Southern strives to maintain a safe and healthful community for its students and employees. One way the university endeavors to accomplish this goal is by enforcing a drug-free lifestyle. Therefore, manufacturing, distributing, possessing, and/or using tobacco, vapor or e-cigarettes, alcohol, and illicit drugs are strictly prohibited. These restrictions are expectations of Southern students when they are on and off campus and include the serving of alcohol, a fact which should be taken into consideration when seeking employment.
Though tobacco is not an illicit drug, nicotine has addictive properties and is responsible for a variety of health-related problems. Therefore, as part of its efforts to maintain a healthy community, Southern bans the possession, use, or distribution of tobacco products.
Illicit drugs include opium derivatives, hallucinogens (such as marijuana, mescaline, peyote, LSD, psilocybin), cocaine, amphetamines, codeine, heroin, methamphetamines, morphine, and other drugs, natural or synthetic, prohibited by law. This list does not include lawfully-prescribed drugs that are being taken under a physician's direction.
By voluntarily becoming a member of the Southern community, you agree to submit to random drug testing. If the Dean of Students and a residence hall dean have reasonable suspicion or evidence of drug use, they will require you to submit to chemical screening. The student is obligated to pay the expenses of the assessment and screening if those tests are the result of the student having violated this policy. You are also obligated to pay the expenses in the event that a random screen reveals that the student has used illicit drugs. Any student who has been found to have drunk alcoholic beverages or is in possession of alcoholic beverages will be required to submit to a chemical screening.
The results of a student's failed alcohol or drug test are kept in the student's file in the office of the Dean of Students. Consistent with the regulations of FERPA, disclosure of this information to other school officials, including professors within the institution, occurs only if the institution has determined that those entities have a legitimate reason to know. As such, the schools of Nursing, Social Work, Education and Psychology, and Religion have policies that establish them as legitimate need-to-know entities.
Southern responds to violations of this policy redemptively. While a short-term, on-campus suspension is given to a student who violates any part of this policy, the primary goal of Southern’s approach to illicit-substance abuse is to restore students to health and to direct them away from medicating with illicit substances. Therefore, students who violate this policy are required to interview with a professional drug-and-alcohol intervention counselor, become involved in an illicit-substance education program, meet with a mental-health counselor, and sign a commitment to remain substance free for the remainder of one’s time at Southern. In rare cases, the intervention counselor recommends inpatient intervention, thus requiring a student to suspend their studies for a period of time. The goal of this multi-prong approach is to facilitate the student’s return to a healthy lifestyle. In the event of a student’s recidivism—that is, the violation of this policy again, a student may be sanctioned with long-term suspension or dismissal.
Further information can be obtained from the Substance Abuse Policy booklet available in the office of Student Development or Dean of Students. You may also access the booklet by clicking here.