A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE COLLEGE STUDENT DISCIPLINARY SUSPENSION AND REENROLLMENT EXPERIENCE

Abstract

This study fills the gap in the literature by analyzing the college student disciplinary suspension and reenrollment experience. Additionally, this study highlights and assesses the educational nature of higher education student conduct systems. The following research questions were answered: How do college students experience disciplinary suspensions?; Why do college students choose to reenroll after serving a disciplinary suspension?; How do college student experience reenrollment following a disciplinary suspension? In order to understand their lived experiences, six college students from different institutions engaged in semi-structured interviews, using a phenomenological approach. Schlossberg’s (1981) Transition theory and Karp and Clear’s (2000) community justice model were used to analyze common lived experiences among these college students and delve into the internal and external factors that influenced these experiences. This study demonstrated that disciplinary suspensions are dynamic and multi-faceted, provide growth and development for college students, and can be a meaningful and important part of the college student conduct process.