Meridian's degree programs entail graduate-level academic work involving transformative learning and preparation for professional practice. As such this Student Code of Conduct is essential and consistently enforced. This Code is lengthy due to the comprehensiveness necessary for a graduate-level curriculum that integrates informational and transformative learning.

Please note that Meridian’s policies and practices embody several standards:

1. The importance of affirming First Amendment rights to freedom of speech recognized in the United States Constitution.

2. Standards of academic freedom towards which universities in the United States aspire.

3. A commitment to diversity that includes diversity of perspective.

4. This Student Code of Conduct which both supports freedom of speech while requiring respectful communication that does not disrupt the learning environment.

Students must agree to the Student Code of Conduct (SCC) in order to participate in courses. A purpose of the SCC is to support the safety and well-being of students and faculty alike.

Note that faculty and staff are also expected to conduct themselves professionally and ethically in alignment with this Code, as well as with the policies and procedures specific to their roles and responsibilities.

I. General Standards

II. Use of the Learning Platform

III. Internet Use

IV. Disruptive Behavior

V. Online Transformative Learning Labs

VI. Onsite Transformative Learning Labs

I. General Standards

Freedom of Speech and Learning Activities by Consent Only

1. The right to freedom of speech, as codified in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and as refined through applicable case law, is fully embraced by Meridian University. Students in the University's programs are expected to behave in a professional manner, to uphold the University's academic standards, and to respect the rights and responsibilities of all members of the University community.
2. Disruption of class activities prevents teaching and learning. Faculty have the right and responsibility to enforce the Student Code of Conduct (SCC) in all University academic activities, both live and asynchronous. If faculty fail to enforce this Code of Conduct, it is to the detriment of the learning environment. Students do not have the right to prevent the implementation of academic activities or otherwise interfere in the curriculum implemented by faculty. To interfere in faculty teaching and the learning process of other students can be understood as disruption to the learning environment.
3. All learning activities are voluntary. By attending and otherwise participating in classes, students are confirming they understand that their participation in each learning activity is a personal choice that they are responsible for making. Students may not pressure peers to participate in activities; personal responsibility is essential and inherent to the transformative learning environment. The University's Enrollment Agreement includes a section addressing the risks of transformative learning and the necessary informed consent in order to participate. Students can choose whether to participate in classes, whether to participate in individual learning activities, and whether to continue their enrollment at all. Students have the right to withdraw at any time.
4. Methods of expression, conflict-resolution, and feedback. Meridian students are expected to hold, and to hold each other to, standards of conduct appropriate for a higher education community with special emphasis on methods of expression, conflict-resolution, and feedback.
5. Misinformation and defamation. Students are expected not to engage in spreading misinformation or defamation of other students, faculty, staff or the University.

Safety and Transformative Learning

By registering for and participating in courses, students confirm their understanding of the following:

1. Transformative Learning is not suitable and can even be dangerous for individuals who are actively abusing psychotropic substances. When the student registers for, enters, and continues their classes, doing so verifies that they either do not have a history of substance abuse or, should they have such history, that they are receiving treatment and maintaining sobriety.
2. Any student receiving psychological or medical treatment by a licensed professional confirms by their participating in University activities that this clinical professional is aware of the student's participation and that they specifically and actively support the student to do so.
3. Meridian faculty and staff do not provide psychotherapy or any other type of clinical mental health services in one-on-one meetings, class meetings, or any other form of communication. Meetings with course faculty are about course curriculum and meetings with Academic Advisors are about academic advising only, which never includes psychotherapy. Students are expected to seek out external professional psychotherapists for their psychotherapy needs.

New Student Two-Quarter Onboarding

New students participate in a two-quarter onboarding process. This is a period where new students need the support to orient to Meridian's curriculum and culture.

From time to time, more 'senior' students have unintentionally provided misinformation to new students while these new students are in the onboarding process. This has been quite troubling for new students and has sometimes required significant staff and faculty time to undo the negative impact on the new student.

Typically, these events have taken place on unmoderated student platforms such as Slack or Whats App. New students have even withdrawn because of misinformation and rumors posted by longer-term students.

