Civility Statement
In connection with our purpose and mission, the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center requires the mastery of a large body of knowledge in addition to the mastery of high standards of behavior and appropriate attitudes. Our mission is to train competent, well informed, culturally sensitive and ethically responsible child and adolescent mental health professionals.
In addition to fulfilling all academic requirements, students are required to display attitudes, personal characteristics, and behaviors consistent with accepted standards of professional conduct while at the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center. The Reiss-Davis Graduate Center expects all students to be professional and respectful in their dealings with colleagues, faculty, staff, and clients and to demonstrate caring and compassionate attitudes. These and other qualities will be evaluated—formally and informally—in a variety of school settings by both faculty and peers. Concerns about a student’s emotional state of being and/or behavior may come from the student, faculty, staff, field training supervisors, or other students.
Fundamental Principles of Civility
The Reiss-Davis Graduate Center encourages students to adopt an interpersonal stance that is curious, tolerant, and flexible, and reflects a mix of doubt vs. certainty.
Curiosity
The Reiss-Davis Graduate Center encourages a self-reflective approach to human life. This approach includes emphasis on the fact that many unconscious and sometimes irrational factors contribute to what we see as visible behavior, including our decision making, judgment, core principles, and interpersonal style. Indeed, depth psychology encourages focus on becoming aware of these dynamic, unconscious forces before we make decisions based on them. The self-reflective approach encourages an evenhanded, emotionally honest willingness to encounter all kinds of different thoughts, opinions, feelings, projections, and emotions in ourselves and in others. An attitude of curiosity suggests that we are receptive to these different forces in ourselves and others and that we have a healthy respect for the broad range of things they might mean. Expressing curiosity about another person’s experience or truth encourages dignity and respect and minimizes the chance for misunderstandings that could breed conflict.
Tolerance and Compassion
Curiosity, as defined above, breeds tolerance. In fact, one could say that tolerance is curiosity in action. An attitude of tolerance allows us to communicate across different points of view, value systems, cultural backgrounds, and other differences of perspective. Tolerance expresses a willingness to truly experience the truths of another person while holding judgment in abeyance. To practice tolerance requires us to avoid pretending that we know what we do not know. While we cannot heedlessly express tolerance for all kinds of behavior, we can practice tolerance for all kinds of feelings, thoughts, opinions, and perspectives. Even as we all agree upon formal codes of behavior and that certain lines are not crossed when it comes to what we actually do or say, we can and should allow others and ourselves the necessary time, space, respect, and sometimes assistance to develop compassion for multiple and complex perspectives.
Flexibility
There is an old story about a traveler in New England asking a farmer for directions, who laconically replies “You can’t get there from here.” The expression is supposed to be humorous because conventional wisdom dictates you can get anywhere from anywhere, if you can find the right pathway. Flexibility means just that. No matter how intensely you feel you disagree with someone (or even some unwanted part of yourself), practice mental flexibility by finding a way to that place you cannot agree with.
Be curious about the circumstances, conditions, and environments that may have contributed to another person having a different point of view than you do. Be tolerant of the fact that this other person may look upon the same situations or experiences that you do, yet draws very different conclusions. Flexibility would be required, for example, for a very politically liberal person to have a conversation with a very politically conservative person about politics over lunch while remaining open, respectful, and courteous—and still liking each other at the end.
Doubt vs. Certainty
At first glance, it may seem best to be as confident as possible at all times. Confidence suggests the conviction of being in the right, and a certain amount of power flows from this; however, being confident of one’s own point of view can also get in the way of curiosity, tolerance, and flexibility. Being supremely confident in all things suggests that one has learned all that there is to know or that one is so assured of the moral correctness of his or her position that all the other points of view must be wrong.
Instead, the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center encourages the peculiar kind of emotional courage that comes with a healthy blend of doubt and certainty. Successful professional life requires not blind or heedless confidence, but rather an ability to carry on with one’s principles even in the absence of certainty about the right thing to do. A successful blend of doubt and certainty requires remaining centered and poised even while acknowledging a clear-eyed awareness of the complexity and sometimes moral ambiguity of human life.
