General Policies
Official Communications
Students are responsible for maintaining and updating current local, campus, and permanent addresses with the Registrar and, for regularly checking their university-provided accounts including email, Banner, and Blackboard. Students must maintain a current local address and phone number with the university. Messages sent to the student’s university-provided email account will constitute proper notification for the purposes of the Handbook. Periodically, the university requires students to verify the address and phone number on file. Failure to provide or verify an updated address and phone number may result in restriction of the student’s access to myWM and its services and/or restriction of registration and transcript release.
Inspection and Search of Buildings, Student Living Quarters, Offices, Lockers or Other Facilities
The university may conduct routine inspections, including a student’s assigned university housing room, for the purpose of assuring fire protection, sanitation, safety, or proper maintenance of the university's buildings and other facilities. In such cases, it is the student’s responsibility to ensure access to the areas needing repair and to protect personal property against damage.
The university also reserves the right to enter a student’s room/suite/apartment as deemed appropriate for reasons including, but not limited to health concerns, safety concerns, and suspected violation of university or residence hall policies.
With the exceptions noted above, university administrators will not inspect a student’s room, office, lockers, or private possessions on campus unless there is reasonable cause to believe that a student is violating policy or using the facilities in violation of university regulations. In such case, the administrator must request via certificate the authorization of a search from the Vice President for Student Affairs (or designee). The certificate must state the source of the information, the suspected violation, the location of the search, the materials to be seized or information sought, and the name of the person authorized to conduct the search.
Nothing in this regulation prohibits the William & Mary Police from securing a search warrant and executing it in or around university facilities.
Student Financial Responsibilities
Students are responsible for reading and reviewing the Statement of Responsibilities on Financial Operations’ Student Accounts webpage.
Missing Person Inquiry and Confidential Contact Information
The university has established a procedure to investigate when a student is reported missing. Each student has the option to designate a confidential contact by submitting a form to the Dean of Students. The university will contact the designated person within 24 hours of the time that it considers a student missing. Law enforcement officials (including campus police) will also be notified of a student’s absence and will follow their own investigation procedures. For students who are minors (under 18 and not emancipated), the university is obligated to notify parent(s) or guardian(s) within 24 hours of receiving a report that the student is missing.
Required Disclosure of Arrests
School campuses are not immune from the dangers faced elsewhere in society. It has become increasingly important that schools take reasonable steps to help protect the safety of the members of their communities. One such step now being taken by many colleges and universities is a requirement that their students promptly report any arrests involving them. At William & Mary students must report within three calendar days any criminal process that has begun for them (whether by means of detention, court summons, citation, or other similar process) no matter where the incident occurs. This requirement applies to any criminal process resulting from:
- Felony charges of any nature.
- Charges for offenses involving violence or the threat of violence or serious harm to other people.
- Examples include but are not limited to:
- assault/battery
- sexual assault/battery
- stalking
- resisting arrest
- driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs
- reckless driving resulting in injury.
- Examples include but are not limited to:
If unsure whether a particular arrest is covered under this policy, disclose. While failure to report a criminal process covered by this policy will not result in honor proceedings, it can result in referral for possible Student Code of Conduct violations.
Disclosures can be made by reporting the incident via web form.
For more information about this policy, see the Disclosure of Arrests Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on the CVRP website.
Discrimination and Title IX Policies
William & Mary is committed to providing students a safe environment free from discrimination based on any protected group and to preventing sexual misconduct.
The most important policies are
- the Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Discriminatory Harassment, Retaliation, and Sexual Misconduct (the Discrimination Policy)
- the Title IX Policy; and
- the Consensual Amorous Relationships Policy (pdf).
These policies prohibit specific types of conduct and establish reporting obligations and options.
