Community Standards

• Cultivating respect and responsibility for self, others, and our shared environment.
• Encouraging personal and intellectual courage and growth.
• Manifesting integrity and honesty in all decisions and actions.
• Promoting healthy, safe, and balanced lifestyles.
• Fostering a diverse and inclusive community committed to civility, open-mindedness, and finding common ground. 

When student behaviors fall short these expectations in ways that rise to the level of alleged policy violations, the Office of Community Standards addresses the concerns through the College’s disciplinary processes, educational responses, and when appropriate, disciplinary sanctions.  

Unique Conduct Incidents Addressed in the Office of Community Standards

Educational Responses and Disciplinary Sanctions

Educational Responses: Educational responses such group classes, online courses, individual meetings, reflective papers, and referrals to support resources are all forms of educational responses to policy violations. Such responses are most commonly, though not exclusively  applied in response to alcohol and other drug policy violations. 

Disciplinary Sanctions: Disciplinary sanctions include fines or restitution, written warnings and reprimands, probation, letters of official college discipline, suspension and expulsion.  

Academic Integrity Cases

Academic integrity cases are tracked separately from other conduct cases. Note that depending on circumstances, multiple sanctions are sometimes issued in a single case.  

Highlight: Student Growth and Development

Middlebury strives to make engagement with the conduct system an educational, rather than punitive, experience whenever possible and appropriate. One tool used to support this goal is the 6-Week Individualized Sanction, through which students reflect on the personal growth and development they have experienced as a result of the disciplinary process. The following reflections from this year illustrate that growth and development:

• “Taking ownership of the mistakes I made catapulted me towards independence and I am feeling a lot more like I can overcome things.”
• “Ultimately, this was a necessary experience that has forced me to confront a simple truth: who I am is not determined by what I intend to do, but by what I do.”
• “I am also taking this opportunity to become more deliberate, self-aware, and more aligned with who I truly am and my actions.”
• “I got lost trying to fit in here. By speaking my true emotions, being vulnerable, real, weird, uncomfortable, and accountable I felt belonging for the first time at Middlebury.”
• “This experience has made me think more seriously about the difference between the person I want to be and the way I acted in these moments. I regret my choices, but I also understand that regret only matters if it leads to change. Moving forward, I want my actions to better reflect the values I care about most: accountability, respect, and self-control. I know I have to show that through my behavior, not just through this reflection.”