Murder forcing University re-think

Sophie Elliott with parents Gilbert and Lesley. Photo / Supplied

The murder of Sophie Elliott is leading a university to change its policy on staff-student relationships.

But Sophie's mother, Lesley Elliott, says Otago University is not going far enough and should ban them.

In 2008 Sophie, an Otago student, was brutally stabbed to death and mutilated by Clayton Weatherston, her tutor who had been in a relationship with her.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment last year with a minimum parole period of 18 years.

A copy of the university's draft staff-student relationship policy was released to the Herald on Sunday under the Official Information Act.

"The university strongly discourages, and staff should avoid entering into, an intimate personal relationship with a student at the university for whom they have a responsibility," it says.

"Such a relationship risks taking advantage of the intrinsic trust, power and status differential implicit in the staff-to-student relationship."

Staff members must also tell their manager if a conflict of interest arises or if they are unsure if their situation gives rise to a conflict of interest.

The policy is out for consultation and is expected to be adopted by the end of the year.

Otago's ethical behaviour policy, last reviewed in 2004, did not provide any information on conflicts of interest arising from staff-student relationships.

It said staff members must tell their manager if a conflict of interest arises or if they are unsure if their situation gives rise to a conflict of interest.

Lesley Elliott made a submission to the draft policy late last year.

"[Staff-student intimate relationships] should be totally prohibited," she said. "Because of the power imbalance it should be made quite clear to the staff that it's not acceptable in the university.

"It's not necessarily going to lead to the death of a student but it could lead to a lot of anguish and abuse."

She said staff-student relationships were a difficult area. "It's not easy when you're dealing with adults. But it's not insurmountable either."

Lesley Elliott said that if such relationships were to take place, students should be supervised by student health and support for staff should be by the head of department.

She also questioned the length of time it had taken to draft the policy.

"They're messing round - they've had a long time to do it.

"While they're messing round, more staff are being employed and more students are coming through."

Otago University human resources director Kevin Seales said the review of the ethical behaviour policy began as part of the policy review process.

"Work on the review started before the Sophie Elliott murder.

"However, the murder of Sophie brought a new perspective to the issue of staff-student relationships and naturally we decided to consult the university community more broadly in light of this tragic event."

Otago University Students Association president Harriet Geoghegan said she was happy that the issue was being looked at.

"We're always concerned about the safety of our members, and that includes all relationships."

The Tertiary Education Union called for the university to review its policy after Elliott's murder.

"What happened to Sophie was an absolute tragedy and clearly everyone involved in tertiary education has to ensure that nothing similar occurs again," said national president Dr Tom Ryan.

Auckland University spokesman Bill Williams said its student charter expressly discourages relationships where the staff member is making assessments.

kieran.nash@hos.co.nz