Faculty Student Relationship: Balancing Roles and Maintaining
Boundaries
Slide 1: Faculty-Student Relationships: Balancing Roles and Maintaining
Boundaries
Narrative : A tutorial on Faculty-Student Relationships: Balancing Roles and Maintaining
Boundaries
Slide 2: Introduction
Narrative: Academic environments offer a variety of settings that encourage meaningful
interactions between faculty and students in the context of teaching, research, scholarly
activities, public service, and co-curricular or extra-curricular activities.
Faculty who have positive relationships with their students during those interactions can help
them succeed academically and increase their overall satisfaction with their educational
experience at the university (Pascarella, 1980; Fusani, 1994).
This can be achieved only when faculty demonstrate professional conduct in their interactions
with students and promote a culture of mutual trust and respect.
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Slide 3: Introduction
Narrative: Faculty-student relationships, consensual or otherwise, that violate this expectation
of professional ethics can harm the educational experience of students as well as give rise to
risks of bias, abuse of power, breach of trust, and conflicts of interest, and lead to unintended
consequences.
Therefore, it is critical that faculty understand their roles and issues related to professional
boundaries and power differential in their interactions with students, and engage in positive
relationships that meet students' educational needs and promote the university's mission.
Slide 4: Faculty Roles
Narrative: Faculty can play different roles when interacting with students, depending on the
context of such interactions in an academic environment. The roles include teacher, scholar,
advisor, collaborator, supervisor, or mentor.
The roles can lead to open exchange of ideas and give rise to opportunities for interactions with
students in and out of the classroom. Out of the classroom situations can include labs and
studios, projects conducted at a sponsor's facility, clinical sites, professional society or student
organization meetings, university events, athletic facilities, etc.
Faculty should be conscious of their roles in their interactions as they serve as role models for
students as well as representatives of the university.
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Faculty should be aware of professional boundaries and ethical issues concerning their
interactions with students so that they can make sure the interactions promote positive
educational experiences for their students and prevent misperceptions and problems.
Slide 5: Boundaries and Nature of Relationships
Narrative: What is a boundary? “A boundary is a limit that promotes integrity” (Katherine, 1991).
In the faculty-student interactions context, maintaining the boundary protects the welfare of
the student as well as the integrity of the relationship.
Faculty may play different roles with students depending on the context of interactions and this
may sometimes blur the nature of the relationships. For example, faculty and students may have
hierarchical relationships and strict boundaries in a classroom but in a collaborative research
project they may interact as colleagues and interact as equals.
If faculty are not careful about the nature of the relationships and do not maintain professional
boundaries, it can lead to problems and misperceptions.
Even if the intentions are professional, others can perceive the faculty-student relationship
differently, if the interactions are informal and appear to cross professional lines.
Such misperceptions can impact students' educational experience as well as jeopardize faculty
members' roles as representatives of the university.
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Slide 6: Power Differential and Potential for Risks
Narrative: One of the factors that impact faculty-student relationships is the power differential
between faculty and students.
Faculty have the decision-making authority for evaluating their students' performance in the
academic environment, and if that power is misunderstood or misused by faculty or even
students, it can lead to potential problems.
This can occur especially in instances where faculty mentoring of students verges on the
personal or faculty and students engage in consenting (or non-consenting) romantic
relationships.
As faculty members hold the power in such relationships, students can feel coerced or exploited,
and even consensual relationships can give rise to a number of risks for students as well as the
faculty .
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Slide 6.1: Power Differential and Potential for Risk
Narrative: Faculty-student relationships, consensual or otherwise, that violate an expectation of
professional ethics can harm the educational experience of students as well as give rise to risks
of bias, abuse of power, breach of trust, and conflicts of interest, and lead to unintended
consequences for students, faculty, and the university.
Therefore, it is essential that faculty understand their roles and issues related to professional
boundaries and power differential in their interactions with students, and engage in positive
relationships that meet students' educational needs and promote the university's mission. There
is the expectation that individuals in positions of authority over students should conduct
themselves professionally. They should not be romantically or sexually involved with students.
