The enactment of the first-ever system-wide policy banning sexual or romantic relationships between faculty and students in University of California school system could lead to an increasing number of restrictions at other universities, said Abby Lunardini, a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President.
Lundardini also said she expects other universities to adopt broader, more cohesive policies banning faculty-student relationships in the future.
"I know that nationwide there have been an increasing number of colleges drafting policies and everyone is handling it differently," she said. "I think we are starting to see a move in that general direction."
The policy was put in full effect this fall after receiving approval from the UC Academic Senate last May. The amendment prohibits professors from engaging in amorous relationships with students they oversee or could oversee in the future.
Other universities which have bans on faculty-student relationships include Harvard, Yale, Stanford and the University of Virginia.
The College of William & Mary implemented one of the strictest policies which prohibits consensual relationships between all undergraduate students and faculty members in 2001, according to William Walker, William & Mary associate vice president for public affairs.
William & Mary enacted the policy after the publication of a "tell-all" article in GQ magazine in which a former William & Mary professor told his story. He described his affair with a married student whose husband subsequently committed suicide.
"We had the impetus of the GQ article," Walker said. "The fact that [the policy] had faculty support was the key -- if it threatens the academic enterprise, then people get fairly serious about it."
According to Walker, since the enactment of the new policy there have not been any new cases of faculty-student relationships.
"These cases, while they get a lot of visibility, are really few and far between," Walker said. "At the time this policy was instituted we looked at how many had been reported and it had been a handful. I can't recall any other coming to light after that, although this is not the sort of thing people often bring forward."
In 1993, University administrators discussed banning all consensual sexual relationships between professors and students. Instead, faculty decided to revise the University's conflict-of-interest policy, which now states that faculty members should "avoid engaging in sexual relationships with or making sexual overtures to students over whom they are in a position of authority."
"[The policy] does not forbid relationships," University spokesperson Carol Wood said. "Our policy was written up because it was the faculty that brought it up some time ago."
Numerous objections can arise when bans on faculty-student relationship are discussed. Many argue that it violates the constitutional right to free association, and other people cite instances where relationships between faculty and students are successful, Faculty Senate Chair Robert Davis said
"You get into tricky areas," he said. "Where do graduate students fall in the hierarchy? Faculty can meet graduate students and have long term relationships, get married and have a family."
According to Davis, the University's policy intentionally is less strict than those adopted at other schools.
"The current policy makes a whole lot of sense to me," Davis said. "You don't want to limit people's behavior, but you certainly don't want to put people in a comprising situation -- we are talking about delicate issues here."
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