While coming home from Thurgood Marshall College at midnight on the last day of Fall Quarter 2007, John Muir College junior Jenna Frkovich noticed she was being pursued by an officer on foot. Frkovich, who was walking to her dorm after having had a couple of drinks with friends, was stopped and asked to undergo several sobriety tests before finally being handcuffed, seated in the back of a police car, and taken to a detoxification center in downtown San Diego. Not anticipating her four-hour stint at the center, Frkovich was even more unaware and ill-prepared for the course of disciplinary action awaiting her on campus.
In addition to meeting with her college dean, Frkovich was required to pay $50 for the ride to downtown and to attend a $75 peer counseling session with the Substance/Alcohol Feedback and Education Program offered by Counseling and Psychological Services. Frkovich said she felt as though she could have been better informed about these procedures and what her rights were when confronted with UCPD.
‘[My dean] told us what we had to pay and about S.A.F.E.,’ Frkovich said. ‘Basically, she told us everything we should’ve known beforehand.’
The Student Conduct Code, which can be found online at TritonLink or at http://ugr8.ucsd.edu/judicial/22_00.html, is where students like Frkovich can find information on punishable behavior and a brief overview of disciplinary action.
The conduct code has 15 sections that cover topics such as stalking, battery, sexual assault, theft and substance possession. There are separate and consistent regulations for housing, student organizations and academic integrity.
The ambiguity surrounding these statutes seems to reside not in the rules themselves, but in the type and severity of punishment issued once rules have been broken, as in Frkovich’s case.
While all issues of misconduct are judged on a case-by-case basis, there is a standard procedure students should expect. After being confronted by authorities, students receive a written summary outlining the rules they’ve broken and are required to contact a university official, such as a dean, for further action.
Next, students meet with their dean to discuss possible punishments. If a punishment is agreed upon, the process ends. But if there is a lack of consensus, students may undergo a hearing, after which they can be found guilty or not guilty.’
The conduct code has been continually reviewed and modified by organizational groups such as the Student Revisions Regulations Committee, and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Penny Rue has initiated a process to review the code, hoping to make it less technical and more focused on student learning and development.
As a result of this review, an alteration to the process, tentatively called restorative justice, is currently being considered by the SRRC, according to Director of Student Policies and Judicial Affairs and committee chair Tony Valladolid.
Under this possible process, students accused of misconduct would meet with a group to decide on an appropriate sanction, taking the student outside of the normal disciplinary action of meeting with his or her dean. According to attorney and Student Legal Services Director Jon Carlos Senour, there are some key rights that all Tritons should be aware of once disciplinary action has been taken. First off, students should know that they have access to SLS, which offers free confidential counseling to students charged with misconduct both on and off campus.
Another key resource is the Office of Student Advocacy, which appoints a student advocate to write-up cases, giving students the opportunity to speak with a peer about their situation before or after meeting with the dean. These advocates are able to represent students over the course of misconduct proceedings, and essentially speak on their behalf. In 2008, roughly 600 such counseling sessions took place.
Muir College junior and student advocate Stephanie Caloca said that in the case of misconduct, students who aren’t happy with the outcome of their meeting with the dean can start up another session with the college judicial board.
‘Students should know that if they don’t agree with something they have options,’ Caloca said. ‘You don’t have to agree to anything before you talk to someone about it. Be compliant, but don’t hesitate to question.’
Muir College Resident Dean Patricia Danylyshyn-Adams said students are informed of their rights primarily at college orientations, where they are given a residential life handbook that includes the Web site of the student conduct code. Beyond this, Danylyshyn-Adams said students should take it upon themselves to read through the conduct code.
‘I can’t tell you verbatim what the vehicle codes are, but if I got a ticket I would go online,’ Danylyshyn-Adams said. ‘It is the same with the student conduct code. For general students it is not something they would read unless they needed to.’
Residential advisers play a large role in informing residents of their rights, especially in regard to housing policy, by holding weekly meetings and regularly passing out newsletters.
‘I usually tell residents that we’re the go-to person if they have questions regarding their rights,’ said Eleanor Roosevelt College senior Brent Costa, who has been a resident adviser for the past two years. ‘We are the resource person; we have the resources and contacts of people whom students can talk with about their rights.’
One of the most common housing policies residents encounter is a resident security officer entering dorm rooms and suites. Costa explained that RSOs are not allowed to enter a student’s room unless they have a good reason to do so, like if they think someone is hurt or in danger. Here, students should know that their constitutional right against unlawful search and seizure applies. Costa said if a student is written up by an RSO, the best path to take is the one of least resistance.
‘When dealing with RSOs, compliancy is a big deal,’ Costa said. ‘I tell students that the best thing they can do is to be completely honest and straight up with them.’
Frank Carroll, A.S. associate vice president of student advocacy, has dealt with students whose rights have been violated or who incurred infractions out of ignorance and said that many of these instances could have been easily avoided with the right information beforehand.
‘So many times a student will come to my office with cases regarding whether or not they should be held responsible,’ Carroll said. ‘Often they waive significant rights without even knowing it. They are ill-informed and accepting responsibility for something they didn’t do; we need to get out there and be productive before these students get into trouble.’
Carroll said he hopes to see A.S. take a stronger role in advising students of their rights throughout the academic year.
‘If you’re aware of your rights you are able to be more productive as a student, and you won’t get into trouble unnecessarily,’ Carroll said. ‘You have to know what’s going on.’
Readers can contact Danielle Crawford at [email protected].