Between Power And Right

Since the great Economic Reform, along with the growth of economy, theuniversities have marched a good deal forward and now play a rather main role in thesociety. Greater changes in the whole community, deeper influence on the area ofhigher education. Conflict of diverse interests begins to make its sense. The missionof universities depends on the vision of higher education. That the universities shouldpromote the individual development of the education-receiver, as well as the wholedevelopment of the society, requests of necessary conduct regulation and valueguidance for the students. For the sake of educational order, it is the inherentrequirement of the universities' management to discipline the misconduct of students. The lawsuits between the two parties launched by the discipline have invoked greatconcern of the society, which calls for the consummation of the student disciplinarymechanism. On such an important topic of realistic significance rising in the course ofhigher education reform, this paper is aiming to provide some practicable idea for theconsummation of the disciplinary mechanism. It will be started from the pair ofconcepts of "universities' power" and "students' right", through manifold angles ofsubjects such as law, education and morality etc., combining many a lively cases inthe judicial practice, summarizing systematically the concurrent theories on this area,and analyzing the defects of the present mechanism. Through the study, some conclusions have been achieved: Firstly, the students'discipline is an indispensable method in the higher education, and the main conflict inthe disciplinary mechanism is the conflict between the universities' power and thestudents' right. Secondly, the reasons for the current activation of the said conflict are:on one hand, the universities' autonomy grows with the reform of higher education,while the students' right lags behind;and on the other, the norm of "individual right"invoked among the students by the idea of rule of law, which results in continuouschallenges to the universities power. Thirdly, the consummation of the mechanismcan also be conducted from the two aspects: one is to impose proper limitation on theuniversities' power, without affecting its effective management, to improve thediscipline system and enhance the power supervision;whereas the other is to providepowerful legal protection to the students, without stimulating the misuse of right, toencourage the students' involvement in the limited-autonomy, and to strengthen therelieve system. Finally, the new amended Regulations on Ordinary University-StudentDiscipline is of obviously positive significance, but is deficient in the procedure andmaneuverability, and is in great need of enrichment and consummation in order foreffective guidance.