Oxford bans lecturers from dating students
Tutors and educators who form a relationship with someone on their course face being dismissed
Oxford University has announced a ban on relationships between lecturers and students. Lecturers or tutors who have any responsibility for a student will face the sack if they enter into an “intimate relationship” with them under a policy coming into force in April, which has been developed over many months. Staff will also be “strongly discouraged” from any other close personal relationship with students “which transgresses the boundaries of professional conduct”.
OXFORD University has announced a ban on relationships between lecturers and students: lecturers or tutors who have any responsibility for a student will face the sack if they enter into an “intimate relationship” with them under a new policy coming into force next month.
Staff will also be “strongly discouraged” from any other close personal relationship with students “which transgresses the boundaries of professional conduct”.
The university said the policy has been developed over many months and consultation across the institution. It follows calls for a ban on “inappropriate relationships” from It Happens Here, an Oxford University Student Union group which campaigns against sexual violence. The student group warned two years ago that such relationships “raise issues relating to inequalities of power in a relationship, or perceived favouritism, or the undermining of trust in the academic process”.
Under the university’s existing policy, intimate relationships are strongly discouraged and must be declared to a line manager, but are not prohibited.
The new policy will start on April 17.
If a staff member is in an existing relationship with a student, the university said it will focus on “avoiding conflicts of interest by ensuring the staff member ceases to have, or does not acquire, any responsibility for the student”.
Oxford follows a small number of other universities that have banned relationships between staff and students, including University College London and the University of Nottingham. The Office for Students [OFS], the higher education regulator, launched a consultation last month on new regulations for universities to tackle harassment and sexual misconduct.
Plans include either forcing staff to disclose relationships with students, or banning staff-student relationships.
Susan Lapworth, chief executive of the OFS said: “The majority of those working in higher education behave appropriately towards their students. But we recognise that there can be a power imbalance in personal relationships that could be exploited by unscrupulous staff to subject students to harassment or sexual misconduct.”
A recent Freedom of Information request showed five student complaints of staff sexual misconduct at Oxford have been upheld in the past five years. But only one staff member was suspended and subsequently dismissed.
The Oxford Students’ Union has called for tougher sanctions against university employees who have sexual misconduct complaints upheld against them. A university spokesman said Oxford “is working hard to build a culture where our students can feel safe and where sexual violence and harassment are not tolerated”.
The university said that the new policy on student-staff relationships was not made in response to the information released in an FOI request. In the US, Ivy League universities such as Princeton, Harvard and Yale have already banned student-staff relationships.
♦Students at the University of Oxford have been described as “selfish” for stealing branded cups and placemats. In an email to students at Balliol College, a member of staff said they were “incredibly disappointed” by the thefts.
Workers had to ask students to empty their pockets last week after so many items vanished during dinner service.