This section outlines and enforces the rules and regulations governing students’ conduct and association. Ignorance of these rules is not a defense in case of an infringement. It is important to note that no justification will be accepted, even if the infringement was due to the use of alcohol or drugs.
**Student Code of Conduct**
Chuk College is committed to the moral as well as the intellectual growth of its students and staff. Freedom and responsibility in such a community demand that its members embrace clear principles of good conduct. Thus, the Chuk College Code of Conduct emphasizes personal integrity as its highest value, and members of the community are expected to be honest, trustworthy, responsible, and honorable.
Any breach of conduct will result in formal disciplinary action, including but not limited to expulsion, suspension, or prosecution under the laws of Kenya.
**Dishonesty**
Dishonesty (lying, cheating, defrauding, and/or stealing) is particularly destructive to the academic process. Integrity is essential in research, discovery, and the expression of ideas, and Chuk College has an Honor Code to express its intolerance for academic dishonesty. The Honor Code requires faculty, staff, and students to be honest in their own work and use of ideas and to encourage others to do the same.
**Social Responsibilities**
1. **Conduct Affecting the Person, Property, or Rights of Others**
Chuk College students shall not lie, cheat, or steal. It is the responsibility of the students to respect the persons, property, and rights of others. Therefore, students will not engage in any form of activity that results in, or might naturally result in, any of the following:
– Injury to a person
– Damage to property
– Interference with the normal activities of Chuk College
– Interference with the rights of other members of the Chuk College community
**Alcohol Policy**
Possession or use of alcoholic beverages is governed by state law. Additionally, on-campus conduct of students and their guests relating to the possession or use of alcoholic beverages is prohibited on College grounds and in hostels.
2. **Drug Policy**
Possession, use, or distribution of narcotics, mind-altering substances, or other illicit drugs by students and their guests is prohibited and considered a criminal offense under the laws of Kenya.
**CHUK COLLEGE IS A DRUG-FREE ZONE.**
3. **Sexual Harassment and Sexual Misconduct**
All members of the College community have the right to work and study in an environment free from all forms of sexual discrimination, including any form of sexual harassment or misconduct.
4. **Discrimination and Harassment**
Chuk College will not tolerate any conduct (verbal or physical) that constitutes harassment by any administrator, faculty member, staff member, or student.
5. **Civil Law**
Students are expected to abide by civil law. Students or faculty members who break the law are liable for prosecution in a court of law.
6. **Gambling**
Gambling on campus is not permitted. Additionally, students who are discovered to have gambled their tuition fees are liable to suspension or expulsion.
7. **Hazing**
Hazing is not permitted on or off campus. Hazing is defined as any action taken or situation created by any organization or persons that would produce or result in mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule.
8. **Weapons**
The possession and/or use of firearms, weapons, and other propelling devices, as well as explosives such as fireworks, ammunition, or chemicals that are explosive in nature, are prohibited on campus. Unauthorized use, possession, or storage of any weapon on campus
constitutes a violation of the code and college policy. All weapons are strictly prohibited in students’ rooms and elsewhere on campus. A weapon is defined as any object or substance designed to cause reasonable apprehension of physical harm to any person, inflict a wound, cause injury, incapacitate, or damage personal property.
**Note:** Chuk College reserves the right to confiscate anything it deems hazardous or dangerous. Additionally, any student who is found to have knowledge of another student possessing a weapon and does not inform the college may be considered a knowing accomplice. Should any incident occur, that student is liable to suspension or expulsion.
9. **Commercial Solicitation**
No soliciting, canvassing, or peddling is permitted by anyone on campus without specific written permission from the Dean of Students or Principal.
10. **Responsibility to Campus Security Officers**
Campus security officers protect the college and its occupants from vandalism, theft, and other harmful conduct. They are to be treated with courtesy and respect by all members of the community. It is the responsibility of students and others to comply immediately with a request to show identification cards to any campus security officer.
11. **Online Behavior – Social Media**
Chuk College provides free WiFi to its students, and we caution our students when online.
– **Scams/Frauds:** We caution students against online transactions and recommend that students contact a family member, staff member, or the Dean of Students if they feel uncomfortable or uncertain about engaging with individuals online.
– **Cyber-bullying:** This encompasses a broad range of behaviors or actions in which a person uses technology (e.g., social media or texts) in a way that is perceived as harassment, aggression, or a threat to another person. Students who are found to have cyberbullied will face disciplinary action, including any form of hate speech and inciteful language online.
12. **Hate Speech**
Chuk College does not discriminate based on age, gender, religion, race, or tribe. Any student seen or recorded speaking hate speech online or offline will face disciplinary action and possible expulsion from the college.
13. **Staff-Student Relationships**
The College’s policy regarding faculty/employee-student relationships defines the conflict of interest that arises when a faculty member/employee engages in a romantic or sexual relationship with a student and has the ability to influence the status or circumstances of the student through his or her professional responsibilities. When such a conflict of interest arises, the faculty member is required to disclose the relationship to his or her supervisor so that a plan to resolve the potential for conflict can be developed. The policy strongly discourages such associations because they have the potential to pose risks to the employee, the student, and third parties. It states the responsibility of all faculty/employees to avoid any apparent or actual conflict between their professional responsibilities and personal relationships with students. Chuk College staff are NOT allowed to have any romantic/sexual relationships with any student unless such a student was their spouse before admission to college. The policy is intended to protect the integrity of professional relationships between faculty members/employees and students.
14. **College Photography**
The policy of the college is that the rights of staff, students, and visitors to the college, or individuals and groups who are visited by the college’s representatives, should not be jeopardized by any college activity. The college further recognizes its responsibilities towards children and young people.
Images may be captured during events organized and hosted by the college using film photography, digital photography, video, or other medium and may be used on the website, college prospectus or course brochures, other publicity material (such as internal and external newsletters), exhibition of student work or graduation ceremony brochures, and may be provided to the media for publication in local or national newspapers or educational magazines and other resources. The college acknowledges its responsibilities in capturing images by photography or other means under applicable law, including:
– **The Human Rights Act 1998:** The college recognizes an individual’s rights to privacy as protected by this Act.
– **The Copyright Act, 2001:** The college undertakes to inform all those whose images may be recorded (or their parents/guardians if subjects are under 18 years of age) of the purposes for which the images may be used by the college.
In this context, the college informs all persons taking part in college activities that they may be photographed, filmed, videoed, or otherwise captured in image form, and unless express objections are received, individuals attending an event are deemed to have given their consent by remaining at the event. Any queries or complaints should be raised with the event host in the first instance.