In addition to fulfilling all academic requirements, students are required to display attitudes, personal characteristics, and behaviors consistent with accepted standards of professional conduct while at the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center. The Reiss-Davis Graduate Center expects all students to be professional and respectful in their dealings with colleagues, faculty, staff, and clients and to demonstrate caring and compassionate attitudes. These and other qualities will be evaluated—formally and informally—in a variety of school settings by both faculty and peers. Concerns about a student’s emotional state of being and/or behavior may come from the student, faculty, staff, field training supervisors, or other students.
Fundamental Principles of Civility
The Reiss-Davis Graduate Center encourages students to adopt an interpersonal stance that is curious, tolerant, and flexible, and reflects a mix of doubt vs. certainty.
Curiosity
The Reiss-Davis Graduate Center encourages a self-reflective approach to human life. This approach includes emphasis on the fact that many unconscious and sometimes irrational factors contribute to what we see as visible behavior, including our decision making, judgment, core principles, and interpersonal style. Indeed, depth psychology encourages focus on becoming aware of these dynamic, unconscious forces before we make decisions based on them. The self-reflective approach encourages an evenhanded, emotionally honest willingness to encounter all kinds of different thoughts, opinions, feelings, projections, and emotions in ourselves and in others. An attitude of curiosity suggests that we are receptive to these different forces in ourselves and others and that we have a healthy respect for the broad range of things they might mean. Expressing curiosity about another person’s experience or truth encourages dignity and respect and minimizes the chance for misunderstandings that could breed conflict.
Tolerance and Compassion
Curiosity, as defined above, breeds tolerance. In fact, one could say that tolerance is curiosity in action. An attitude of tolerance allows us to communicate across different points of view, value systems, cultural backgrounds, and other differences of perspective. Tolerance expresses a willingness to truly experience the truths of another person while holding judgment in abeyance. To practice tolerance requires us to avoid pretending that we know what we do not know. While we cannot heedlessly express tolerance for all kinds of behavior, we can practice tolerance for all kinds of feelings, thoughts, opinions, and perspectives. Even as we all agree upon formal codes of behavior and that certain lines are not crossed when it comes to what we actually do or say, we can and should allow others and ourselves the necessary time, space, respect, and sometimes assistance to develop compassion for multiple and complex perspectives.
Flexibility
There is an old story about a traveler in New England asking a farmer for directions, who laconically replies “You can’t get there from here.” The expression is supposed to be humorous because conventional wisdom dictates you can get anywhere from anywhere, if you can find the right pathway. Flexibility means just that. No matter how intensely you feel you disagree with someone (or even some unwanted part of yourself), practice mental flexibility by finding a way to that place you cannot agree with.
Be curious about the circumstances, conditions, and environments that may have contributed to another person having a different point of view than you do. Be tolerant of the fact that this other person may look upon the same situations or experiences that you do, yet draws very different conclusions. Flexibility would be required, for example, for a very politically liberal person to have a conversation with a very politically conservative person about politics over lunch while remaining open, respectful, and courteous—and still liking each other at the end.
Doubt vs. Certainty
At first glance, it may seem best to be as confident as possible at all times. Confidence suggests the conviction of being in the right, and a certain amount of power flows from this; however, being confident of one’s own point of view can also get in the way of curiosity, tolerance, and flexibility. Being supremely confident in all things suggests that one has learned all that there is to know or that one is so assured of the moral correctness of his or her position that all the other points of view must be wrong.
Instead, the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center encourages the peculiar kind of emotional courage that comes with a healthy blend of doubt and certainty. Successful professional life requires not blind or heedless confidence, but rather an ability to carry on with one’s principles even in the absence of certainty about the right thing to do. A successful blend of doubt and certainty requires remaining centered and poised even while acknowledging a clear-eyed awareness of the complexity and sometimes moral ambiguity of human life.
Expectations for Civil Behavior
As a student and as a professional, you are encouraged to find your own ways to embody these ideals. To the extent that there are rules-of-thumb that spring from these principles, here are some more specific expectations:
- Use courteous speech at all times
- Cherish differences
- Resist assumptions
- Attend all class sessions, arriving on time and remaining until dismissed
- Notify the instructor in advance of anticipated absences, late arrivals, or early departures
- Refrain from class or meeting disturbances
- Turn off and store away cell phones and all electronic devices unless permission has been otherwise granted
- If using a laptop computer in class to take notes, refrain from checking email or social media websites as a courtesy to your classmates and instructor
- Prepare fully for each class
- Participate in all classes and allow others to participate
- Respect fellow classmates and the instructor
- Complete all assignments and exams honestly, punctually, and to the best of your ability
- Refrain from giving or receiving inappropriate assistance
- Treat fellow students, faculty, staff, and administrators fairly and impartially
- Make every effort to prevent discrimination and harassment.
