No Contact Orders are one of the tools used in the Student Services risk assessment and risk management process to support student safety during their time at UEA.
WHAT IS A NO CONTACT ORDER? A No Contact Order is a formal notice issued by Student Services on behalf of the University, which restricts two or more students from directly, purposefully contacting or communicating with each other.
A No Contact Order can be issued at the discretion of Student Services and restricts the named parties as follows:
- do not contact relevant student name, either in person or by any other means (directly or indirectly), including via social media;
- to comply with any reasonable request made by your School of Study in line with this order
Normally a No Contact Order contains the same information for all parties. If additional specific requirements are needed for one party, in order to manage safety or risk, this will be included in the notification letter.
If both students are on the same course, share a module or share accommodation, further discussions will be held with the relevant students and the School of Study in order to ensure any contact relating to studies is managed effectively.
A No Contact Order is put in place to try and prevent any direct, purposeful communications between students. The issuing of a No Contact Order does not guarantee that students will not see each other at all on campus, in shared student spaces or in teaching sessions where contact can be effectively and reasonably limited.
WHEN IS A NO CONTACT ORDER ISSUED? A No Contact Order may be identified as an appropriate supportive measure during a risk assessment conducted by Student Services.
Risk assessments may be carried out following a report from a student about behaviour that makes them feel unsafe, or a security or police report that indicates a safety risk to one or more students.
No Contact Orders are intended to be supportive to all involved parties, protect them and prevent any future interactions which could be problematic for the individuals involved.
IS A NO CONTACT ORDER THE SAME AS A RESTRAINING ORDER? No Contact Orders are not intended to replicate a restraining order. Restraining orders can only be issued by court order, whereas No Contact Orders are a risk management tool used by the University.
No Contact Orders do not guarantee that parties will not see one another on campus or prohibit either party from using public spaces such as the Library, shop or Students' Union venues including the LCR.
No Contact Orders are intended to reduce direct, purposeful contact between the parties concerned, in person and online including social media.
DOES A NO CONTACT ORDER MEAN I'M IN TROUBLE? A risk assessment may be carried out by Student Services if we have received a report of alleged behaviour that may be a breach of the General Regulations for Students.
This report may then be referred to the Student Misconduct Investigation Team for investigation, and if so, the student/s being reported will be contacted with further information.
Being issued a No Contact Order does not indicate what the outcome of an investigation will be, and No Contact Orders can be issued as a risk mitigation tool even if an investigation does not take place. They are intended to be supportive to all involved parties, protect them and prevent any future interactions which could be problematic for the individuals involved.
No Contact Orders are not a punitive or disciplinary outcome, and will not be issued as such.
CAN I REQUEST A NO CONTACT ORDER? No Contact Orders can be one recommendation that comes from a full risk assessment process that can be carried out by your Student Life Adviser as part of the support following your report. No Contact Orders may be issued as a risk mitigation tool to limit the interactions between two or more students but cannot be issued at the immediate request of a student without a clear indication of risk to one or more students. A full risk assessment must be completed first and this risk assessment must indicate that a No Contact Order would mitigate some of the identified risks. If you have concerns about your safety due to the behaviour of another student, please contact the Student Life team by submitting a report and an adviser can contact you to discuss the next steps. HOW LONG ARE NO CONTACT ORDERS IN PLACE? A No Contact Order will remain in place for the duration of study unless a formal letter revoking the order is issued.
WHAT DO I DO IF I THINK A NO CONTACT ORDER HAS BEEN BREACHED? if you believe another party has breached a No Contact Order, you should report details of this breach to studentlife.managers@uea.ac.uk along with any supporting evidence.
The incident/s will be reviewed and if it is determined that the No Contact Order has been breached, appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.