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An overview of Chapter 17
Proposed revisions could punish for off-campus behavior
By Kevin Lessmiller
“The Student Association is in favor of keeping students’ right to privacy and due process so they are not unfairly and unjustly targeted” – Tyler Draheim, SA President
Proposed changes to UW System Chapter 17 policy could punish students for non-academic off-campus misconduct.
The proposed changes arguably favor the concerns of neighbors around the UW-Milwaukee campus. If they UW System Board of Regents accepts the proposed changes at its March 2009 meeting, UWM students could be punished for actions adversely affecting UWM-area permanent residents.
The maximum penalty for such offenses would be expulsion. UWM officials have said they want the proposed changes to be approved.
“It’s our hope that the [UW System] Board of Regents will formally adopt those changes,” said Tom Luljak, UWM Vice Chancellor for University Relations, at an Oct. 29 Mandel Group Inc. neighborhood working session.
Luljak added during the meeting that expulsion would be a very last resort and only used for extreme cases of inappropriate off-campus behavior.
But UWM’s Student Association (SA) does not support the proposed changes.
“The Student Association is in favor of keeping students’ right to privacy and due process so they are not unfairly and unjustly targeted,” said SA President Tyler Draheim via e-mail.
Draheim said one of the issues at hand is university involvement in what are currently deemed municipal violations – including noise nuisance and drinking violations. He said it is the responsibility of the city and landlords to control these problems, and UWM should stay out of it.
“We are definitely in favor of the University having authority over violations where a student’s safety is in jeopardy,” said Draheim. “But not on repeated minor municipal violations.”
A significant issue that SA has with the proposed changes is the removal of a student’s right to have a lawyer present at hearings regarding their municipal violations off-campus. Draheim says this puts students “at a disadvantage from the beginning”.
“Students have the right to representation, especially when their academic careers are at stake,” he said.
Also, the guidelines for the hearing process would be changed to alter the makeup of the committee hearing the case. Students currently have a right to be heard in front of a committee made up partially of other students. In most instances, the new code would not allow this.
“We would like the hearing structure to stay the same as it is now,” said Draheim.
UWM student and SA Senator Kyle Duerstein is the only student representative on the UW System Chapter 17 review committee. To get involved, e-mail Duerstein at kjd4@uwm.edu.
Draheim urges students to education themselves on the matter and help present alternative solutions to the Board of Regents in March 2009.
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