An Introduction to
the Community Standards
Process
Adapted from
“ The Community Standards Model: A Method to
Enhance Student Learning & Development”
by Terry D. Piper
From Student Life to Residential
Education
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Complex Secretary = Office Manager
Resident Assistant = Resident Advisor
Complex Coordinator = Residence Director
Area Coordinator = Assistant Director
Assistant Director = Associate Director
What are Community Standards?
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Community Standards are shared
agreements that define mutual expectations
for how a community will function on an
interpersonal level. They define how
members will:
Treat each other and their environment
Celebrate successes
Address behavioral issues
How are Community
Standards Established?
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Community Standards are determined
through community consensus, which
necessitates the development of…
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interpersonal sensitivity and understanding
problem-solving skills
conflict resolution skills
decision-making skills
What is the GOAL of a
Community Standards Process?
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The goal of the Community Standards
Process is the learning and development that
occurs for individuals through participation in
the standards process.
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The success of the Standards process relies
on three key principles.
Community Standards Principle # 1
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Interaction: Peer interaction has been shown to be
the “single most potent source of influence on
growth and development during undergraduate
years” (Astin 1993).
Robert Kegan (1982 & 1994) suggests that, for most
college students, self is defined by those with whom
the student relates…the student’s sense of self is
dependent upon others’ approval and liking.
If Kegan is correct, then the peer group is powerful
because it represents the self. The peer group is,
therefore, the context in and through which
significant learning can take place.
Community Standards Principle # 2
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Dialogue: The Standards Process creates
opportunities for dialogue in which students
express their points of view and hear the
points of view of others.
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The exchange of ideas, challenge of values
and beliefs, experiencing of consequences,
and struggling with the gray areas create the
impetus to develop a sense of self within the
peer group.
Community Standards Principle # 3
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Perspective Taking: The ability of a student
to state his or her point of view.
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This necessitates personal reflection and a
degree of self awareness independent from
peers’ influence.
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Hearing alternative points of view facilitates
perspective-taking skills and critical thinking.
How do Staff and Student
INTERACTIONS Change?
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Staff’s primary role is no longer to control students
and the environment, but to guide the community
toward an understanding and implementation of
individual and group responsibility and accountability
based upon mutual expectation and desires.
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Standards replace the philosophy of control with a
philosophy of individual and group empowerment.
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The standards process shifts the role…
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of staff from authority-based to facilitator-based action
of student from recipient to creator of experiences
What is the desired OUTCOME of the
Community Standards Process?
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The Community Standards process
actualizes principles that promote student
self-authored identity development and,
thereby, enhances complex reasoning and
critical thinking abilities.
As a result, a by-product of the Community
Standards Model is a healthy community.
What characterizes a
HEALTHY COMMUNITY?
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Members openly communicating and
increasing their desire for involvement
Members understanding and valuing their
personal contributions to the community
Members actively learning:
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civility
responsibility
accountability
Institutions currently using and/or
implementing Community Standards.
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The University of Virginia
New York University
University of Nevada at Las Vegas
Syracuse
The University of Michigan
Michigan State
Eastern Michigan
Brown University
What do we need from Police Services?
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Communication between Police Services and
Residential Life staff members on duty
regarding hall incidents
Duty RA involvement in confronting hall
incidents where applicable and appropriate
Knowledge of when Police are in the halls
and for what purpose
Patience -- This is a paradigm shift and will
take some getting used to on all of our parts
ACTION STEPS to Implement the
Community Standards Process
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Extended RA Training-focused on CS Model
and conflict resolution
Roommate Contracts & Community Living
Agreements
Weekly Floor Meetings
Weekly Programming
Accountability Meetings
In house judicial process