The ASU Student Code of Conduct is something many students skim before their freshman year, and then shove under their beds as one of the many things that collects dust.
Yet hundreds of students violate the code of conduct each year and many don't seem to know the consequences.
The violations include cheating, gambling, using false identification, plagiarizing, possessing drugs or paraphernalia, and possessing alcohol on campus.
Deborah Sullivan of Student Judicial Affairs said the most common violations are for alcohol and minor drug violations.
From June 1, 2003, to May 31, 2004, judicial affairs handled 396 cases involving alcohol or drugs; 285 of which involved charges or violations of alcohol policies and 111 involved drugs or paraphernalia.
Sanctions -- or punishments -- can range from writing an apology to getting kicked out of school.
Student perspective
Undeclared freshman Jovany Gertler and business freshman Taylor Alberstadt are two students who have been through the system.
Gertler violated quiet hours his first semester in McClintock Hall and was caught with alcohol his second semester.
Gertler said the process has several steps.
"First you get in trouble, then you go and they give you a sanction and then they send you to this room to meet with this guy.
"First semester they gave me a punishment which was to do five posters explaining what quiet hours are," he said.
Gertler went through the same process for drinking, but this time his meeting was with his peers instead of judicial affairs administration.
"It was a new initiative they took," he said. "Peers included other students in other dorms and other RAs, but the people had no affiliation with us.
"My punishment was to do four hours of community service and pay a $50 fine to pay for an alcohol class online."
Gertler said he read the code of conduct once during orientation, but never on his own.
He also said he knew his behavior was wrong, but was unaware of the consequences.
Alberstadt went through the judicial affairs process for violating Residential Life policies when he left loud music playing in his dorm and wasn't there to turn it down.
"They [Residential Life administration] banged on our door and wrote us a note saying that since we wouldn't turn it down -- obviously we couldn't 'cause we weren't there -- we were gonna get in trouble, so I wrote up an appeal and had everyone in our hall sign it saying they weren't disturbed by the noise.
"I had to go to this council of like 10 people to sit down and judge me so they dropped it -- you just have to fight the system.
Alberstadt appealed, but still had to attend a meeting to review his offense.
Alberstadt said he's never read the student code of conduct.
Nine out of the 10 students The State Press interviewed said they had never read the code of conduct and did not know what could happen to them if they violated it.
When asked if he had ever violated the code of conduct, undeclared freshman Sean Coleman replied, "No, well actually ... except for that time I got cited for drinking in my dorm room -- does that count?"
Common occurrences
The Student Code of Conduct was first implemented in 1983 and has been modified multiple times since then.
Twenty-six activities considered to be "prohibited behavior" are listed in the code of conduct.
These activities include academic dishonesty, furnishing false information, gambling "as prohibited by law or applicable policy," and violation of Arizona Board of Regents or University rules governing alcohol, including consumption, distribution, unauthorized sale or possession of alcoholic beverages.
Sullivan said violations also include students having fake/false IDs. Judicial affairs handled 51 charges or violations regarding false information last year.
Other common violations are various issues from the residence halls, Sullivan said. These include students trespassing on the property once they have been asked to leave the halls to students not having completed the sanctions imposed by Residential Life for previous violations.
"Sanctions are determined based on a variety of things, such as whether or not it is a first offense, whether or not the student was arrested and how serious the violation is," Sullivan said.
"Typical sanctions for first time, less serious offenses, usually involve disciplinary probation, an education class [some are online] and perhaps community service," she added.
Sullivan said sometimes judicial affairs will have students write apology letters or research papers on a specific topic, depending on the violation.
The process is the same unless a serious offense is committed, such as bringing a weapon on campus or injuring another student, she said.
If the situation is extreme, judicial affairs may decide the case needs immediate attention or handling, she added.
Judicial affairs sends the student a letter informing them of their violation and the charges from the Arizona Board of Regents Student Code of Conduct that apply.
Then, the student is given a date and time to meet with Sullivan or one of her staff, she added.
"This appointment is the student's opportunity to tell us their side of whatever it is that occurred."
Sullivan said the case is usually completed at that meeting and, if appropriate, sanctions are imposed as well. A letter outlining the meeting is then sent to the student.
"As you can see, we strive to be educational, not punitive, in our approach to addressing issues of student conduct," Sullivan said.
Reach the reporter at jourdan.rassas@asu.edu.
