Undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in promoting academic integrity and practicing restorative justice can serve as Remediation Peer Educators during Restorative Justice Conferences. In these meetings, they will represent UGA’s body of faculty as a party that was harmed through cheating (alongside a Remediation Faculty Representative who will represent UGA’s student body as a harmed party).
Restorative Justice Conferences serve the purpose of bringing together students who have caused harm to the academic community by committing academic misconduct and the two parties that have been harmed by their actions — students and instructors. Remediation students will talk about their individual cases, reflect on the reasons and circumstances that led them to commit academic misconduct, and determine steps they can take to repair their damaged integrity and the harm they have caused. Remediation Peer Educators will:
- Help remediation students understand how academic misconduct hurts other students
- Propose and/or agree on specific steps remediation students should / want to take to repair the harm they have caused
- Give helpful advice on how they can engage in professional development
Remediation Peer Educators need to be able to listen carefully, put themselves in the shoes of remediation students, and support them in their efforts to undergo positive personal development and make amends to the academic community. They need to be trustworthy, supportive, non-judgmental, committed to restorative justice, and have a deep interest in helping other students engage in professional development.