All employees and volunteers of Gutenberg College shall be held to the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct. Likewise, students at Gutenberg College and residents at facilities operated by Gutenberg College shall also be held to high standards of conduct.

Part 1: Code of Employee and Volunteer Conduct

Employees and volunteers may be dismissed from their position(s) at Gutenberg College on one or more of the following grounds:

  1. Physical or mental incapacity to carry out assigned duties faithfully and consistently.
  2. Commission of any act or acts involving moral turpitude or conduct found, and declared by the Board of Governors to be, seriously offensive to justice, honesty, or good morals. Such acts include, but are not limited to, the following:
    • Conviction for violation of any federal, state, or local laws;
    • Dishonesty, such as giving false information, alteration or misuse of documents, plagiarism, impersonation, and other forms of fraud;
    • Illegal use, sale, or possession of stimulants, intoxicants, or drugs;
    • Abuse, intimidation, or harassment of another person by physical force or threat of physical force.
  3. Failure to perform assigned duties in a satisfactory manner.
  4. Malicious commission of any act to the detriment of the purposes of the college or of the good order of the college, its parts, or the members of those parts, including, without limitation,
    • Any act intended to bring or necessarily bringing public disgrace to the college, its parts, or their members, without justification;
    • Any unlawful defamation (whether action at law is brought) directed toward the college, its parts, or their members.
  5. Persistent and irreconcilable disagreement on the part of the faculty member with officially adopted objectives, purpose, and policies of the college, manifested by one or more acts of insubordination.

In addition to the grounds listed above, individuals who are required by the Gutenberg Policy Manual to sign a Declaration of Compliance to the Gutenberg College Biblical Foundation Statement and this Ethics Statement  may also be dismissed if, due to fundamental disagreements with either of these statements, they refuse to sign the Declaration of Compliance.

Board Members and President

On one or more of the grounds listed above, a board member’s or the president’s appointment may be terminated at any time by a majority vote of the board of governors.

Administrative Staff

On one or more of the grounds listed above and upon the recommendation of the president, an administrative staff person’s appointment may be terminated at any time by a majority vote of the board of governors.

Faculty

Gutenberg faculty are held to the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct in the classroom and in the community. On one or more of the grounds listed above and upon the recommendation of the academic dean, a faculty member’s appointment may be terminated at any time by the president.

Other Staff and Volunteers

On one or more of the grounds listed above, staff and volunteers (other than those noted above) may be terminated at any time by the president.

Part 2: Code of Student Conduct

To be a Gutenberg College student is to avail oneself of a unique educational opportunity. To benefit fully from the program, a student must work hard and be a cooperative member of the Gutenberg community. Therefore, every student must agree to be respectful of other students, residents, faculty, and staff, cognizant of the fact that, in a small community, the actions of one affect everyone else.

Our rights, privileges, restrictions, and freedoms are derived from our relationship to the community in which we live. Freedom properly exercised is expanded. When it is improperly exercised it is reduced. Discipline is the community’s process of responding to the abuse of rights, privileges, and freedoms. It includes helping the offender understand the way his action is not acceptable in the community and how his place in the community can be restored through mature acceptance of responsibility. Discipline is fundamental to education, a major purpose of which is to help people make a reasoned use of freedom and thereby acquire more.

Loss of privilege, restitution, suspension, or expulsion may be imposed on any student whose conduct on or off the campus disturbs the peace or diminishes the reputation of the college community. The kinds of misconduct that may bring discipline are as follows:

  1. Conviction for violation of any federal, state, or local laws;
  2. Dishonesty, such as giving false information, alteration or misuse of documents, plagiarism (which includes the use of generative AI), cheating in school work, impersonation, and other forms of fraud;
  3. Theft, misuse, unauthorized use, or unauthorized entry of college or public property;
  4. Illegal use, sale, or possession of stimulants, intoxicants, drugs, or tobacco products and vapes;
  5. Use of marijuana in any capacity (even though legal in Oregon);
  6. Storing or consuming alcohol on campus (except for administratively sanctioned events), providing minors with alcohol, consuming alcohol if under the legal-drinking age;
  7. Willful failure to comply with the authorized directions of any college official, staff member, or tutor acting in the performance of his duties;
  8. Obstructing or forcibly disrupting college activities;
  9. Abuse, intimidation, or harassment of another person by physical force or threat of physical force;
  10. Deliberate or careless endangerment to another person, such as the following: tampering with safety equipment, violation of safety regulations, and use of firearms, knives, explosives, or other weapons on campus.
  11. Receipt or transmission of any material in violation of any state or federal law, including the receipt or transmission of any unauthorized copyrighted material or any threatening or obscene material via the Internet or any other means.

Part 3: Code of Resident Conduct

Gutenberg desires to foster an atmosphere where honest inquiry into life’s “big questions” is encouraged. While residents at facilities operated by Gutenberg College are not required to profess Christian faith, they are required to abide by the Code of Student Conduct stated above and the following three “moral issue” guidelines:

  1. No irresponsible drinking or drug use is permitted;
  2. No sexual activity between unmarried people is permitted; and
  3. Residents agree to pursue kindness in their dealings with one another, especially in the midst of life’s difficult struggles.