There is the potential for misperceptions even when it is a consenting relationship without a
power differential.
Students are inherently in a vulnerable position in the relationship.
Slide 6.2: Power Differential and Potential for Risks
Narrative: Because the faculty member's primary responsibility is to demonstrate professional
conduct that protects students, violation of this responsibility can lead to a number of possible
consequences.
Due to this power differential and the potential for risk, NIU has developed and posted policies
clarifying these issues.
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Slide 7: Policies on Faculty-Student Relationships
Narrative: The NIU Policy on Relationships between University Employees and Students,
Section II Item 24 clearly states that :
Relationships between students and their teachers, advisors, athletic coaches, deans, or any
other university employees holding positions of authority over students, must be conducted in a
professional manner to prevent real, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest, exploitation, or
bias.
More specifically, a University employee should not be romantically or sexually involved with a
student whom he or she teaches, advises, coaches, or supervises in any way.
Faculty should recognize the power differential and the potential risks, and not cross boundaries
or engage in relationships that make students vulnerable. Even when there is no power
differential in a consenting faculty-student relationship, faculty should be aware of the potential
for misperceptions by others and the possible consequences. Therefore, faculty should always
exercise caution in all their relationships with students, regardless if a power differential exists
or not and whether the relationship is consensual or not. As students are the vulnerable party in
the relationship, faculty members have the primary responsibility for demonstrating
professional conduct that protects students.
University employees who violate this policy will be subject to institutional sanctions ranging
from simple reprimand, up to and including termination of employment, in accordance with
applicable due process procedures.
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Slide 8: Balancing Faculty Roles and Handling Dilemmas
Narrative: The earlier cautions are not meant to prevent faculty from interacting with students
in and out of the classroom or going above and beyond the call of duty of to help students.
The key is to balance faculty roles with an awareness of the potential risk factors in facultystudent relationships, and engage in positive relationships that promotes student success and
prevent problems.
There are a number of steps faculty can take to avoid perceptions of improper relationships with
students and they will be discussed in subsequent slides.
Slide 8.1: Balancing Faculty Roles and Handling Dilemmas
Narrative: Due to the complex nature of faculty roles in and out of the classroom, faculty may
face dilemmas when interacting with students, and it is important to have a strategy to
recognize such dilemmas and make better decisions.
Michael Davis' (1999) Seven-Step Guide to Ethical Decision-Making is recommended as one
strategy in this tutorial, and other possibilities include consulting with one's supervisor,
Department Chair, Ombudsperson, Faculty & SPS Personnel Advisor, Employee Assistance
personnel or other resources on campus.
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Slide 9: Seven Step Guide to Ethical Decision-Making (Davis, 1999)
Narrative: Step one, state the problem or the dilemma. Is there something about the interaction
with the student that makes you uncomfortable?
Step Two, analyze the facts involved in the situation. Many problems disappear upon closer
examination of the situation, while others may change radically. If the situation and the
consequences of your actions are obvious, then do the right thing that demonstrates your
professional ethics. If it is a dilemma, then proceed further.
Step Three, identify the relevant factors. Who are the persons involved in this situation, what
are their roles and responsibilities, what is the context of the situation, what action do you have
to take or not take, etc.?
Step Four, develop a list of options. Not ‘yes’ or ‘no’ options, but what can you do in the
situation, what are the consequences, who should you consult with, etc.?
Step Five, check the options against risk factors. Will the option you take impact the student
negatively? Would you want your name to appear negatively in the media as a result of the
option? Can you defend the option before your department chair, dean, and others? Would you
still think the option is the best even if you, your son or daughter or spouse were adversely
affected by it? What would your colleagues say when you describe the problem and suggest this
option as your solution? What might your professional discipline's governing body for ethics say
about this option? What would the university's ethics officer, legal counsel or affirmative action
officer say about this option?