Complaints Against Students
• Stacey Harris, Dean of Students, Title IX Deputy Coordinator, Sadler Center 368, 221-2510
• Ginger Ambler, Vice President for Student Affairs, Sadler Center 374, 221-1236
Complaints Against Faculty
• Maria Donoghue Velleca, Dean, Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Ewell Hall 134, 221-2470
• Todd Mooradian, Dean, Mason School of Business, A.B. Miller Hall 2039H, 221-2891
• Derek Aday, Dean, Marine Science, Watermen’s Hall 230, (804) 684-7103
• Robert Knoeppel, Dean, School of Education, School of Education 1112C, 221-2315
• Benjamin Spencer, Dean, School of Law, Marshall-Wythe 108, 221-3790
• Peggy Agouris, Provost, the Brafferton, 221-1992
• Pamela Mason, Chief Compliance Officer, James Blair 108, 221-3167
Complaints Against Staff
• Human Resources, Bell Building 2016, 109 Cary Street, 221-3115
• Pamela Mason, Chief Compliance Officer, James Blair 108, 221-3167
Confidential Reporting
Employees designated as confidential resources are not mandatory reporters and will not share a report or any details with the Title IX Coordinator without the student’s permission. Confidential Resources available to students include:
• The Haven, Sadler Center 146P, Lis Cascone, Director, 221-7478, lizcascone@wm.edu
• The Counseling Center, McLeod Tyler Wellness Center, 2nd Floor, 221-3620
• Student Health Center McLeod Tyler Wellness Center, 1st Floor, 221-4386
Discrimination Policy
The Discrimination Policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of a person’s belonging to or perception that person belongs to a protected group. A protected group means category of individuals who are protected from discrimination based on race, religion, creed, national origin, color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, physical or mental disability (or perceived disability), personal appearance, political affiliation, source of income, citizenship status, age, marital status, family responsibilities, Veteran or military status (including disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran, and Armed Forces Service Medal veteran), predisposing genetic characteristics, domestic violence victim status, height or weight. The Discrimination Policy applies to students, faculty, staff and third parties on campus: it protects students from discrimination and prohibits them from discriminating against or harassing others.
The Discrimination Policy prohibits sexual misconduct, including non-consensual sexual intercourse, relationship abuse, sexual abuse, and sexual exploitation. The definitions of discrimination, discriminatory harassment, retaliation, and sexual misconduct are contained Section III of the Discrimination Policy.
All employees of the university, with the exception of specifically identified confidential resources, are mandatory reporters of incidents of sexual misconduct. Mandatory reports of all information known are made to the Title IX Coordinator and reviewed by the Civil Rights Review Team. This reporting obligation does not require survivors to report or other students to report information they learn from a friend or contemporary; it requires all employees, including student employees in their employment capacity, to report incidents involving students.
Title IX Policy
Consistent with federal regulations, the Policy Prohibiting Title IX Sexual Harassment and Gender-Based Harassment prohibits the following types of misconduct:
- Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment
- Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment
- Sexual Assault (Rape, Fondling, Incest, Statutory Rape)
- Domestic Violence
- Dating Violence
- Stalking
- Gender-Based Harassment
The Policy defines each of these types of misconduct and defines consent, force, incapacitation, and retaliation.
The Policy applies to students: it protects students from Title IX Sexual Harassment and Gender-Based Harassment and prohibits them from engaging in the defined misconduct. It also requires the university to provide supportive measures to anyone experiencing misconduct and to respond to reports as required by the regulations to ensure a hostile environment does not exist.
Consensual Amorous Relationships
The Consensual Amorous Relationships Policy prohibits faculty from engaging in romantic or sexual relationships with undergraduate students. It also prohibits faculty from engaging in such relationships with graduate students enrolled in a degree-seeking program in the School or in the case of Arts & Sciences, any department or program in which the faculty member has taught, plans to teach, or holds an appointment. There are mechanisms to obtain an exception to the Policy.
The Consensual Amorous Relationships Policy is designed to avoid relationships between people without equal power and to avoid conflicts of interest. Violations of this policy will be considered misconduct on the part of the faculty member, but it is not used to discipline students. Reports of violations of this policy may be made to the department chair or academic Dean.
For more information, please Guidelines on Consensual Amorous Relationships.