Professional Conduct

Professional Conduct is one of Meridian University's four Institutional Learning Outcomes which shape the academic intent of each degree program. Given the centrality of professional conduct to the institution's mission and its academic programs, the SCC is essential for the safety and well-being of staff, faculty, and students, necessary for maintaining an effective learning environment, and is also highly relevant to the University's curriculum and academic assessment model.

Students are expected to:

• Have one's conduct be consistent with this Code.
• Conduct oneself professionally in all verbal and written communications with staff and faculty.
• Conduct oneself professionally during live classes, including being video-enabled, without distractions (food, other individuals, pets), not while driving, and dressed in attire that may be casual but meets standards of appropriateness that does not disrupt the learning environment (these are detailed in Meridian's Zoom Guidelines).
• Arrive to both onsite and live video classes on time, return from class breaks on time, and engage attentively with class content.
• Observe posting and assignment due dates each week.
• Conduct oneself in a respectful manner towards fellow students, staff, and faculty (while disagreement is an essential element for lively classroom discourse, all members of the community need to approach disagreement with mutual respect, whether onsite or online).
• Notify faculty in advance of anticipated absences, late arrivals or early departures (live video classes and onsite transformative learning labs) and late postings and assignments (online coursework).
• Approach group projects with the intention and attitude of full collaboration.
• Turn off cell phones and refrain from laptop web surfing, texting, checking email and social media during live video and transformative learning labs (whether onsite or online).
• When communicating with staff or faculty, professional communication requires addressing the individual with whom you are communicating in the body of the email message ("Dear Name"), use complete sentences with appropriate punctuation including paragraph breaks, and place your name at the end of the message.

Illegal Conduct

Illegal behavior by a student in the context of the University's academic activities, on the University's physical premises, in the University's digital platforms, or in the context of the student's employment in the field they are studying for, fieldwork, capstone project, doctoral project and/or other academic work is a breach of this Code.

For the purposes of this section of the Code, the laws of the United States of America, State of California are applicable, unless relevant activities are taking place in another jurisdiction, in which case the laws of such a jurisdiction may be applicable, depending on the specific conduct.

Harassment

Meridian is committed to maintaining an environment that fosters respect for differences and supports transformative learning experiences. Safety and trust are the cornerstones of such an environment and as such Meridian will not tolerate or permit any form of sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment may consist of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, if:

• Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's academic success;
• Submission to, or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for academic decisions affecting such an individual;
• Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive learning environment.

Sexual harassment is prohibited at Meridian University in the context of all University activities, platforms, and events outside of those contexts between members of the University community. Academic content addressing sexuality in the context of course curriculum and not directed at a specific student is not considered in itself harassment.

Meridian prohibits harassment of any of its students, faculty, or staff based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, race, religion, color, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical conditions, marital status, age, sexual orientation, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation. This prohibition applies to all persons involved in the operation of Meridian and prohibits unlawful harassment by staff, students, or faculty. Disagreeable speech that is not directed at a specific student in the context of academic curriculum is not in itself harassment.

If you believe you have been harassed, communicate with the person and ask them to stop. If such communication is not possible, ineffective, or appropriate, provide a written complaint to the Administrative Director via administrativedirector@meridianuniversity.edu as soon as possible, and within 30 days after the incident. Complaints should include details of the incident or incidents, names of the individuals involved, and names of any witnesses. The Administrative Director will promptly notify the alleged individual(s) and give them an opportunity to respond. The Administrative Director will undertake an expeditious, thorough, and objective investigation of the harassment allegations. The Grievance Procedure provides for applicable appeal steps.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to adhere to the University's Policy on Intellectual
Integrity. This policy prohibits plagiarism as well as use of Large Language
Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Bing Chat for the creation of academic work.

II. Use of the Learning Platform

The following standards are described in the context of the University's learning platform, which consists of the web services utilized or otherwise endorsed by the University and used by students in the specific context of their enrollment at the University. These standards are applicable in contexts beyond the asynchronous learning platform (Pivot), such as video conferencing and in-person communication.

