Campus Code of Conduct
What You Need to Know About the New Student Code of Conduct
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After calls for reform, a new Student Code of Conduct will go into effect this fall, aiming to make on-campus judicial proceedings less legalistic.
The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/campus-code-of-conduct/)
After calls for reform, a new Student Code of Conduct will go into effect this fall, aiming to make on-campus judicial proceedings less legalistic.
The University Assembly is deliberating a proposal to amend the Campus Code of Conduct to lower the standard of evidence required to find students responsible for a Code violation. The proposal would lower the standard from “clear and convincing” to a mere “preponderance of the evidence,” which is commonly understood as ‘probably.’ Such a change — if you are a student — will increase your likelihood of being found responsible for a Code violation. Simply put, this is a bad idea. Especially right now. It is inappropriate to fundamentally rebalance the power the Campus Code of Conduct grants to the Judicial Administrator while students are not on the campus.
The majority of University Assembly’s meeting on Tuesday was devoted to reviewing and discussing the changes proposed by the Codes and Judicial Committee, ending in a divided vote.
This semester the Codes and Judicial Committee of the University Assembly will undertake a structural revision of the Campus Code of Conduct, the document that outlines the principles and policies that govern Cornell’s judicial system.
In regard to mental health, Pollack spoke about several substantive changes, including an increase of over two and a half years from 32 to 43 counselors and Cornell’s decision to contract with ProtoCall, a 24-hour by-phone mental health counseling service that Pollack said was “very carefully vetted” in the hope that it would be helpful.
The proposed changes — regarding maximum suspension length, no-contact orders and more — will need to be approved by President Martha Pollack if they are to go into effect.
Although the a cappella group attempted to appeal the decision of the URB to the University President, the president upheld the URB’s decision.