Dean of Students Advisory Board Meeting - Thurs., 3/11/10

Red Gym

Since VIP and other offices will be moving out of the Red Gym to the new Union South, the ODOS is thinking about reorganizing the space in the Red Gym to make it a stronger center for student involvement. To encourage students to visit the building continuously throughout their college careers, the ODOS is thinking about moving certain clubs that specialize in leadership and global experiences along with classrooms for academic and student organization use into the building. The concept is to make it an organized center for involvement rather a one-stop-shopping experience that students only use once.

Establishing Lifelong Connections

The Student Team for Establishing Lifelong Connections to UW-Madison wants to accomplish two goals by this coming July. The first is to learn about the different ways the university can digitally collect and organize information about UW students and their on-campus involvement into a cohesive database for administrative and alumni use. The second goal addresses the wisc.edu email domain that students lose a certain number of months after graduation. The team wants to find a way to learn about students’ secondary email addresses so that the university and alumni can stay in contact with students in the future.

Badger Herald Feedback

Current events surrounding the recent controversy with the Badger Herald were also discussed. These events included the article about the AEPi Overture Center Party for the Arts, the anti-Semitic comments readers made at the end of the article, and the advertisements on the Badger Herald from a Holocaust disclaimer that directly connected to those comments. We also discussed how the UW and different organizations addressed the situation and how the newspaper is an independent organization that is not run by the university.

-Laura Hirsh

Dean of Students Advisory Board Meeting - Thurs., 1/21

Restructuring the Campus Library System

The campus library system is being restructured and the directors are seeking student input on how this should be done. Campus-wide student input will be instrumental in determining what the different libraries will look like in the future, but the directors are not certain how to get this input. They are thinking about using online surveys, paper surveys passed out in certain classes, focus groups, and a multimedia video to get students interested and involved in the process. Students who are interested in making such a video as part of a school project or internship are invited to participate in the process.

ODOS Budget Update

The Budget for the Fiscal Year 2010 was reviewed because it may receive reductions in the future with the state's current deficit. If this occurs, the budget will be revisited.

Halloween Event Management Plan

The 2010 plan was reviewed and compared to 2009's plan, which was very similar and had positive results. The Board agreed that the 2010 plan was reasonable and could move forward.

Testing Accommodations for 1st Generation Students

A UW professor suggested providing students who are the first in their families to attend college with more time to take their exams. Similar accommodations are made for ESL students, and we discussed whether a general accommodation can be made for all first-generation students. On a whole, we felt that the abilities of first-generation college students vary and may not be entirely based on the fact that they are first-generation college students, but professors can offer support groups, extended office hours, or extended test-taking time for the entire class, for instance.

Fan Behavior

Recent letters from parents and members of the Madison community addressed inappropriate behavior surrounding UW sporting events. The letters commented on the offensive language targeted at opposing teams and fans who visit Madison, and this behavior is seen as unacceptable and a poor representation of the university. The ODOS believes this is a very important issue and wants to take well thought-out actions to change how students behave at sporting events. Changing the student mentality to give them a greater sense of responsibility to their school's reputation and trying to get the students to focus on being funny and creative rather than derogatory were some goals mentioned. Testimonials, news articles, and Greek support were brought up as possible methods to accomplish these goals, but we hope to revisit this issue during the next meeting with more ideas.

-Laura Hirsh

Dean of Students Advisory Board - 2/27/08

The DoS Advisory Board is a forum for student input and feedback on DoS ideas and programs.

Today's meeting featured Rebecca Martin, Senior VP of the UW System Office of Academic Affairs. She asked us questions along the line of What is it like to be a student at UW-Madison? What makes it different from other UW System schools? positives? negatives? What does the UW System need to improve/change in regards to student life and academics?

The discussion generated some interesting ideas: playing up the college campus atmosphere in Madison, investing in the Wisconsin Experience, integrating the campus with the community, retaining the Wisconsin culture while still being an elite institution, ensuring job opportunities after graduation, etc.

We also were presented a draft of changes to the UW System statues UWS 17 & 18 (the Misconduct Code). There will be a listening session within the next week and a half. The changes (I haven't read through them all yet) involve modifying the scope of jurisdiction and clarifying what misconduct is of "substantial interest" to the UW. These policy changes wouldn't go into effect until Fall of 2009 (tentatively), and there will be ample opportunity for students to be reviewing these amendments.

Those were the major topics of discussion at this afternoon's meeting. I have more information on additional agenda items as well.

Dean of Students Advisory Board - 12/18/07

It was a sparsely-attended meeting this afternoon, due to finals, but there was still a lot of great discussion.

RSO Alchol Policy.
Renee Alfano of the Student Organization Office presented on the proposals for a modified RSO alcohol policy. The goal is to increase safety while lowering liability for the individual leaders of the organizations, and new broad-based committee will submit recommendations to the Committee on Student Organizations which will then submit the policy to the Dean of Students and ultimately the Chancellor's Office. Renee stressed that the changes are not "about cutting out alcohol at [student org] events" but rather about proactivity. I want to be as thorough about this part of the meeting as possible, because I know there are a lot of questions and possibly misconceptions about it. Please spread the word!

A major factor in the new proposed policy is the definition of "event." A disclaimer of "this is not an official event" on an official e-mail to the official student org's listserv does not count as abiding by the policy. Below are some questions that may be asked to determine if a gathering of students in a student org is an event or not (and thus required to abide by the alcohol policy or not):
- Was the event publicized in any fashion with the student group's name?
- Were official lines of communication used to promote/publicize the event?
- Was the event announced at meetings as a part of an official order of business?
- Were organizational finances used to support the event?
- Did the leadership of the organization act in an official organizational capacity to promote/publicize the event?
- Was the event held in reserved University facilities?
- Were all members of the organization invited to the event regardless of age?

