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by BRITTANY PENLAND
News Reporter
As of this year, the Appalachian State University Office of Student Conduct will be enforcing consequences regarding violations of students on and off campus.
Each day, the Office of Off-Campus Community Relations receives a list of arrests and citations from the Watauga County Clerk of Superior Court, Coordinator of Off-Campus Community Relations Kendal B. McDevitt said.
The report
shows arrests or citations occurring in a 24-hour period, and the
office deciphers Appalachian students on the list, and students are
subject to consequences.
“[The policy] is
more formalized and more consistent, in the past it was more hit or
miss, and somebody may have fallen through the cracks,” Appalachian
State University Police Chief Gunther E. Doerr said. “This is the first
year it has been formal and consistent and I think it will continue to
grow from here.”
The Office of Student Conduct started addressing and enforcing consequences of off-campus violations last spring.
The five
primary off-campus violations the university has decided to address are
felonies, assaults, DWIs and alcohol and other drug-related
misdemeanors.
“We
realized that behaviors that were occurring on campus, were also
occurring off campus and we needed to start addressing those
behaviors,” Director of the Office of Student Conduct Judith M. Haas
said. “It is out of concern for campus safety, for our students, and
just letting people know that we really care.”
McDevitt
said 43 percent of the students who committed violations off campus had
already received a previous violation on campus.
“I think
some people are thinking we are playing big brother and whatever they
do off campus is their own business, well wherever you go you are still
an Appalachian student,” Haas said.
In 2007,
there were a total of 281 alcohol related arrests on campus compared to
80 arrests in 2005, according to the Appalachian Clery Act Alcohol and
Drug Statistics.
“I’m not
so sure it will decrease crime, but what I think this is going to do is
perhaps save the student living off campus that may be involved in
behavior that may get them in trouble,” Doerr said. “The university’s
process is not criminal, it’s administrative and it’s designed to
educate and make students more aware of community responsibilities.”
According to the act, there has also been a 25 percent decrease in the number of people involved in drug violations since 2003.
“A lot
of times people are perceiving this as the university attempting to
exert more control and power for the sake of power, and that is
entirely wrong,”
McDevitt
said. “The intention is we care and we have the research to back up
that this can make a difference and help people’s lives.”
To
increase awareness of the regulations in the Code of Student Conduct
and Academic Integrity, e-mails and flyers were sent to students and a
meet and greet with students living in off-campus apartments was
organized at the beginning of the semester.
“We
don’t know how many people it is going to help or hurt, but I think the
benefits look like they will definitely outweigh any of the
consequences,” Doerr said. “Being called to task by the university will
add more concern [for students]."
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