Children on Campus - Student Services Policy - 80130

To protect the safety of young visitors and to avoid disruptive behavior, children accompanying employees, students, or visitors of Germanna Community College (GCC) must be under the constant supervision of a responsible adult while on GCC property or on the site of any approved off-campus class or other GCC event. Employees of the college have assigned duties and cannot take supervisory responsibility for any unattended children of employees, students, or visitors. Children should not be unattended on any College property at any time.

2.1 The College assumes no responsibility or liability for children, nor for any accidents or injuries to children. For the purposes of this policy, a child is defined as any youth under the age of 18 who is not officially registered in a GCC class.

2.2 Students, faculty, and staff are expected to arrange for their personal childcare away from the work site. In emergency situations, if it is necessary for the employee to briefly bring a child to the workplace during working hours, the employee’s supervisor must approve. Sick children are not to be brought to campus.

2.3 Children accompanying employees, students, or visitors are not permitted in classrooms (except when the child’s presence is necessary for classroom activities approved by the instructor), laboratories, the Testing Center, the Tutoring Center, or the Academic Computing Center due to potential disruption of instruction or study, exposure to material unsuitable for children, and possible danger to the children. Children on campus must be supervised by a parent or guardian at all times, and the parent or guardian is responsible for seeing that the children are mindful of others using College facilities.

2.4 Persons receiving GCC services may be refused service if accompanied by a child who will be unattended during the time the patron is receiving services. College staff will not be expected to provide supervision of such children.

2.5 A child should never be left unattended while the parent or guardian is attending class, conducting other business or attending a public event on campus.

2.6 Line of sight supervision by the parent or guardian is required at all times; should a child become disruptive, the student/employee and child may be asked to leave.

2.7 A violation of this policy may result in appropriate disciplinary action and removal from college property.

3.1 All GCC faculty, staff and students are responsible to abide by this policy.

If an unattended child is observed on campus, the GCC employee observing the child should attempt to obtain the child’s name and then report the situation immediately to the college police. College Police personnel will attempt to locate the child’s (children’s) parents or legal guardians or caregiver to remedy the situation. If the parent or guardian or caregiver cannot be found in a reasonable amount of time, the college police may refer the situation to the Department of Social Services.

3.2 Exceptions to this Policy are activities which, by their very nature, might be attended by children. It is assumed, however, that children in these facilities are attending these activities are under the supervision of an instructor or adult, or are enrolled in a fee-based program. Examples of such activities would be athletic events, performing arts performances, special events, and other activities organized for minor children.

Minors under age 18 who are enrolled in credit classes are considered GCC students.

Minor/children is any person under the age of eighteen years of age. Emancipated minors are considered adults.

Adult is any person eighteen years of age and older, or an emancipated minor.

Unattended/Unsupervised refers to situations in which the minor child is on campus or in a campus facility and is not under the immediate physical control of an adult or an instructor.

Chief of Police

President’s Council: March 16, 2015