There was only one neighbor complaint during this year’s Welcome Weeks, according to Dean of Students Robert Hradsky.
The sole complaint was for noise, Hradsky said. Last year, there were 27 total complaints over the course of the whole year, 15 of which were from the same household.
There were more complaints during last year’s Welcome Weeks, according to Hradsky.
He said the Office of the Dean of Students and the Department of Public Safety have stepped up their efforts to be more proactive about neighbor concerns since last year.
AU’s Campus Plan — a facilities plan for the next 10 years that includes developing the Nebraska parking lot into part of the campus — is up for renewal this year. The D.C. Zoning Board will ultimately approve or reject the plan, but local Advisory Neighborhood Commissions hold great weight with the board, The Eagle previously reported.
AU changed its Student Conduct Code last year to give the university the power to take disciplinary action “when, in the judgment of university officials, a student’s alleged misconduct has a negative effect on the university’s pursuit of its mission or on the well being of the greater community.”
The change was made partly to satisfy neighbor complaints, according to Vice President of Campus Life Gail Hanson.
The Campus Plan is considered part of the university’s mission, Hradsky said. Neighbor complaints can influence the ANCs, which can then affect the Campus Plan.
The university also recently increased its communication about community issues, both on and off campus.
Every two weeks, an internal group of AU administrators meets to discuss ways to better respond to neighbor concerns, in addition to quarterly Neighbor Relations Committee meetings, Hradsky said.
Hradsky said residents were finding it difficult to get the Metropolitan Police Department to respond to problems. Now Public Safety will get the complaint first and then make an “agency to agency request” for MPD help.
However, Hradsky said, that the majority of AU students living off-campus pose no problem to their neighbors.
sdazio@theeagleonline.com