1. Student posts do not disparage, ridicule, mock, or condemn any other student, staff, faculty or any other individual or group affiliated with the University.

2. Students do not violate privacy or break the confidentiality of fellow students (except in any case where a student has communicated that they are at risk of harming themself or another).

3. Students do not replace or embed within academic writing, academic presentations or other academic assignments their complaints, frustrations, or criticisms about University policies, staff, faculty, trustees, procedures, decisions, processes, or communications. The academic activities conducted via the learning platform are not a place for grievances or related communications. The use of the learning platform for such communications can prevent teaching by faculty and learning by students and as such is disruptive to the learning environment.

   • Meridian has multiple feedback systems designed to gather robust feedback from students as well as established processes for students to raise and share any feedback or concerns that they may have, such as the Conflict Resolution Process (which includes a formal grievance procedure). Concerns or complaints must be raised through such procedures, not on social media or via other forms of online communication. Students are expected to use the numerous feedback channels available to them which include Course Evaluation, Program Evaluation, Mid-year Surveys, as well as meetings with their Academic Advisor.

4. Students do not write posts that promote misinformation, rumor, innuendo, slander, or divisiveness.

III. Internet Use

A transformative learning community requires a stable container to sustain its work on the cultivation of capacities. Building and caring for such a container requires practices that engage personal responsibility, accountability, confidentiality, and privacy. Our use of the Internet needs to support, not undermine, these practices. This policy promotes the use of the Internet in ways that do not disrupt Meridian's learning environment. Student behavior that undermines this policy is handled through the policy on Disruptive Behavior included in this Code, as well any other relevant Meridian policies and guidelines.

When assessing a problematic issue related to Internet use, the Student Development Committee considers impact- not only intention.

Nothing in this policy is intended to have the effect of limiting freedom of speech or academic freedom subject to that freedom being exercised within the law and subject to the University's status as a private educational institution that privileges faculty's academic freedom.

Overall Internet Use Policy

Meridian defines Internet use as all online communication which includes but is not limited to email, websites, web applications such as the learning management system (Pivot), message boards, groups, messaging platforms, chat rooms, blogs, social media sites, etc.

Internet use by students must support the practices of personal responsibility, accountability, confidentiality, respect, and privacy that sustain Meridian's learning environment. Disparagement of students, staff, and faculty by name or innuendo is a violation of the SCC. Students who use the Internet in ways that disrupt Meridian's learning environment are in violation of institutional policy.

Email, social media groups and chat threads, and other online venues are not suitable contexts to process upset feelings towards other students, staff, the University's leadership, or faculty. Expressing and processing upset feelings online has a damaging effect on the University community. Interpersonal process on the Internet tears the learning container in ways that diminish the reparability of the container. As such, students are expected not to use email or social media as a venue for resolving interpersonal conflicts within the Meridian community. By contrast, other contexts such as direct meetings can be suitable contexts, as they support integration and closure.

Students must accurately identify themselves online when commenting on or discussing any University-related event or issue. For example, a withdrawn student should not imply through their conduct or otherwise that they are a current student.

Email Guidelines

Students are expected to follow the email guidelines outlined below:

1. When communicating with Meridian's staff or faculty, address separate issues to separate faculty or staff members in separate messages.
2. When sending an email to Meridian faculty about a curricular or course matter, direct the email to only that faculty member. Avoid copying others, as well as 'reply-all.'
3. Meridian email lists are the property of Meridian University. Unauthorized use, distribution, release, and/or display of any Meridian student's email address to non- enrolled students, students who do not have a direct academic purpose for use of the information, and/or any other person(s), are not permitted.
4. Distribution, release, and/or display of any Meridian staff or faculty email address on any external email list is not permitted. Additionally, do not add any Meridian email address to a mailing list or email group unless you have received approval from authorized University staff.
5. Please do not send any of the following to Meridian's staff, faculty, or students via email: 1) correspondence which requires a signature; 2) bulk mail; 3) chain letters; 4) jokes; and 5) political email.
6. Students are expected to 'allowlist' the @meridianuniversity.edu domain and/or proactively check their spam/junk folder.
7. Students are responsible for having the technical ability to receive email from Meridian staff and faculty at both their Meridian address and personal address. This means ensuring that email software settings allow for all @meridianuniversity.edu addresses to reach the user's Inbox and not get diverted to their spam folder. Students are responsible for regularly checking their Meridian email. The University does not permit auto-forwarding of University email accounts, as this results in the personal information of other students leaving the University network.

