Controversial student conduct and search policies at the University of Rhode Island and George Washington University have some students up in arms, but the administrations in each school are warning against overreactions and have defended their policies.
The University of Rhode Island introduced three new changes to their student conduct code and search and seizure policies in January of 2006. Dorm administrators have more power to do visual searches of students' dorm rooms if they have concrete evidence from a credible source, including the smell of marijuana combined with open windows and fans, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education and Fran Cohen, dean of students and assistant vice president for student affairs at Rhode Island University.
Other changes include trying students who get into trouble in off-campus locations and trying students multiple times before the campus judicial system, said Tom Angell, a Rhode Island alumnus and the Campus Director of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy.
What some students call the "double jeopardy provision," permits students to be brought back on the same charges if additional evidence is found within a week of acquittal, said the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The university's decision to extend its jurisdiction to off-campus activities is partly in response to pressure from residents of nearby Narragansett, R.I., where much of the student body lives in university.
The Rhode Island policy change sparked a protest of about 200 students who assembled outside the university's administrative building.
Fran Cohen, dean of students and assistant vice president for student affairs at Rhode Island, explained the policy as a change of procedure for investigating possible violations.
In the past, when an RA was concerned about activity in a room, and when the resident refused to open the door, the Campus Police were called, which could lead to the arrest of a student, she said.
Cohen said the new policy instead allows the RA to contact an assistant director or director of housing. The assistant director or director can choose to do a hands-off visual search can occur, but none of the items found can be used in criminal prosecutions, only campus judicial procedures.
The extension of school authority to off-campus activities involves only students who are a threat to safety or the subject of multiple arrests, Cohen said. This is the AU policy as well for dealing with off campus offenses according to the AU Student Code of Conduct.
Punishments for such activities range from suspension in severe cases or alcohol counseling for lesser offenses. Furthermore, the double jeopardy provision only exists for student-to-student disputes, and would only be used by the administration in extreme cases according to Cohen.
Julie Weber, director of housing and dining at AU, said she feels the current AU judicial system probably will not change in the foreseeable future. Under the current rules, anyone who signs the housing agreement can be subject to an administrative search.
"In my eight-and-a-half years here, I've done less than half a dozen [searches]," she said.
Administrative searches are only used for extreme safety violations and law violations. Weber sees the drug bust that occurred in the 2001-2002 academic year a "benchmark incident that is always on the minds of administrators when making judicial policy." However, she stressed that Housing and Dining has a strong commitment to students' rights.
If faced with a search and seizure policy like the one at Rhode Island, the Student Advocacy Center would have a problem, said Ben Turner, executive director of the Student Advocacy Center.
"We would work with the students and the administration to craft a policy in the students' best interests," Turner said.
David Cushman, a senior in the School of Public Affairs at AU, disagrees with the Rhode Island policy.
"I think that the search policy combined with the double jeopardy makes it seem as if the school is looking to get kids in trouble instead of help them," Cushman said.
George Washington University has also started a new policy under which random safety checks of student dorm rooms can be conducted without the student's consent. This is done in all dorm rooms and was designed to search for prohibited items such as candles, George Foreman grills, Halogen lamps and pets and. The offending items are confiscated and given to charitable organizations in the D.C. area according to The Hatchet, GW's student newspaper.
GW has defended their policy against student criticism that the policy is invasive and illegal. Tracy Schario, GW's director of media relations, said the searches were essentially the same as previous safety checks in dorm rooms. The only difference is this year the school has hired outside contractors who, if they find a prohibited object, will take it.
Contractors can only take what is in plain sight, she said. The school provided warning in advance of the policy, and also gives students the opportunity to mail home prohibited items.
Ben Traverse, a senator for GW's Student Association, doesn't think the university has the right to take property that is in violation of the school's policy. .
"My problem is that I don't think the university has the authority to confiscate student property, said Ben Traverse, a Student Association senator at GW.
According to Angell, "Students should handle all matters of students and drugs internally in the university without off-campus involvement."
Students for a Sensible Drug Policy provides drug education and works to involve youth in promoting an open, honest and rational discussion of alternative solutions to our nation's drug problems, according to their web site www.ssdp.org.
