AU will continue to monitor students' off-campus behavior as the university increases its contact with local police departments, according to Public Safety Chief Michael McNair.
The AU Student Conduct Code allows the university and local police to prosecute students for illegal activities that occur off campus. McNair said that while the policy itself has not changed during his five years at AU, the university has been building closer relationships with the local police departments.
AU Public Safety currently gets e-mail alerts from the Metropolitan Police Department and monitors its Web site for mentions of AU students. The same close relationship exists with the local Maryland police departments, and students cited by either department are then referred to Judicial Affairs and Mediation Services, McNair said.
Student Advocacy Center Director Emily Whelden said she would prefer that AU did not take disciplinary action against students for incidents off-campus authorities are already charging them for.
"I personally disagree with it but I can understand where the university is coming from," she said. Whelden said she feels that simply adding another punishment on top of a court charge does not get to the root of the problem.
Public Safety will send students to JAMS for off-campus crimes such as alcohol violations, theft and robbery, McNair said.
Through her work with the Student Advocacy Center, Whelden frequently counsels students faced with JAMS hearings for underage drinking. She said the punishments she usually sees for first-time offenses included an alcohol awareness class, an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting or community service, she said.
AU monitors students' off-campus behavior because the university does not want students engaging in illegal activities that would endanger AU's reputation as a good neighbor. Public Safety also wants to make sure students are staying safe while they are off campus, McNair said.
When students enrolled in AU, they also agreed to abide by the university's conduct code, both on and off campus, he said.
"Students can't accept the degree without accepting the responsibilities that come with it," he said.
Anna O'Neill, a senior in the School of International Service, said she does not see the point of AU's off-campus enforcement of the university code of conduct.
"It sounds like it's a waste of resources," she said.
Other universities have recently developed policies to increase the amount of off-campus control over students. The University of Washington adopted their first off-campus code in January and simultaneously employed university police officers to patrol the heavily student-populated neighborhoods near campus. These officers will only report students to the university for violent crimes, according to Elizabeth Higgins, UW's director of community standards and student conduct.
"They are there as community police officers ... to provide safety and to respond to students issues and concerns," she said.
Boston College sends college officials off campus to track down illegal student behavior, while Seattle University now monitors students' Facebook pages for information about parties, according to USA Today.
AU does not search for off-campus parties on foot or through Facebook and currently has no plans to begin doing so, McNair said. However, he said he is not opposed to the idea and feels investigating via Facebook is "fair game."
You can reach this staff writer at mkendall@theeagleonline.com.
