The number of alleged violations of the non-academic disciplinary code investigated last academic year was down by half from the year before, according to Associate Dean of Student Life Terry Addison. A total of 453 cases were processed by the Office of Student Life from July 2007 through June 2008, a significant drop after the number of cases spiked to 863 in the previous year.
The data include all violations reported to Student Life, including those that did not warrant disciplinary action and those in which the student was ultimately found innocent.
Non-academic disciplinary cases involve a hearing before either a dean, an administrator, a University disciplinary council, a University administrative hearing officer or the student-led Peer Community Standards Board.
The 2006-07 academic year "was an outlier in terms of the numbers being so dramatically high," Addison said. "It wasn't a question of enforcement or anything the University did."
The drop is mostly accounted for, Addison said, by a sharp decrease in copyright infringement and illegal file-sharing offenses - which were thought to cause the surge of cases the year before.
Many students may have stopped illegally downloading music and video files after recognizing the severity of repercussions, begun using alternatives such as Ruckus or have become better at avoiding detection, Addison said.
"I hope students understand that it may not be worth it to sit in their room and download a season of 'Heroes,'" Addison said. "They might do it 10 times and there would be no consequences but maybe the 11th time someone notices."
There is also a sense among University personnel, Addison said, that the class of 2011 is a "less alcohol-consuming and a more focused group," resulting in fewer violations of that sort.
The latest report of non-academic violations, released Monday, does not include a case-by-case description of the most serious cases, as reports in years past have. That change was designed to protect students' confidentiality, Addison said.
There were 177 cases in the 2007-08 academic year that warranted disciplinary proceedings, 128 of which were handled by dean's hearings, according to the report. Dean's hearings resolve cases such as underage drinking, harassment, behavior of a guest and damage to University property and can result in sanctions ranging from a warning to deferred suspension.
Minor and first violations, such as false fire alarms, theft and noise violations are handled by the peer standards board. Of the 34 cases heard by the board, 28 resulted in reprimand, four in no finding of a violation, one in no action taken and one in probation.
Though not included in the report, 276 non-disciplinary violations were investigated, and most had to do with illegal file-sharing, Addison said. All but eight resulted in warnings.
The most serious offenses - including those that may warrant suspension or expulsion from the University or permanent record notation, such as physical assault, sexual misconduct and possession or provision of drugs - are resolved through administrative hearings. Last year, three of these cases led to probation, seven to suspension and one to deferred suspension, according to the report.
