The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which the federally mandated standards of due process applicable to public institutions were formalized policies in public higher education institutions of the southeastern United States. Essential elements of due process were extrapolated from pertinent court cases through legal and historical analysis. Formal compliance with the extrapolated due process elements was assessed by the execution of a content analysis on a random sample of the institutions' student conduct codes. / From the total population of 115 four-year institutions in the southeastern sector of the United States, a random sample of 30 institutions was selected for participation. Four judges, who were volunteers from the Higher Education Program of the College of Education at Florida State University, implemented the research technique of content analysis on the sample of codes. Reliability of the ratings by the judges was evaluated by calculation of the percentage of agreement and computation of the k (kappa) coefficient. / Twenty-nine of the 30 randomly selected institutions participated in the study by sending copies of their student conduct codes. The content analysis process was complicated for the judges since the codes varied in format and presentation. A total of 17 elements were evaluated for compliance in the student codes. Because a confidence level of agreement was required among the judges, only eight elements had sufficient interrater agreement for compliance to be evaluated. Seven of these elements were significantly present while the remaining element was evaluated to be moderately present. / Oral notice, written notice, opportunity to present a defense, opportunity to be heard by a hearing panel, listing of offenses, listing of sanctions, and appeal procedures were elements significantly present while cross-examination of witnesses was moderately present in the student codes. Lack of rater agreement on other elements may indicate a high degree of vagueness in formal institutional policies. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-12, Section: A, page: 3061. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76190 |
| Contributors | SATTERFIELD, JOE CEPHUS, III., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 117 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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