Get ready, students, because the revisions to the Student Code of Conduct are in place. Students, administrators and police are asking, “What does the Code cover?” Since the university is still developing a “reader friendly” guide to the Code, here is a quick and simplified version. This column will review the Code and try to make clear what it covers. Basically, unless you torch a house, or a dumpster next to a house, seriously threaten to attack someone, or actually do it, or rob someone, the Code doesn’t cover it.
On campus, the Code provides a new process for handling allegations of student academic misconduct. Under the old Code, students charged with academic misconduct had their charges heard by the Judicial Panel, composed of students and faculty, which is a part of the Committee on Academic Misconduct. The revisions to the Code allow students to choose to have the investigation and sanctions performed by an administrator in COAM, and not done by a student judicial panel. How these changes affect the ability of faculty and students to have a fair and effective process for handling academic misconduct is still unknown, but will be tracked by the Council on Student Affairs (CSA). CSA, the committee that revised the Code, is part of the University Senate, the faculty/student/administration body that helps govern the university.
Off campus, the changes to the Code are significant. Before the changes, students who were on university business, or part of student organization or student government activity off campus, or on a “field trip” with a class, were subject to the Code of Conduct. However, if a student was not on such business and attacked another student, community member or police officer off campus, the Code did not apply. It could not be used to investigate what occurred, hold hearings or determine what sanctions should be given, if any. The revisions to the Code make crimes of violence committed off campus violations, and actions that cause significant harm to people or property. Here is a quick list of most of the covered behaviors:
Murder, aggravated murder
Rape, attempted rape, felonious penetration, sexual imposition
Burglary, aggravated burglary
Arson
Aggravated menacing
Aggravated riot
As you can see, this list addresses crimes of violence against people, and, when taken with the general “actions that cause significant harm to people or property,” enable students to make sure that other students who take these kinds of actions will be covered by the Code. In general, it will greatly assist the university community address off campus crimes committed by students. You should note that underage drinking, simple riot, simple menacing and littering are not covered by the Code of Conduct, although they are, of course, violations of city or state law, and are discouraged.
Another major change in the Code is to increase the standard of evidence that is needed to find a person guilty of a violation of the Code. Under the old Code, a “preponderance” of evidence was required, but “clear and convincing” evidence is now needed.
The revisions to the Code took seven years and were very contentious. Your student governments, faculty and administrators worked hard to strike the right balance. We wanted to make sure that students and the community were protected from the most egregious conduct of students’ conduct off campus, but also protect students in their private lives as citizens off campus. We agreed that minor violations of the law should not bring students under campus jurisdiction through the Code. In order to make sure that the Code was implemented as intended, a new Code Implementation Review Task Force is being established.
Given the controversy over the Code and the complexity of it, students deserve more of an explanation of what student governments, faculty and administration were trying to accomplish with these changes, so look for another guest editorial to address many interesting questions about the Code, all related to: “Is it fair?”
Ron Meyers, President, Council of Graduate Students Member, Council on Student Affairs Ph.D. Candidate, School of Natural Resources.