Messaging and Social Group Communication

With regard to student use of websites, chat rooms, message threads, Facebook groups, etc., note the following:

1. Students should not use the words "Meridian," "imaginal," nor any terms directly associated with Meridian's identity that would blur the source of the representation in their personal or group website, chat room, social media group, or message thread names. Such use could imply institutional approval or regulation. Using phrases like "student-run" or "unofficial" is not sufficient to meet this policy, as such designations still imply association with, or oversight by the University.
2. The existence of any platform for use by Meridian students must be disclosed to the Student Development Committee, and its moderator identified. This is considered the responsibility of each and every student on such platforms.

• The University prohibits any use of platforms for and by Meridian students that are unmoderated.

1. It is the responsibility of all students to conduct themselves in appropriate ways. Students who create or manage online forums or groups that are not under the auspices of the University take on additional responsibility for the conduct of others "on their watch."
2. Students are advised that without coherent moderation and enforcement of conduct guidelines, online communication forums can devolve and result in disrupting or otherwise harming the Meridian community. Like the rest of society, Meridian has been impacted by the harmful use of digital platforms and as such, the University will intervene in all lawful ways available, if needed.

Social Media

While all University policies apply to social media, the following list serves as Meridian's policy specific to social media.

Use of social media must not infringe on the rights or privacy of other Meridian community members, as follows:

1. Students should not make ill-considered comments or judgments about other students, staff, faculty, or third parties.
2. Students must take particular care when social media posts identify oneself as a student of the University or identify members of faculty/staff, other students, or other individuals.
3. The following kinds of posts are below acceptable standards of professional conduct:

• Revealing confidential information about others (information about fellow students or staff or personnel matters).
• Specifics about complaints and legal proceedings.
• Personal information about another individual without their express permission, inclusive of their contact information.
• Comments posted using fake names, fake accounts or using another person's name without their consent.
• Material that is threatening, harassing, discriminatory, illegal, obscene, indecent, defamatory, or hostile towards any individual or entity (including images).
• Specifics that may compromise the safety or reputation of colleagues, former colleagues, students, staff, and those connected with the University.

Student-Managed Communication Platforms

Institutions of higher education have a wide range of responsibilities related to student safety, the confidentiality and security of student personal and academic information, and the accuracy of information communicated to students.

Consistent with the First Amendment to the US Constitution regarding freedom of speech as well as Meridian University policy related to academic freedom, students are encouraged to express diverse perspectives freely while maintaining responsibility for the rights of others. These rights of others pertain to safety, dignity, and their own freedom of expression as well as the expectations for professional conduct in the University environment.

In addition, the University’s curriculum supports the formation of student-initiated Transformative Communities of Practice, which can be enhanced through the use of asynchronous communication on a platform of the community’s choosing.

When blurred, distinctions between facts, feelings, fiction, opinions, and perspectives can be a source of confusion that disrupts the learning environment and eroding student safety.

Meridian’s cross-program curricular architecture includes institutional learning outcomes such as Professional Behavior and Leadership Capacities. As students learn in Meridian’s graduate programs, a culture of personal responsibility is key to organizational leadership, psychotherapy practice, facilitation, coaching, and stewardship. In this context, the University’s policy on student-managed communication platforms, noted below, has been developed.

Policy Overview

If students form a communication platform outside of Meridian University’s systems such as on Facebook, WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram, etc., adherence to the following is required.

