All academic institutions impose certain rules and regulations on their students. Infractions of school rules will result to disciplinary sanctions and offenses.
Likewise, DLSU, maintains peace and order within the campus by enforcing certain disciplinary policies, which makes student discipline formation an integral component of the world-class education DLSU wants to deliver. The University has three bodies that function as discipline formators and enforcers. These are the Student Discipline Formation Office (SDFO), the University Panel for Case Conference (UPCC), and the Student Discipline Board (SDB).
The SDFO is primarily responsible for directly enforcing disciplinary rules and policies, and delivering formation programs to Lasallians, while the UPCC and the SDB handle cases involving major offenses. Jurisdiction is determined depending on the facts and circumstances of the discipline case.
Empowering or hampering?
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) mandates all universities and colleges to maintain discipline within and outside the campus. With this, academic institutions have the authority to “promulgate reasonable norms, rules and regulations it may deem necessary”. They can also impose disciplinary measures appropriate for the violation, if ever committed by a student.
The effectiveness of these measures, however, is questioned especially within the University where many students already have certain habits and practices that are difficult to break.
Iris Yap (I, LGL) believes that discipline regulatory bodies are futile. According to her, once people reach college, they already have a firm mindset that cannot be altered by strict implementation of rules.
In contrast, Dr. Maria Bonnet, Office of Counseling and Career Services (OCCS) Coordinator for Job Placement, explains that students in universities are still under the developmental stage.
In this stage, they are on a process of building their own mindsets and beliefs that affect their behavior as a whole. This process requires guidance and in institutions like DLSU, faculty members and administrators, and offices such as the SDFO and OCCS are expected to help out in forming and developing the students.
The diversity amongst students in terms of upbringing, nationality and culture also necessitates the presence of the said bodies, says University Student Government (USG) President Cabe Aquino.
Root cause: Implementation?
Sanctions also play a significant role on student development. Both preventive and formative, the existence of sanctions aims to keep students from violating rules, while instilling in them the value of accountability. DLSU President and Chancellor Br. Jun Erguiza FSC says that punishments teach students the principle of having to face consequences of their own choice.
It is, however, the proper implementation of University rules that remains to be a challenge among formators.
“Some [SDFO] officers do not monitor fairly – some students are caught or warned and some are not. I guess there is still a need for it [regulation], but the school has to ensure that the implementation would be done [fairly],” observes Tabitha Tomas (II, AB-OCM).
Consequently, Aquino believes that better discipline formation does not end with stricter implementation of rules.
“You really need a head that understands how to form students, how to form individuals. Does it end with catching them and saying ‘[that’s not allowed]’? No, the process of forming an “imperfect” student is [more complicated than what it seems like to be] and has different ways of doing it.”
SDB Chair Atty. James Heffron shares similar sentiments. “They [discipline enforcers and formators] should have in mind that the student is still a student, [that] he or she is not a criminal. [Also], the thrust of the objective of the SDfO must be formation of values of students. It should be corrective,” he explains.
“I think what the office [SDFO] needs to develop is the capacity to listen,” College of Education (CED) Vice Dean Paolo Valdez suggests. He furthers that students must be critical in terms of the judgments made by student discipline bodies, especially when they feel like certain policies are not being implemented properly.
Valdez’ suggestion highlights the reality that the implementation of institutional laws does not end with the offices and bodies mentioned. University stakeholders such as faculty members, employees, and even students, must work together to achieve an orderly institution that is conducive to learning.
“Formation of a disciplined behavior is the work [responsibility] not only of discipline officers, but of everybody,” Bonnet ends.
The LaSallian approached the SDFO for an interview, but the office refused to comment on the matter.
