UW-Madison officials can now hold students accountable for misconduct occurring outside of university grounds.
The UW System Board of Regents officially adopted the revised student code of conduct last spring, and the changes went into effect on campus Tuesday.
According to the UW System code of conduct, officials may now punish individuals for a ""pattern of behavior"" they believe ""seriously impairs the university's ability to fulfill its teaching, research, or public service missions,"" whether or not it occurs on campus.
""This means that students may be charged with misconduct for off-campus behavior when the misconduct is of substantial university interest,"" Lori Berquam, UW-Madison dean of students, said in a statement.
Under the revised code, off-campus student misconduct does not need to be criminal to be punishable by the university. UW-Madison also gained the authority to sanction students in a manner independent of any ongoing criminal investigations.
Berquam said the precise meaning of the controversial ""substantial university interest"" standard had not been settled, even though the change is already in effect.
""The Offices of the Dean of Students are committed to working with students and student government to better define ‘substantial university interest,'"" she said.
The new conduct code also denies students the opportunity to have legal counsel speak on their behalf or cross-examine evidence unless the case would result in suspension or expulsion.
In a past statement, the Board of Regents said these changes are part of an ongoing effort that was ""designed to make the disciplinary process more educational and less adversarial.""
Many UW-Madison students, however, have expressed concern about the legality of the change of codes.
Alex Flanagan, a UW-Madison junior and political science major, said he feels UW-Madison would be stepping outside its boundaries if it were to act on any misbehavior outside of campus.
""It is not the role of the university to decide what I do when I am outside of the university,"" he said. ""I do not understand the university's motivation; student misconduct off campus should be dealt with by local laws and law enforcement and not by what the university arbitrarily decides to impose as its own interest.""