Qualifying Platforms

A platform qualifies when all of the criteria below are met:

1. There are more than five Meridian students with access to the platform.
2. The platform (or channel/thread/workspace/organization/team/group/space/event) was created by a Meridian student.
3. The platform is outside Meridian’s Pivot Social, Pivot Courses, Microsoft Teams, and University Email software systems (for example, Facebook Groups or Signal).
4. The platform exists for the purpose, whether stated or implied, of discussing Meridian University related matters and/or communications between Meridian students.

Moderation Guidelines

1. The Moderator creates Participation Guidelines and shares them with all platform participants.
2. The Moderator provides their Academic Advisor a copy of the Participation Guidelines as soon as the platform is activated and subsequently whenever the Guidelines are updated.
3. At least one Moderator is active at all times. If the original Moderator leaves, they will appoint a successor.
4. The Participation Guidelines include:
   1. The purpose of the platform, as communicated to its members.
   2. The methods used to invite and/or accept participants, and the method used to verify the legitimacy of requests for participation (in order to ensure that all participants are who they say they are, and are in fact Meridian students).
   3. The methods used to protect the identities of members and the information shared by members.
   4. The methods used by the moderator to enforce the Participation Guidelines.
5. When there is any uncertainty of the facts, the moderator and/or participants will communicate this uncertainty to their individual academic advisor to ascertain the facts.

IV. Disruptive Behavior

In addition to facts, concepts, and principles, each program's curriculum emphasizes the cultivation of capacities. More specifically, the curriculum's intent is to catalyze the student's individuation process (understood as the unique and connected emergence of human capacities), relative to the specific emphasis of each program's learning outcomes.

The individuation process requires a strong educational container. The stability of the container is essential to the transformative learning environment. A stable and repairable container can host the chaotic aspects of experience that must be attended to in transformative learning.

In this context, disruptive behavior is understood as any behavior that negatively affects students' learning and faculty's teaching. Disruptive behavior undermines Meridian's learning environment necessary for transformative learning in ways that erode the safety of others.

Disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to the following:

• Behavior that undermines practices of personal responsibility and accountability.
• Behavior that involves inappropriate self-expression, including having the effect of undermining students' learning and faculty's teaching.
• Behavior that disregards, disrespects, or disparage faculty, staff, teaching assistants, and/or other students.
• Behavior that undermines the learning environment by bringing administrative issues into the classroom.
• Behavior that fails to promptly comply with any reasonable direction from Meridian faculty and staff.
• Behavior that undermines confidentiality and privacy practices.
• Behavior that promotes misinformation, rumor, innuendo, and slander.
• Behavior that uses the Internet in ways that erode the reparability and stability of the container, as described in this Code.
• Behavior that negatively impacts the safety and learning journey of others, with particular concern for new students in their first two onboarding quarters.
• Adversarial and/or divisive actions taken by student(s) and/or between faculty, staff or other students is considered harmful to the transformative learning process and learning environment. Any such actions that engage or further an adversarial polarization with Meridian community members is considered disruptive to the learning environment and as such may be grounds for immediate administrative withdrawal.

If a student's behavior has been identified as disruptive by a faculty, staff, or student, such an incident should be reported to the Student Development Committee. The committee will then conduct an inquiry. If determined that the incident constitutes disruptive behavior, the committee will do one or more of the following:

1. Issue a written warning to the student.
2. Take one or more academic review actions such as changing the student's academic status to concern or probation.
3. Initiate administrative withdrawal.

Outside-of-School Behavior

Meridian reserves the right to take necessary measures to protect the safety and well-being of the University community and to support Meridian's mission. This may include taking disciplinary action relative to students whose out-of-school behavior could:

• poses a potential danger to self or others; or
• potentially lead to disrupting the learning environment; or
• adversely affect Meridian University.

V. Transformative Learning Labs

The nature of the academic work students do during a Transformative Learning Lab requires what could be characterized as a holding environment or a safe and secure container. Transformative Learning Labs, both online and onsite, include learning activities designed to enable complex, graduate-level development of core capacities. Students are expected to participate both vulnerably and professionally when they are challenged by the nature of transformative learning activities.