Current policy:
1. Student groups that serve or permit possession of alcoholic beverages at student group functions, on or off campus, may be disciplined if violations of alcoholic beverage laws or of university regulations occur.
2. It is the responsibility of the student group to assign people in the group to create a system to identify and confront underage drinking, security issues, and over intoxication (If the event is at a 3rd party vendor, the group must work with the establishment to insure [sic] systems are in place.
3. Cup parties or anything similar are not allowed at unlicensed facilities.
4. Advertising on campus or advertising using University resources may not include specific reference to alcohol as a part of the event. References to alcohol are prohibited in either printed word or graphic image. [my note: This includes such phrases as "cash bar" and "18 to enter, 21 to drink." This particular item is being redefined for clarity and consistency.]

Proposed additional policies: draft
5. The use of "common containers of beer" (ie: kegs, party balls, etc.) may not be used except at third part vendors or the organization has the insurance necessary to allow the use of common containers of beer.
6. No bulk collective home-made drinks allowed.
7. Events, including general or executive board meetings may occur at a liquor licensed establishment only if everyone is 21 years of age or older or the establishment is listed as a Restaurant or Under 21 (CV) licensed establishment.
8. Any events or activities where consumption of alcohol at the event is the purpose, consequence, or reward of the activity are prohibited. [my note: drinking games]

Recommendations: draft
9. Reasonable quantities of non-salty snacks relative to the size of your group should be provided.
10. Non-alcoholic beverages (besides water) should be available and be less expensive than alocholic beverages and comparable in size. Non-alcoholic beverages should be provided at all times that alcohol is served.
11. It is recommended that no consumption of alcoholic beverages at general or executive board meetings occur unless everyone is 21 years of age or older.



Parental Involvement (Presentation by Associate Dean Kevin Helmkamp)
- FERPA was amended in 2005 to allow for the reporting of certain incidents (alcohol, drugs, sexual assault) to parents without breaking the privacy act.
- the University will contact parents when one or more of the following occurs:
- underage students are transported to detox for alcohol and drugs (the majority of parental notifications)
- suicide attempts or thoughts that present a danger to self, others, or a disruption of the living environment (particularly in University Housing) -- this must be actual behavior, not mental illness
- students are placed on probation for drug/alcohol concerns and before they are suspended
- students pose a risk to the health and safety of themselves and/or others
- either UW Housing ResLife staff or the Assistant Deans of Students/ SAJA can make contact with parents
- students are encouraged to make the initial contact with parents

- the highest number of detox transports up to this date EVER has been in this semester
- the University is hesitant to mandate counseling (but may choose to require alcohol assessments and education)

"I'm tired of it [the alcohol problem], but I still have to be an educator." - Kevin Helmkamp, explaining why harsh discipline is not always the best answer.


Listening Sessions (the Dean's office talking to groups on campus)
- Students with disabilities: would like to see more accomodations for an increased ability to participate in extracurriculars and also more education for RSOs in how to put on accessible events (and the funds to do so)
- Veterans: generally feel welcome on campus but also desire to talk about their experience and connect socially
- Seg Fee forum: main questions were "Why now?" and "What are the implications" of the change

- future listening sessions may include athletes, transfer students, nontraditional/returning students, etc.



If you have any questions about the drafted alcohol policy (which I have posted in full here), please contact Renee Alfano at the SOO. Any other questions, feel free to ask them here.

Dean of Students Advisory Board

I am one of the many ASM reps on this Board.
The purpose of this group is to provide a forum for a wide variety of student voices to give feedback on ideas and programs generated by the Offices of the Dean of Students.
To hear from students their ideas and concerns. This group is advisory, not a decision-making body.
Goals:
To have the make-up of this advisory board reflect the campus as a whole, with student representation from all levels: undergraduate, graduate and professional.
To hear from alternative voices other advocacy groups on campus.
To include representatives from each school/college, WUD, UC and UW Housing student staff.

November 20th, 2007 Meeting

We had a discussion about the recent house/apartment fires involving UW Students. If anybody would like details about this subject please ask.
The major issue discussed about Halloween was that lack of police patrolling campus and other areas of the city because of the excessive focus on state street. Many students felt other areas are becoming much more dangerous than State Street. Again if you want more details please comment.
For Football Fan Behavior, we pretty much discussed all of the possible ideas that were brought up at a Shared Governance meeting a few weeks back.
We briefly discussed the Consolidated Seg Fee Policy Paper. Unfortunately we have very little time, to discuss besides an opening from the Dean.

Questions, post a comment.

Thanks,
Conor

Dean of Students Advisory Board-Campus Safety Communication

This came up at the Dean of Students Advisory Board meeting last week, and I briefly mentioned it at last night's Shared Governance Committee meeting...BUT...

Does anyone have strong opinions regarding a cell phone text-messaging system that would send out details/instructions to students in the case of a campus-wide safety emergency?

The majority of members on the Board seemed to think that the general student body would most likely not sign-up for the service and therefore it would be a waste of time and effort to continue to pursue the initiative.

Personally, I would probably sign-up for it. I bet a significant portion of incoming freshmen would as well if it was part of activating their MyUW account. Sophomores through grads? Not so sure. So, worth continuing to pursue?