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Printer-Friendly ModeReduction of alcohol fines called for by committee
Suggested revisions to policy emphasize educating minors to prevent repeat offenses
February 19, 2007 —
The ad hoc committee that was formed to review the campus alcohol policy has compiled their recommendations which will be presented to the Board of Control in May.
The committee, made up of 13 members (both students and staff), reviewed four components and came to a consensus on recommendations for three of them.
The first component regards fines. The committee recommends that the fine for first-time alcohol violations be reduced from $100 to $75 and to increase communication about the policy and place additional focus on education after the fine has been levied.
The committee felt students did not know enough about alcohol and its effects, as observed when a student receives their first offense.
"The idea is that hopefully, with a lot of education, [students] won't come back with a second offense," says committee member and Student Association president Andy Suszek.
The second component regards the roles of Resident Assistants. The committee recommends an increase in communication between University Residence Association and Residential Life and that when a student receives a notice, it includes a reason why a RA approached them.
"We felt that there were a lot of complaints from students that weren't always heard by Res Life," Suszek said. "A lot of those complaints went to URA."
The third component regards the guidelines for the quantities of alcohol allowed in housing of of-age residents. The committee recommends that the quantities be applied to the number of residents and not apply to the residence.
For example, if four of-age people live together then the total amount of alcohol they would be allowed to have would equal the individual amounts added all together.
The fourth component, where no consensus on any recommendation could be made, regards parental involvement. The debate is whether parents should or should not be notified if their student is charged with an offense.
The committee does believe that this issue should be further researched to see if the University could be in legal trouble for not notifying parents about certain alcohol violations.
"I think [the committee] made a lot of progress," Suszek said. "For all of these recommendations, for the entire committee, my goal was to make campus as safe as possible for all students."
The current SVSU Alcohol Policy is stated in the 2005-06 Student Handbook on pages 19-22. Residents of the First Year Suites and Living Center North live under a zero-tolerance policy.
Residents of second-year communities (Living Center South and University Village East) may be eligible to obtain an alcohol permit if they are over the age of 21.
Residents of Pine Grove Apartments and University Village West are allowed to have alcohol in their apartments as long as one or more of the residents are over 21. The handbook does state a limit on how much alcohol is permitted in the apartment, and community sources of alcohol, such as kegs, are banned on University premises regardless. In addition, the possession of alcohol containers by unauthorized individuals is also a violation.
URA's recommendations will be presented to the Board of Control on May 12.