Drug violations have increased on campus, alcohol violations on the decline
More drug-related issues were reported at Central Michigan University in the 2009-10 academic year than in the last decade.
The year saw 65 incidents within residence halls which resulted in a fine — a 132 percent increase from 2007-08.
However, alcohol violations have decreased annually with 409 reported last year, which is down from 517 in 2006-07, said Director of Student Life Tony Voisin.
He said about 50 alcohol violation referrals have been reported since the first two weeks of the present school year, which normally hovers around 30 referrals.
“It’s been a pretty busy couple of weeks for us,” Voisin said, noting it will take at least a month to process the pending alcohol referrals.
Most of the university code of ethics violations pertaining to controlled substances and alcohol stem from the residence halls, he said.
Voisin said the statistics do not include instances where a student was found in violation of the policy, but was not reported to university officials by their residence hall director.
Bill O’Dell, residence hall director for Cobb and Troutman halls, said resident assistants are required to stop behavior violating the university policy once drawn to the situation. The instance is then documented and sent to the hall’s RHD.
O’Dell said the RHD meets with each person documented in the report to ensure accuracy and get their point of view.
Minor infractions like noise or trash violations are usually handled by Residence Life, O’Dell said, but more severe situations are referred to the Office of Student Life where a conduct proceedings officer determines the best course of action.
“We try to maintain a level of civility and community in our residence halls,” O’Dell said, “and that’s why we try to stop behavior that’s violating policy and then refer that over.”
Police involvement
In cases where drugs are involved, Residence Life contacts CMU Police. Conversely, the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities handle alcohol violations.
After a referral is reported, Voisin said the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities reviews the report, consults with the student or students involved in the incident, and takes further disciplinary action if required.
The fine for a first-time offense is $150.
Although the numbers are about evenly spread throughout the residence halls, Wheeler had the most reported alcohol and drug violations where police were involved with 10, while the other halls all had violations in single digits.
Voisin said alcohol violations on campus aren’t always reported to the police because CMU’s policy is to route the student through the university’s disciplinary process.
“We are not a court system,” he said.
Because the university handles alcohol violations, Voisin said they educate students to make better choices. The number of students who violate alcohol policies on campus for a second time is very low, Voisin said.
CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley said he’s comfortable with this arrangement.
“I think Residence Life has a very good track record on campus of making the decision of contacting the police and when not to,” he said.
According to year-to-date statistics from CMU Police, the department responded to 45 controlled substance cases and 33 alcohol cases at residence halls in 2010.
Yeagley said the statistics are slightly higher than normal, but the increase is not substantial.
