With costly pranks in the dorms making headlines over the last few years, UW-Madison has increasingly invoked its non-academic behavior policy.
In May, a trashcan was lit on fire in the early hours of the morning in Witte Hall the day before final exam week, prompting students to later be suspended from the university.
In Fall 2004, an unknown male student held a cigarette lighter up to Witte Residence Hall's sprinkler system, resulting in flooding of at least two floors, fire alarms and evacuation of both towers until approximately 4 a.m. The case is still unsolved, according to the UW-Madison Police Department.
Students may face consequences for non-academic bad behavior, covered in UWS Codes 17 and 18.
Magpie Martinez, one of the Witte Residence Life Administrators, passed the case on to the Office of the Dean of Students due to the seriousness of the incident. Martinez stated serious events such as arson are typically passed on directly to the Office of the Dean of Students.
Sellery Hall Residence Life Complex Coordinator James Franzone confirmed house fellows and members of University Housing administration typically handle less serious crimes such as alcohol violations.
""You set a fire somewhere, you're not going to be at school anymore,"" said Assistant Dean of Students Irvine Cox.
He said students are sent a letter and e-mail when they are accused of a misconduct violation, then asked to meet with someone from the Office of the Dean of Students to discuss the event.
""Ninety percent of the people we see admit to doing it,"" Cox said.
Students can then either sign a contract admitting to guilt or bring the incident to a hearing and further investigation. Cox said the amount of cases brought to a hearing are rare, and that the first this semester occurred last week.
In cases that have a penalty of suspension or expulsion, the hearing is automatically scheduled, though Cox confirmed most students facing those charges waive that right.
Most of the misconduct issues, unlike arson, occur in cycles, according to Assistant Dean Tonya Schmidt. She said the fall football season combined with freshman inexperienced with drinking creates large numbers of alcohol violations annually.
Schmidt also said as finals approach, academic misconduct violations increase, but that misconduct issues reach higher levels nearing the Mifflin Street block party. Along with alcohol violations, Schmidt said violent assaults have also become more frequent on campus.
""We do have sort of seasons, but we're always busy,"" Schmidt said. She further noted there was often no ""cookie cutter"" formula for dealing with misconduct issues and that each case is looked at individually.
The UW System codes that cover misconduct have room for improvement, especially UWS 18, which deals with on campus offenses, according to Cox. He said it lacks up-to-date rules regarding computer misconduct and needs to have a better sexual harassment policy.
