DEAN TO TIGHTEN ALCOHOL POLICIES

More Parents Will Be Notified Of Infractions

The University is looking toward revision and stricter enforcement of
student conduct policies, and regulations involving underage drinking
and drugs seem to be a main priority on judicial officials' list.

Office of the Dean of Students officials are becoming more proactive
in notifying the parents of students who are caught engaging in
underaged drinking or partaking in drug-related activities on campus,
residential halls in particular.

The non-academic misconduct portion of the Student Code of Conduct
states the University's prohibition of any student under the age of
21 from "consuming, possessing or serving without the proper
authorizations, alcoholic beverages in a campus residence (including
Greek houses). These rules also prohibit "illegal manufacture, sale,
distribution or use of narcotics or... any controlled substances."

A student in violation of these regulations can be convicted of a
felony or formally charged by civil authorities with the commission of a crime.

K.C. White, dean of students, said notifying parents of students who
violate these rules is an established rule in the Student Code of
Conduct, but the department is making a greater effort to become more
persistent with making it standard procedure.

White said the University is mandated by federal legislation to
follow the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act when dealing
with matters of this nature.

"Any college or university that receives funds from the federal
government is responsible for upholding this policy," White said.
"Within this policy there is a clause that specifically allows our
department to have parental contact when a student gets in trouble
for having alcohol or drugs on campus. This is a rule that has been
on the books, but I don't think we have been as consistent about
contacting parents in the past."

White said parents will be notified even if the student already has
told their parents.

Meaghan Osbourne, marketing junior, said she understands the rules
but is not sure she entirely agrees with it.

"I think if I get in trouble for something minor, and I have to do
something like community service, I probably will have already told
my parents," Osbourne said. "But if I get in trouble for something
major like drinking in the residence halls or something I can get
suspended for, then I understand why the University needs to contact
my parents. But I still think I would rather be the one to tell them."

Kara Helgeson, Residential Life judicial coordinator, said her
department is working with the Office of the Dean of Students to help
enforce the contact rule when students are caught with alcohol violations.

"Once a member of Residential Life is notified of a situation dealing
with alcohol, a Residential Life staff member confronts the situation
and information is gathered from all students present during the
incident," Helgeson said. "The students are asked to pour out any
alcohol, and a staff member documents the situation. For controlled
substances, the typical procedure is to contact LSUPD, who handles
the situation from that point on."

Helgeson said Residential Life provides to the Office Dean of
Students a list of students found responsible for violating the
alcohol or controlled substance policies at least once a week.

White said situations in which a student can be potentially expelled
or suspended from the University have to be handled by the Office of
the Dean of Students and not Residential Life.

"Residential Life does not have the authority to expel or suspend a
student when dealing with matters of a student violating residential
hall regulations," White said. "That department can only cancel a
student's residential contract."

White said the changes in staff and leadership in the Office of the
Dean of Students has contributed to this effort to enforce
established policies.

"We are now at full staff at the dean of students office. Dr. Eric
Norman, our associate dean and director of judicial affairs, joined
the staff in July, and I moved up in position to the dean of
students," White said. "Our staff has set goals to make improvements
and become more consistent. We are embarking on a process to make
changes on the [Student] Code of Conduct."

Norman said he thinks the established policies need to be clarified
and revised.

"The Student Code of Conduct has not been updated since 2002, so it
is time for an update," Norman said. "We just started submitting
revisions to the policy statements, and now we are starting to look
at the code of conduct."

Norman said the revisions will take a while to implement.

"This is all probably going to take about a year to examine and look
over," Norman said. "We have to wait and see what revisions are going
to even be approved."

White said students will have input on the decisions and revisions
made to the policies.

"Students will be appointed to the committees that will monitor these
changes," White said. "We do not want to make any decisions without
the students because this directly affects them."

White said the Office of the Dean of Students will begin to notify
students as the changes occur, but students should take
responsibility to educate themselves on which rules affect them.