“*I’m in favor of the concept of it being applied off campus in major cases where there’s a safety interest for the rest of the student body. No one’s safety is violated by a loud party.*”
–Kyle Duerstein

Proposed changes to the University of Wisconsin System’s non-academic misconduct policy would make it easier for university administrators to penalize students for misbehaving off campus.

According to a report recently released by a UW System policy revision committee, the proposed policy changes to Wisconsin Administrative Code UWS 17 would make explicitly clear that university officials can sanction students for off-campus misconduct, including municipal violations, if that misconduct adversely affects a substantial university interest.

Jim Hill, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Dean of Students and member of the policy revision committee, says current nonacademic misconduct policy already allows university administrators to sanction students for off-campus misconduct if that misconduct occurs between students.

“If we felt there was some kind of connection to the institution, we’ve addressed issues in the past,” says Hill. “What this does is kind of legitimize what we do a little bit more.”

Kyle Duerstein, former Director of Legislative Affairs for the UWM Student Association and fellow member of the policy revision committee, says he agrees that the university has an obligation to protect students, but that including municipal violations goes too far.

“I’m in favor of the concept of it being applied off-campus in major cases where there’s a safety interest for the rest of the student body,” says Duerstein. “No one’s safety is violated by a loud party.”

While Hill says the proposed changes are not going to be enforced on issues like speeding tickets or failure to shovel the sidewalk, he does cite concern over house parties.

“Someone hosting a house party and serving students that are underage or even of age because they don’t have a license, repeated violations of that nature, they’re putting the health and safety of UWM students at risk,” says Hill.

Duerstein also has concerns about the changes to the misconduct hearing process. According to Duerstein, the proposed changes would limit whether students charged with misconduct could initially be heard by a hearing committee or by a sole hearing examiner.

“If a student is asserting their innocence or is asserting that they don’t want any punishment, then they should be able to make that assertion in front of a committee that is partially made up of students,” says Duerstein.

Hill says that the change is intended to expedite the hearing process, but that he can see where Duerstein is coming from.

“I can also see the position that students should be able to determine if they want to be heard by an examiner or the full committee,” says Hill. “I am really interested in seeing the comments and feedback from students regarding this proposed change.”

According to a UW System press release, the revision committee expects to present its recommendations to the UW System Board of Regents in April. If the initial recommendations are approved by the Regents, state rules call for them to be sent to the State Legislative Council for review, followed by a university-sponsored public hearing. The Board of Regents will then consider final recommendations and submit new rules to the Legislature for final approval. This final step provides an opportunity for state elected leaders to hold additional public hearings on the matter.

The recommended changes can be reviewed by logging onto http://www.wisconsin.edu/admincode/ through March 11. The public can submit feedback using this site.

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