The following requirements are designed to enable faculty to teach towards the curricular outcomes established for transformative learning labs. As well, these support the necessary vulnerability intrinsic to building a relational field for deep learning and reflexive participation (recall Week 2 on Vulnerability, in the first-quarter course Introduction to Transformative Learning). Conduct that is contrary to these policies is responded to in accordance with relevant Meridian University policies and procedures, including those within this Code.

Students may only attend transformative learning labs with the understanding that at no time will it be appropriate to address administrative questions or concerns. Faculty are engaged in teaching planned curriculum. In the same way that the learning platform is not a place to address administrative concerns, neither is class time in the transformative learning lab, whether online or onsite, a place to address administrative concerns. Attempting to address administrative concerns with faculty during the transformative learning lab would have the impact of preventing faculty from teaching and other students from learning. Meridian staff are available via the Student Services Request process to address any and all administrative concerns.

Attendance during all class modules is tracked and applied to each student's course grade per the Attendance Policy, noted on the course syllabus and in the Student Handbook. Students who do not pass a course due to insufficient attendance in its related transformative learning lab (whether online or onsite) have the option of retaking the course when it is next offered.

Students are expected to keep their focus on the class session which means refraining from checking email, texting, social media, web browsing and the like, during class.

Transformative learning labs do not include psychotherapy or equivalent services; they consist entirely of academic activities. Students are expected to bring to their attendance a mindset appropriate to the purpose of the lab. Students need to be mindful of their physical, mental, and emotional needs and take appropriate actions to ensure meeting these needs in ways that do not disrupt the University's learning environment.

Students are expected to commit to being a learner. This includes exploring one's resistances/structures that arise when receiving feedback, to do the ongoing work of situating one's learning attitude in that of 'not-knowing,' (per the very first quarter's Introduction to Transformative Learning course), and to be open to the premise that the more frequent the feeling that one knows with great certainty, the more likely is the possibility that they have moved away from the stance of the transformative learner.

The University does not require agreement with any beliefs. However, the University's transformative learning praxis does require students to engage in self-inquiry about their beliefs. This is directly related to each program's first learning outcome of Reflexivity.

The standards of conduct described here and below are also related to academic standards, rubrics, and coursework progress.

Online Transformative Learning Labs

This section is also applicable to live classes outside of scheduled Transformative Learning Labs, such as weekly live classes that take place virtually.

Student Commitment to Course Structure

• Students are responsible for arriving to each class session on time, and to being available for the entire scheduled hours of the online transformative learning lab. Being on-time especially supports the development of the holding environment and secure container.
• Students are responsible for coordinating their own technical equipment, time zone conversions from Pacific Time, and access to course materials.
• While faculty will make every effort to start and end each course module on time, students are expected to bring sufficient scheduling flexibility to the online transformative learning lab to allow for the kinds of normal unforeseeable events inherent in any multi-day event that involves many people.
• The online transformative learning lab is not scheduled around the live class sessions for other courses the student may be taking. The live video classes take precedence over any other courses the student might be taking if the video class time for their other course overlaps with that of the transformative learning lab.
• Students are responsible for coordinating their own scheduling and individual focus time during the week of the online transformative learning lab, as needed.
  • Keep in mind that attending the online transformative learning lab does not waive requirements for any other course(s) the student might be taking.

