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Student Life Disciplinary Process
CIU desires to assist and guide students in the midst of dealing with personal
issues, relationship problems, even issues that may ordinarily be handled through
the disciplinary process. In the eyes of the faculty and staff, it is a welcome
testimony to the work of the Holy Spirit when students openly acknowledge and
seek to address personal failures or problems. Our desire is to come alongside
any student dealing with such issues. When a student takes initiative to disclose
a personal failure or problem to a resident assistant, a member of the Student Life
Division, a faculty or staff member, or an administrator, every effort will be made to
address and resolve the issue through mediation, discipleship, counseling, or other
means of intervention. CIU’s expectation is that any student disclosing a problem
or failure should also be willing to enter into a plan to address the problem. In such
cases, the student will demonstrate ongoing commitment to CIU’s mission and
educational goals by submitting to guidance and conscientious follow through
with any measures prescribed to overcome the issue.
I.
General Philosophy
A. The Student Life Disciplinary Process is designed to assist individual and
community spiritual formation and to aid the university in maintaining
a grace-filled environment conducive to Christian living and learning.
Personal growth and maturity are encouraged most when each member
of the CIU community practices self-responsibility and shares the
responsibility of creating a community of caring involvement to support
and confront one another when appropriate.
B. The responsibility to confront one another in a loving manner should
flow out of natural and intentional relationships with friends, peers,
faculty, and staff. This approach, if functioning properly, should enable
spiritual formation with confrontation and accountability as needed to
take place on a personal, informal level.
C. The Scriptures do not describe a precise model for discipline. However,
they do prescribe that when necessary we are to confront one another in
love. The university’s model has been adopted from Matthew 18:12-22.
1.
Attitude – Matthew 18:12-13, 21-22: “‘What do you think? If any man
has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he
not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the
one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you,
he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not
gone astray....’ Then Peter came and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often
shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven
times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but
up to seventy times seven’” (NASB).
2.
Process – Matthew 18:15-17: “‘If your brother sins, go and show him
his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But
if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by
the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If
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