Step Six, select an option to pursue based on the previous five steps.
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Step Seven, review the chosen option and its consequence, and learn from it for handling similar
situations in the future. The case scenarios will help to illustrate some of the dilemmas in
faculty-student relationships and the consequences of various options.
Slide 10: What to Do to Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships with
Students
Narrative: Here are a sample of recommendations to avoid the perceptions of improper
relationships with students. The following are recommended actions that faculty should ‘do’.
Slide 10.1: What to Do to Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships
with Students
Narrative: Develop and enforce course policies consistently for all students.
Slide 10.2: What to Do to Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships
with Students
Narrative: Establish clear roles when teaching, advising, supervising or working with students on
projects.
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Slide 10.3: What to Do to Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships
with Students
Narrative: To avoid the perception of bias, develop rubrics or standards for grading or
performance evaluations, share them with all students in advance, and follow the standards
consistently in grading.
Slide 10.4: What to Do to Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships
with Students
Narrative: Use appropriate and consistent language in all interactions with students regardless
of the media, location of interaction, or others present.
Slide 10.5: What to Do to Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships
with Students
Narrative: Learn about cultural differences and be sensitive to them when interacting with
students.
Slide 10.6: What to Do to Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships
with Students
Narrative: Become familiar with university services for students who may need assistance that
you cannot provide or it is beyond your role.
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Slide 10.7: What to Do to Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships
with Students
Narrative: Know support services such as the Office of the Ombudsperson, Employee Assistance
Program, and Faculty & SPS Personnel Advisor available to you for consultations.
Slide 10.8: What to Do to Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships
with Students
Narrative: Be aware of students who may make advances toward you, and firmly and politely
decline those advances.
This is only a sample of recommendations, and the key is to recognize if a faculty-student
relationship enhances the student’s educational experience or gives rise to potential risks or
problems. When the situation is not clear and is a dilemma, it is better to follow a decisionmaking strategy such as the Seven-Step Guide to Ethical Decision-Making.
Slide 11: To Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships with Students . . .
Narrative: The following are things to avoid, or things that you 'don't' want to do:
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Slide 11.1: To Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships with
Students . . .
Narrative: Don't send inappropriate jokes, cartoons, videos, or website links to students. If
students send you such materials, explain that it is inappropriate, and request them not to do so.
Slide 11.2: To Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships with
Students . . .
Narrative: Don't shut your office door unnecessarily when meeting with individual students.
Slide 11.3: To Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships with
Students . . .
Narrative: Don't gossip with students about other students, colleagues or others.
Slide 11.4: To Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships with
Students . . .
Narrative: Don't give money or in-kind gifts to students (with student athletes this can be a
serious violation of NCAA rules)
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Slide 11.5: To Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships with
Students . . .
Narrative: Don't accept gifts from students that may violate the State of Illinois' ethical
guidelines for accepting gifts.
Slide 11.6: To Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships with
Students . . .
Narrative: Don't meet alone with students outside the university environment, especially during
evenings or weekends, unless it is an emergency or necessary for an out of classroom project or
course-related site visit.
Slide 11.7: To Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships with
Students . . .
Narrative: Don't engage with students through texting or social media interactions that are
unrelated to coursework or university activities.
Slide 11.8: To Avoid Perceptions of Improper Relationships with
Students . . .
Narrative: Don't ignore students' concerns about inappropriate behavior of your teaching or
research assistant or vice versa.
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Slide 12: Summary
Narrative: When faculty-student relationships focus on promoting the university's mission and
contributing to students' educational goals, they can be positive and safe for students as well as
for faculty.
When the relationships cross professional boundaries and interfere with students' educational
experience, numerous risks and problems can arise.
It is essential that faculty recognize that even consensual relationships without power
differential can have negative consequences.
As faculty hold the power in the relationship (consensual or not) with students, faculty also have
the primary obligation to demonstrate ethical behavior and protect the integrity of the
relationship.