Responsibility for Personal Impact

• Students are responsible for ensuring all live video class guidelines and standards are kept for the entirety of the online transformative learning lab during all periods of class time, including but not limited to:
  • Video enabled (staying video-enabled sustains the relational field).
    • It is fine to briefly turn off one's video (up to 5 minutes) to attend to one's personal needs.
  • Not driving or in a car -- in an appropriate environment for engagement in graduate-level coursework.
  • No background noise or distractions in the room. Sufficient lighting to clearly be seen.
  • Professional dress appropriate for a graduate-level environment.
  • Responsible use of the mute button to avoid extra noise during class.
  • Not multi-tasking or conducting other activities and conversations.
  • Not unnecessarily moving around (this can be highly distracting to see in the live video window).
    • The exception to this is any movement-related activity that is part of the live video class taking place.
  • When ready to speak, please raise your hand and wait to be recognized.
• Students are responsible for ensuring sufficient Internet connectivity and other technical resources so that they can see, hear, be seen, and be heard clearly and consistently.
• Students who arrive late to any online transformative learning lab class module are expected to not disrupt the class, i.e., enter with the Mute button on and do not place into the Chat function - whether privately or publicly - questions about what you may have missed. It is important to stay aware of the facilitation needs of the online transformative learning lab -- faculty cannot go back to catch-up late students.
• Students who leave early from any online transformative learning lab class module or who miss any modules are expected to not disrupt the class. While the main class meeting will be recorded for archival purposes, break-out groups will not be recorded. Also, unlike weekly live video classes, recordings from it are not made available on the learning platform. This is part of securing the container.
• Students are expected to plan for and conduct their own meals during the ample breaks provided each day. Eating is not permitted during class sessions.
• Students are expected to manage their own hydration. Students are welcome to drink non-alcoholic beverages during the online transformative learning lab.
• Using the Chat function on the "Everyone" setting should be limited to faculty invitation and context discernment. In this way, what appears in Chat enhances the dialogue rather than becoming a parallel channel and distracting from the dialogue.

Live Video Class Privacy and Confidentiality

• Students are responsible for keeping live video classes private from others in their immediate environment. This means that:
  • The student should pre-plan with household members how they will be handling their computer monitor/ tablet such that the non-student cannot see the live video screen.
  • Should anyone in the student's immediate environment be physically close enough to see and/or hear the class session, the student is required to attend the session via earbuds, air pods, or headphones so that no one else can hear the activities of the class session.
• Although online transformative learning lab class sessions are recorded automatically, recordings are not available to students and cannot be manually turned off during the session.

Responsible Engagement in Challenging Course Content

• Students are expected to support faculty facilitation which includes muting and only unmuting when the faculty calls for this either for the whole group or the individual student.
• Students are expected not to attempt to control the content of class sessions because of their own preferences, experiences, or schedule (e.g. unmuting when that is not being asked for, placing distracting off-topic comments in the Chat, etc.)

Onsite Transformative Learning Labs

While many of the expectations about online transformative learning labs generally apply to transformative learning labs and should be adapted as such. Onsite Transformative Learning Labs require as stable a container to sustain student and faculty work on the cultivation of capacities. Building and caring for such a container requires practices that engage personal responsibility, accountability, confidentiality, and privacy.

Most of these standards apply equally to the online transformative learning lab as well but are noted here in that the different conditions of being onsite in the same physical location are especially important to keep in mind for participation in the Onsite Transformative Learning Lab:

1. Conducting oneself in a manner aligned with the principles and practices of personal responsibility, accountability, confidentiality, respect, and privacy that sustain Meridian's learning environment.
2. Holding to standards of conduct appropriate for a higher education community when it comes to methods of verbal and non-verbal expression, conflict-resolution, and feedback. Students refrain from disrespectful expression, including expression which has the effect of undermining students' learning and faculty's teaching. Students speak with faculty, staff, and fellow students respectfully at all times.
3. Not making ill-considered comments or judgments about other students, staff, faculty, or third parties and keeping confidential information about other students private. Students are expected to not engage in gossip or defamation with regard to other students and/or faculty, whether or not the individual student or faculty is in attendance at the transformative learning lab.
4. Following faculty's directions for learning activities; the authority for what takes place in a Meridian University classroom is invested with faculty.
5. Arrival to class on time, return from class breaks on time, and remaining in attendance until the class is formally closed. Students are also responsible for ensuring their own self-care during the onsite transformative learning lab (e.g. taking care of one's sleep needs, needs for solitude, etc.).
6. Turning off cell phones or place in 'do not disturb' mode. If using one's laptop for taking notes, to refrain from texting, social media, web surfing, checking email, etc., during class. Recording or live streaming in class is not permitted without prior specific consent from course faculty.
7. Refraining from eating and napping during class.