- Be constructive and fair in your consideration of administrators, faculty, staff, and fellow students
- Treat the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center staff with respect and appreciation
- When dealing with conflictual issues, use “I statements” in order to avoid blaming.
- Stick to describing the situation and refrain from commenting on the character or competence of the person involved.
- Be equally civil in e-mail and other virtual communication as you would be in person
Problematic Behavior
The Reiss-Davis Graduate Center expects all students to conduct themselves in a manner congruent with graduate level academic endeavors. Students are expected to conduct themselves in an ethical, professional, and civil manner. Unprofessional behavior includes, but is not limited to, hostile or careless uses of profanity or obscenities, physical displays of anger or aggressiveness, threatening gestures or comments, violence or harassment, insubordination or persistent, disrespectful arguing with supervisors and/or students, or any other illegal or unethical conduct. Unprofessional behavior may be cause for disciplinary action.
Repeated tardiness, leaving before class dismissal, excessive arguing with faculty and/or students during class, violent outbursts, and similar disruptive behavior are potential grounds for discipline, including academic probation and dismissal from the Institute.
Students are expected to refrain from engaging in the following:
Repeated tardiness, leaving before class dismissal, excessive arguing with faculty and/or students during class, violent outbursts, and similar disruptive behavior are potential grounds for discipline, including academic probation and dismissal from the Institute.
Students are expected to refrain from engaging in the following:
- Academic dishonesty of any kind with respect to examinations or coursework. This includes any form of cheating and plagiarism.
- Falsification or alteration of Reiss-Davis Graduate Center documents, records, or identification cards.
- Forgery, issuing bad checks, or not meeting financial obligations to the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center.
- Theft or the deliberate damaging or misusing of property belonging to others or the property of the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center.
- The manufacture, possession, use, or distribution of any form of alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs while on Reiss-Davis Graduate Center property.
- Possession, display, or use of any dangerous instrument, weapon, or explosives (certified law enforcement officers required by their employer to carry a firearm are excluded).
- Disrupting the study of others or of Reiss-Davis Graduate Center activities, or interfering with the freedom of movement of any member or guest of the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center community.
- Deliberate interference with academic freedom, freedom of speech, or movement of any member or guest of the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center community.
- Participation in any activity that disrupts or interferes with the education of others or the orderly operation of Reiss-Davis Graduate Center.
- Physical abuse, threatening acts, or harassment toward others.
Remediation for Problematic Behavior
The Reiss-Davis Graduate Center students, faculty and staff are encouraged not to reply to rude or abusive communication, other than to encourage rephrasing in a more professional and civil behavior.
In cases in which the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center faculty, administration, or training site supervisor identifies a need for remediation of student behavior, the Dean will review the situation. The Dean may elect to ask the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center’s Chief Administrative Officer to assist in addressing the issue with the student. In cases of minor concerns, the Dean may simply discuss concerns about the student’s conduct with the student informally in order to help the student improve his or her conduct. In other cases, the Dean may forward a recommendation to the Education Council for specific remediation, suspension, academic probation, and/or disqualification. Students may appeal the Education Council decisions to the Provost who may appoint a Review Committee. Decisions from the Provost are final.
In cases in which the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center faculty, administration, or training site supervisor identifies a need for remediation of student behavior, the Dean will review the situation. The Dean may elect to ask the Reiss-Davis Graduate Center’s Chief Administrative Officer to assist in addressing the issue with the student. In cases of minor concerns, the Dean may simply discuss concerns about the student’s conduct with the student informally in order to help the student improve his or her conduct. In other cases, the Dean may forward a recommendation to the Education Council for specific remediation, suspension, academic probation, and/or disqualification. Students may appeal the Education Council decisions to the Provost who may appoint a Review Committee. Decisions from the Provost are final.