Slide12.1: Summary
Narrative: It is best for faculty to be aware of the do's and don'ts when interacting with students
and avoid problems and pitfalls.
When faculty encounter dilemmas in such relationships, it is necessary to have a decisionmaking strategy that guides them in analyzing the situation and arriving at the right decision.
In cases, where faculty members are concerned about the nature of their relationships with
students, they should discuss them with their supervisors or Human Resources Personnel at the
earliest possible to resolve any conflict of interests or problems or misperceptions, and protect
themselves as well as their students.
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Slide 13: Case Scenarios
Narrative: The scenarios of ethical dilemmas included in this tutorial are a sample of
hypothetical situations in faculty-student relationships and not all possible such situations.
Even the available decision options for each scenario are only a sample of possible responses.
Scenarios and their options are not intended to be real or comprehensive.
The scenarios illustrate dilemmas one can encounter in faculty-student relationships and not
situations for which the answers are obvious. For example, it is obviously not advisable for a
faculty to be romantically involved with a student he or she teaches as there is clearly a power
differential, and therefore, it is not a dilemma.
The purpose is to increase the users' awareness of such dilemmas.
Each of the six case scenarios is briefly described and a few possible options are suggested for
tutorial users to select from. The descriptions are not comprehensive and require tutorial users
to make decisions based on given information for the sake of brevity of the tutorial and as it
may be the case in real life to make decisions based on partial or imperfect or incomplete
information.
Slide 14: Introduction to Case Scenarios
Narrative: The following slide is a brief introduction demonstrating the functionality of the
interactive case scenario quiz. It is recommended that users view this first in order to learned
how to navigate through the six case scenarios, selecting the best option available for each
dilemma, and how to exit from the quiz.
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However, if you would like to skip the introduction to the case scenario quiz, click on the Click
Here link.
Slide 14.1: Introduction to Case Scenarios
Narrative: After reading/listening to each case scenario, tutorial users can attempt to select the
best answer for each scenario and view the results. The best answer and explanation are
provided for each scenario for the purpose of illustrating the possibilities in faculty-student
relationships. Make your selection by clicking in the radio button and then the Submit button.
Users can learn whether or not their selection was the better choice, given the circumstances of
the scenario.
If the selected answer was not the best choice, users are invited to 'Try Again'.
Users advance to the next case scenario by selecting the best option of the available choices.
However, they can also advance to other cases by clicking on the Case Scenario button to open a
drop down menu and reveal links to the other case scenarios in the tutorial.
Tutorial users' identification or choices for the scenarios are not permanently recorded and no
data is saved on the tutorial site. If users view all six scenarios in one sitting, they will have the
option to review how they responded to each scenario. Upon completion of the review, users
will be returned to the tutorial.
However, users can end the session early by closing the browser window, clicking on the Exit
button at the top right corner, or by clicking on the 'Forward' button in the player control to
advance to the next slide of the tutorial.
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For accessibility issues, users can access the transcript of the Case Scenarios by clicking on the
Attachments tab, then the Faculty-Student Relationships Case Scenarios link. It will open a MS
Word document, which can be read by screen reader software. Now, let's begin reviewing the
case scenarios.
Slide 15: Case Scenarios
Slide 16: Conclusion
Narrative: The purpose of this tutorial was to increase awareness of interactions where faculty
and student relationships might be compromised.
By ensuring that faculty promote positive relationships with their students during those
interactions, students are more likely to succeed academically and increase their overall
satisfaction with their educational experience at the university.
It is essential that faculty understand the details of NIU's Policy for Faculty-Student Relationships.
Faculty should also be knowledgeable about available Campus Support Services that provide
appropriate assistance and support.
It is also important to have an effective decision-making strategy to help recognize dilemmas
and make better decisions.
When faculty honor their responsibility and obligation to serve as a role model of ethical and
professional practice, students are better served and protected.
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Slide 17: References
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