Student Handbook
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Looking for detailed information about our policies, procedures and more? Then you've come to the right place! Our Student Handbook is a great reference tool for you to use when looking for information about College policies and procedures, Student Code of Conduct, student life and campus services.
We've created the Student Handbook to inform students like you about the College’s policies, procedures and Student Code of Conduct. As a Clark State student you are responsible for familiarizing yourself with the College’s policies and abiding by these expectations.
The College policies are in place to support a safe environment conducive to learning.
Advocate
An advocate is an informal and neutral resource who provides assistance to students in exploring options to resolve problems, complaints and conflicts.
An advocate will:
- Listen and discuss questions, issues and concerns with students
- Assist with the grievance/complaint process
- Help identify and evaluate options available to address concerns
- Clarify College policies and procedures
- Help students understand their rights and responsibilities
For assistance, contact one of the following advocates:
Tony Rosasco │ 937.328.6008 │ rosascoa@clarkstate.edu
Kelli Wyer │ 937.328.3840 │ wyerk@clarkstate.edu
Expressive Activities
As stated in the Student Handbook, the Student Rights and Responsibilities/Code of Conduct Policy includes Expressive Activities.
Clark State College is an academic community in which all persons – students, faculty, administration and staff – share responsibility for its growth and continued welfare. As members of the College community, students can reasonably expect that the following rights shall be respected by all College offices, programs, employees and organizations.
Clark State College further encourages all members of the College community to endorse, support and abide by the following statement of values which this community has deemed fundamental to its mission and integral to its growth.
- Speech/Expression/Press
Students may express themselves freely on any subject provided they do so in a manner that does not violate this policy. Students, in turn, have the responsibility to respect the rights of all members of the College in exercising these freedoms.
In accordance with the public policy and the laws of the state of Ohio, Clark State affirms the following principles:
1. Students have a fundamental constitutional right to free speech.
2. The College is committed to giving students broad latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, learn, and discuss any issue, subject to Ohio Revised Code 3345.0215(E).
3. The College is committed to maintaining a campus as a marketplace of ideas for all students and all faculty in which the free exchange of ideas is not to be suppressed because the ideas put forth are thought by some or even by most members of the College’s community to be offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal, traditional, radical, or wrong-headed.
4. It is for the College's individual students and faculty to make judgments about ideas for themselves, and to act on those judgments not by seeking to suppress free speech, but by openly and vigorously contesting the ideas that they oppose.
5. It is not the proper role of the College to attempt to shield individuals from free speech, including ideas and opinions they find offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal, traditional, radical, or wrong-headed.
6. Although the College greatly values civility and mutual respect, concerns about civility and mutual respect shall never be used as a justification for closing off the discussion of ideas, however offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal, traditional, radical, or wrong-headed those ideas may be to some students or faculty.
7. Although all students and all faculty are free to state their own views about and contest the views expressed on campus, and to state their own views about and contest speakers who are invited to express their views on campus, they may not substantially obstruct or otherwise substantially interfere with the freedom of others to express views they reject or even loathe. To this end, the College has a responsibility to promote a lively and fearless freedom of debate and deliberation and protect that freedom.
8. The College shall be committed to providing an atmosphere that is most conducive to speculation, experimentation, and creation by all students and all faculty, who shall always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, and to gain new understanding.
9. The primary responsibility of faculty is to engage an honest, courageous, and persistent effort to search out and communicate the truth that lies in the areas of their competence.
Nothing contained in this policy shall be construed as prohibiting the College from imposing measures that do not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article I, Sections 3 and 11 of the Ohio Constitution such as:
1. Constitutional time, place, and manner restrictions;
2. Reasonable and viewpoint-neutral restrictions in nonpublic forums;
3. Restricting the use of the College’s property to protect the free speech rights of students and teachers and preserve the use of the property for the advancement of the College’s mission;
4. Prohibiting or limiting speech, expression, or assemblies that are not protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article I, Sections 3 and 11 of the Ohio Constitution;
5. Content restrictions on speech that are reasonably related to a legitimate pedagogical purpose, such as classroom rules enacted by teachers.
Nothing in this policy shall be construed to grant students the right to disrupt previously scheduled or reserved activities occurring in a traditional public forum.
Nothing in this policy shall be interpreted as restricting or impairing the College’s obligations under federal law including, but not limited to, Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1962, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975. Non-Discrimination
No agent or organization of Clark State College shall discriminate against any student on the basis of race, color, religion, gender/sex, gender identity or expression, national origin (ancestry), military status, disability, age (40 years of age or older), genetic information, sexual orientation, status as a parent during pregnancy and immediately after the birth of a child, status as a parent of a young child, or status as a foster parent and any other protected group status as defined by law or College policy in its educational programs, activities, admissions, or employment practices as required by Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other applicable statutes. Clark State prohibits discrimination and harassment based on these protected group statuses in accordance with College policies, applicable laws, and executive orders. Clark State complies with and adopts the IHRA definition of antisemitism set forth in Executive Order 2022-06D, Defining and Combating AntiSemitism. In their individual roles as members of student organizations, students have the responsibility not to discriminate against others.- Assembly
Students may assemble in an orderly manner and engage in expressive activities that do not materially or substantially disrupt the functions of the College, significantly hinder another person’s or group’s expressive activity, prevent communication of their message, threaten the health or safety of any person, prevent transaction of the business of a lawful meeting, gathering or procession, engage in violent or otherwise unlawful behavior, or violate this rule.