will make wise choices in vocation, assume their responsibilities as leaders and citizens in a world community, and build successful home and family lives centered on Jesus Christ.
A traditional view of the university assumes that most learning takes place in the classroom, library, or laboratory. Greenville students know that important learning happens not only in formal educational settings, but also in the residence halls, on athletic fields, and in interacting with professors and peers in Jo’s Java coffee shop. The entire campus is a laboratory of personal and group learning experiences. It is the entire campus experience that shapes students for lives of character and service.
Because learning is not confined to the classroom, all single students enrolled in the traditional undergraduate program must live in University housing (unless they can live at home and commute). The residential experience gives students the chance to immerse themselves in their educational experience. Students who must earn extra income while in school are encouraged (but not required) to seek employment on campus. Immersion in the campus community helps students gain the greatest benefit from their time at GU.
Exceptions to this policy of requiring single undergraduates in the traditional program to live on campus may be made if students are in good academic and social standing but have unusual circumstances necessitating off campus living. Applications should be made in writing to the Director of Residence Life for each semester that the student desires to live in off campus housing. Approval may be granted to sophomores, juniors, and seniors after sufficient cause has been shown by the student. Housing for married students is available privately in the community.
The University has always sought to maintain positive standards of life and action among all faculty and students, whether they live on campus or off. Consequently, we have behavioral standards for all members of the community. These standards reflect our view that we are accountable to God and responsible to the broader society.
The standards that we maintain are those that are consistent with a Christian worldview informed by Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. A complete statement of standards for members of the Greenville University Community, and a rationale for them, is published in the Student Handbook. This is available online and is available from the Community Life Office upon request. For clarification, some of the standards are included here.
We expect Greenville students to avoid all use of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and illegal drugs. Students are requested to refrain from entertainment and behavior that is not consistent with Christian values. Students in the traditional undergraduate program allowed to live off campus are expected to observe the same regulations as those in effect for students in the residence halls. All students enrolled in the traditional undergraduate program are required to attend the University chapel programs on a regular basis.
If a student chooses not to abide by the values, standards, and regulations of Greenville University, is persistently uncooperative, or violates public laws, the University reserves the right to take appropriate disciplinary action. Disciplinary action may include dismissal from the University at any time, and/or denial of the privilege to register for the following semester. In all disciplinary cases students are provided with due process, which includes the right to have a hearing and to appeal judgments to higher levels of authority.
Our goal in creating residential and behavioral policies is always to help students grow holistically, in knowledge and skill, and especially in their relationship with Jesus Christ. While all policies and standards are imperfect, we have found these standards particularly valuable in shaping students and the GU community in positive ways.