Imperfection

The DLSU student discipline system is perfect—efficient, just and arguably flawless. Forgetting all the outlier cases that might have tarnished such a perfect record, which are of course perfectly acceptable much like a small virus on a desktop computer, say, a Trojan virus; the system still works fine.

We have a clear, but more importantly, a free student handbook, which provides students with all the information about their rights in case they need to enforce them. Student empowerment is highly encouraged in the University and the exercise of student rights is of top priority, which probably explains why it takes a term or two to finish deciding on a grievance case or discipline case, excluding those cases that were specially rushed by certain parties, top-gun parties who have a stake – pride – on a certain case.

We put a great amount of effort in making sure that students’ rights are properly enforced and at the same time respected that our student leaders devote an entire season for fighting for such rights. Yes, we care so much about the system that we devote the entire summer season for students’ rights.

Instead of going to beaches, eating ripe mangoes on a hot day or enjoying a tanning session by the shore, many student leaders hold back on their bathing suits, the salt water, and stay in school to think about what will make their constituents happy in the upcoming academic year—how they could exercise their rights more efficiently and effectively.

Even before the summer season, we already hear our future student leaders campaign about more activities that center on student empowerment and students’ rights. Their speeches are so genuine that it catches on, kind of like the meaningful jingles we hear every three years too bad most of the time, they stay as words and do not turn into actions.

The provisions in the handbook are clear and concise, and what makes our student handbook even more special is that it is integrated with other school rules and the faculty manual. Thus, ideally, there should be no gray area in the provisions that students could exploit just to get back at a bad professor, or which professors could utilize to gain an unfair advantage over the students.

Nancy’s case (please read the article) is an exception, such a case is so rare that you have the same chance of encountering this as a person getting hit by lightning, on a stormy day, wearing red and holding a 30 meter high steel antenna.  What are the chances, right?

Likewise, the discipline office, which now has a new name by the way, has done an impeccable job in helping the students to enforce their rights properly. They are the students’ role models in following school rules, that they would also blatantly use their phones while on duty, just what like most students would do if they are in class, and when the discipline officers enjoy their lunch breaks too much that they come in late for their shift, like any student who would cut class just to stay away from a boring professor.

The SDHO and its personnel are efficient. In the past years, they successfully sped up several University processes. The student handbook requires that the discipline office should give a student ample time, five days, to reply to any complaint filed against him or her. In an effort to bring justice with lightning fury, a discipline officer asked a student to submit his reply within the same day the complaint was communicated to him.

The process of returning campus passes was also improved by the office. Instead of waiting for a student to return the pass anytime before 10 p.m., when the school closes and the cut-off time before a student gets an offense for not returning the pass, discipline officers would prematurely give an offense to a student who has not returned the pass before the end of their shift, which is most likely before the cut-off time. Who would want to work until 10 p.m., right?

This way, they could submit a faster report when a student needs a certificate of good moral character for a discipline hearing or for an OJT application, notwithstanding the slight, insignificant and miniscule damage this can do on the status of an OJT application or a defense for a case.

Some discipline officers even walk around the campus already carrying rulers with them, ready to to measure a female student’s skirt or shorts, whether they have violated the dress code. This is to help the students save time that instead of going to the Discipline office to get their attires measured, they are measured on the spot.

Every good office has a few good personnel working for it. A president cannot perform well without his staff, in the same manner that many politicians need their secretaries, and student leaders need their appointed officers for moral, technical and administrative support. Bottom line is that any good office needs good people—competent, well trained and capable.

Case in point, some of the discipline officers actually care. They know how to handle student cases and offenses. They are dedicated to protect the students that they seem to play the hero in every situation- they break off fights, point fingers if there is a need to, and they educate students on the consequences of breaking school rules.

Objectively, the system is perfect; it truly is. We have no reason to change this system because it has worked for many years, besides, we do not want to get in trouble or do we?