4.4.10.1 : General Nature of the Problem

Intimate relationships between senior and junior members of the Greenville University community--that is, between two persons where one party (the senior) possesses direct academic, administrative counseling, or extracurricular authority over the other (the junior) are a matter of significant concern to the University because of the legal, ethical, and administrative problems they can pose. Those problems are most severe when a consensual relationship takes place between an instructor (e.g., professor, adjunct faculty member, teaching assistant, graduate assistant) and a student when the student is enrolled in one of the instructor's courses for which the student will receive a grade, or when the student is likely to be enrolled in such a course in the future. These problems can also arise in situations between counselors and counselees and coaches and student athletes. Given the potential for such problems, the University strongly recommends that members of the University community avoid any senior-junior consensual intimate relationships.

The University urges that all such relationships be avoided regarding undergraduate students. At Greenville University, a large majority of undergraduate students who are enrolled in the on-campus programs are between the ages of eighteen and twenty- two. Many are living away from home for the first time. Because of the unique susceptibility of these young men and women, instructors are under a special obligation to preserve the integrity of the instructor-student relationship with undergraduate students. If, however, members of the community choose by mutual consent to enter such relationships, the University requires that they take specific steps (as set forth below in the “Standards and Procedures” Section) to minimize the problems that may arise from them. Sanctions shall be commensurate with the magnitude of the harm, if any, caused.