Talking Stick - July/August 2009 - 38

Courting Change in Judicial Affairs Leading by Example This shift from a dualistic and legalistic judicial affairs model to a more educational and developmental one was recently brought to the forefront by one of the field’s leading associations. The Association for Student Judicial Affairs (ASJA), in an effort to more accurately reflect its mission and professional responsibilities, created a new name and brand. In February 2008, general members voted and accepted the new name: the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA). In February 2009, the ASCA Board of Directors unveiled the association’s new name and logo. As discussed in an ASCA press release, the new name more accurately reflects both the work of its members “as conduct administrators rather than ‘judicial officers’” and the organizational mission, which is “to support higher education professionals by providing educational materials and resources, intentional professional development opportunities, and a network of colleagues to facilitate best practices of student conduct administration and conflict resolution on college and university campuses.” Tamara King, current president of the ASCA Board of Directors, explains the rationale behind the name change: “The term ‘judicial affairs’ is very legalistic and can have legal implications. Our work is very educational. We help students come of age, to be positive, self-sustaining members of society. Our work is educational, not legalistic.” Knock, Knock by Scott Boden and Barb Kefalas “Whose house is it anyway?” This is a question that often gets asked when it comes to defining the privacy of a student room and determining whether or not to allow police entry. Not surprisingly, university administrators, campus police and security, and students often see this question from widely divergent perspectives. In an effort to balance issues of education, safety, and students’ rights to privacy, practitioners need to consider how they will respond to the question. Policies for police patrolling residence halls or entering private rooms vary from campus to campus. At The Ohio State University in Columbus and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the police are an integral part of the residence hall community, and they interact with students and staff by walking the floors, facilitating programs, and even meeting with staff each night to discuss building issues. At these institutions, police will only enter rooms if there is probable cause of a health or safety concern or if they have a warrant. At some smaller private institutions such as Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware and the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio, campus safety officers can enter rooms with the permission of senior student affairs officers. However, at the University of Washington in Seattle, campus police officers lack the legal authority to randomly patrol residence halls. And in the summer of 2008, the Court of Appeals ruled that “students have the same right to privacy in hallways as they do in their rooms.” Given the disparity in existing policies and protocols, housing professionals are in a very gray area if they ever become involved in a scenario that may require entering a student’s residence; perhaps the only rule of thumb is the necessity to balance students’ rights, their health and safety, and institutional expectations. Scott Boden and Barb Kefalas are associate directors for housing education at The Ohio State University in Columbus. From the Individual to the Community The educational approach to student accountability is modeled on the concept of restorative justice, which places more emphasis on the offender accepting responsibility 3 Talking STick JeNs gUNelsoN, UW-river falls Students studying in the University Commons on University of Wisconsin, River Falls campus.
Talking Stick - July/August 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - July/August 2009
