A Statement of Campus Standards

Being a student at a world-class institution confers privilege, prestige, and unique opportunity, but it also obligates you to meet a set of standards and to fulfill certain expectations. I ask only three things from you as a student in our academic community: scholarship, leadership, and citizenship. If you deliver these and hold to the values articulated below, your time at UCSB will be more meaningful and what you take away at graduation will be infinitely more valuable.

Integrity in Academic Pursuits

In an institution where the search for knowledge and truth is the primary goal, integrity in teaching, learning, research, and scholarship is paramount. Dishonesty undermines our common missions. This translates into the obvious: write your own papers, take your own tests, do your own work.

Respect and Consideration in Interactions with Others

The real test of this value comes when we encounter people whose backgrounds, beliefs, and world views differ from our own. If your educational experience is all that it should be, you will graduate prepared to navigate a society that comprises many different kinds of people. You will also graduate having seen and understood different world views, and will perhaps expand your own.

Mutual respect is a non-negotiable. What this means is that there are some boundaries that should not be crossed.  Intolerant and disrespectful behavior, especially regarding race, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, and religion, compromises our sense of community and our ability to live and learn together.

Free, Open, and Respectful Exchange of Ideas

Our community requires the respectful exchange of ideas. People should be passionate about what they believe and how they express that belief, but they must also be civil in both word and deed. This principle is particularly important when a community encompasses people who have different backgrounds, world views, etc. I am not talking about political correctness, I am talking about basic respect — about how people treat one another, not about what people think or believe.

Contributions to and Participation in the Community

We should all serve the campus and community while we are here. Contributing to the community can take the form of simply being a good citizen, being considerate of neighbors, cleaning up the campus and community, volunteering at a school or social service in town, or helping to raise money for charity.

— Margaret Klawunn
    Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs