Personal Injury / Violence

All issues of personal injury/ violence will be categorized as major violations of SNHU Policy. All conduct code violations that relate to violence are reported to the university’s Anti-Violence Team. Students or staff members are required to participate in any counseling or program the team mandates after reviewing the reports of an incident and a student’s history. The Anti-Violence Team may act before disciplinary proceedings are concluded. It also receives reports regarding behaviors that indicate a tendency toward violence even if these are no violations of the code of conduct and may refer students or staff to a meeting as a result of those reports.

Students are responsible for the conduct of their guests. If a guest is responsible for an act of violence, as noted above, then the host student is responsible for the violation. The severity of the sanction will depend in large measure of the care the host student was taking to exercise some control of his/her guest and to what extent he/she was also a part of the incident. If a student is with his/her guest when the incident occurs, trying to keep the guest in line but not succeeding, is less serious than if the student is across campus and exercising no control whatsoever. Of course, there are levels of responsibility in between those extremes.

Assault:
Assault is defined as any unprivileged physical contact, or intentionally inflicting bodily harm upon any person, or taking reckless action that results in harm to any person.

Bullying:
The repeated intimidation of others by the real or threatened infliction of physical, verbal, written, or electronically transmitted emotional abuse, or through attacks on the property of another. Bullying may include, but is not limited to actions such as verbal taunts, name-calling and put downs, including ethnically-based or gender-based verbal put downs.

Disorderly Conduct:
Conduct that disrupts the normal functioning of students, staff, or faculty, or threatens the health and welfare of a community member, or endangers personal or college property will not be tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to, shouting or making excessive noise to the annoyance or disturbance of others, throwing or dropping objects from windows or tampering with safety equipment.

Mutual Combat:
Fighting in which both parties have contributed to the situation by verbal and/or physical action. It differs from assault as there is no clear aggressor.

Reckless Conduct:
Engaging in conduct which places or may place another in danger of serious bodily injury.

Self Destructive Behavior:
A student’s ability to live in residence areas requires that they be able to live independently. Students shall take no actions which threaten or endanger their own safety, health or life, nor shall a student make any verbal threat of such action. Self destructive behavior shall include suicide attempts or threats, self-mutilation or threats and refusing treatment for life threatening illnesses or conditions (e.g. eating disorders). Students whose behavior becomes disruptive to the university community shall be considered as not having the ability to live independently.

Sexual Misconduct:
Any unprivileged sexual contact.

Sexual Violence:
Sexual misconduct is non-consensual physical contact of a sexual nature including but not limited to sexual physical abuse, rape, acquaintance rape, or any other form of sexual assault. Consent in a sexual relationship must be clear, spoken and mutual. Consent can never be assumed and is never present when one is incapacitated by alcohol or drugs.

Stalking:
Behavior wherein an individual willfully and repeatedly engages in a knowing course of harassing conduct directed at another person which reasonably and seriously alarms, torments, or terrorizes that person.

Threat:
Any intentional and unprivileged act that places the victim in fear of immediate physical contact that would have been painful, injurious, insulting or offensive, coupled with the apparent ability to do the act.

Violence:
Includes but is not limited to threats, intimidation, vulgar, in decent, defamatory, or obscene conduct or expression, engaging in behavior that is destructive, lewd, dangerous, harmful, obstructive or disorderly. Depending on the circumstances, violations could be minor or major.

Weapons and Explosives:
Possession, display, use or distribution of any weapon or explosive is prohibited on property owned by or under control of Southern New Hampshire University. A weapon is defined as: An instrument of offensive or defensive combat or something to fight with, and is generally any device capable of projecting a ball, pellet, arrow, bullet, missile, shell or other material. This shall include but not be limited to firearms, bows, arrow, swords, rockets, sling shots, air guns, paint ball guns and marital arts devices.