By David Edward Clark

When you hear “Safety and Security!” or “ResEd,” usually, you’ve been caught.  Here’s what you need to know about Oberlin’s alcohol and drug policies.

Inside the Room

When the Safety and Security officer (S&S) or the Residential Education employee enters the room, their job is to obtain information to write an incident report.  You are obligated to hand over your OCID, although you are not required to answer any questions that they ask.

While they write their report, they may ask you to complete a witness account, which you can refuse to do.  If they do not ask you for a statement, you have the right to request and be given the form.  Your account will be submitted to the proper authority with the official report.

While the S&S officer or ResEd employee is in the room, s/he is only allowed to report on items left in plain view.  Without your permission, they cannot open closets, drawers or any closed containers without a written order from the Dean of Students.

The Aftermath

After the incident, S&S forwards their report to the Office of the Dean of Students, and ResEd usually within 24-72 hours.  The report is reviewed and then sent to the appropriate hearing officer typically within another 24-72 hours.  Within 10 business days of the incident, a hearing officer will likely contact you via email.  The email gives the date of the incident and a brief summary along with the charges pending against you.  “Sometimes a notice will be sent later because the hearing officer already has a very full case load and needs to balance the case load with other responsibilities,” wrote Assistant Dean of Students Kimberley Jackson Davidson in an email.  Notices may be sent up to 12 months after the incident.

Once you receive the email, you have three days to schedule a meeting with your hearing officer.  The meeting itself does not have to be held within three days.  Unless you allegedly committed a serious offense or are a repeat offender, your hearing officer will most likely be an administrator in ResEd.

The administrator to whom you talk first is responsible for determining whether your actions broke the rules and whether there’s enough information to bring charges.  They can then file charges on behalf of the College.

During your meeting, the administrator will talk to you about the nature of the charges, your rights and responsibilities and explain the judicial process and its reasoning. “Despite its name, the judicial system is not a criminal justice system,” wrote Jackson Davidson, “It is intended to be an educational process that intervenes to help students recognize how some of their individual choices negatively impact or have the potential to negatively impact themselves and/or the community in which they live.”

During the meeting, the administrator also provides a list of potential Judicial Board members if you choose to take the case to a formal hearing.  The Judicial Board is comprised of 15 students appointed by Student Senate.  If you know any personally or perceive a bias, you are allowed to reject up to five from the list.

If you admit responsibility to the infractions, the administrator will decide which sanctions to apply.  “Our system provides students the opportunity to take responsibility for their own behavior and to choose to face the consequences,” wrote Jackson Davidson.  Either the student admits guilt and sanctions are given, or there is insufficient evidence to file charges. “I’d say 97%, if not more, of cases are resolved within an office,” she said.  Without a confession, the administrator does not have the authority to give you sanctions.  If they file charges, your case will be heard by the Judicial Board or Community Board.

The Community Board is comprised of nine faculty and six students.  They have jurisdiction over cases involving obstruction or disruption of the essential operations of the College, non-academic disputes between faculty and student and cases that the Judicial Coordinator believes could result in suspension or dismissal.

Infraction Penalties for Drug and Alcohol Offenses

Sanctions for first infractions are not severe.  Your hearing officer is typically a Resident Director in ResEd, and penalties include one or a combination of the following: a written or verbal warning, online screening (E-Chug/E-Toke), reading a relevant booklet and writing a reflection paper and/or relevant educational interventions.  There is a $20 administrative fee to take the online screening that is charged to your term bill.

For second infractions, you will talk to either an Assistant Dean in ResEd or a judicial coordinator.  They have the choice between the following sanctions: deferred probation for a period of less than two years, parental notification*, CHOICES (an alcohol/drug class that adds $25 to your term bill for the administrative fee) and/or relevant educational interventions.

For third offences, either a Judicial Coordinator or the Judicial Board will determine your set of sanctions.  Their choices include: an alcohol and other drug screening performed by the Counseling Center and/or appropriate educational sanctions, an alcohol and other drug screening performed by the Lorain County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, parental notification and/or probation ranging from one semester to graduation.

For four and more offences, the possible responses are: referral to a substance abuse and/or other intervention services along with status sanctions.  These sanctions include extended probation, suspension or dismissal as decided by the Community Board.

*Regarding Parental Notification: You will be given the chance to tell your parents yourself.  They are then supposed to contact your hearing officer to confirm that you have told them.  If the hearing officer does not speak to your parents within 24 hours, they will place the call themselves.

List of Sanctions

Warning—Warnings (verbal or written) are documented in your judicial record.
Fines—You have to pay for any damage to College or personal property.
Limitation on Participation—You may be barred from participating in certain College events.
Counseling–You can be required to receive a psychological/psychiatric assessment and take any recommendations made seriously.
Campus/Community work and Educational Workshops–You may be required to fulfill a specified number of community service hours either on or off campus
Residence Hall Room Change—You may be relocated either temporarily or permanently.
Restitution—You may be required to provide compensation for loss, damage or injury.
Denial of Residence on Campus—You may be barred from living on campus.  If this is your only sanction you are still able to complete your degree
Probation—This warns that the next infraction will, under most circumstances, get you a suspension.
Deferred Probation—This warns that next infraction will, most likely, put you on probation.
Suspension—You must leave Oberlin College until the end of semester and can return after completing your suspension without petitioning.  Parental notification and restriction from college property usually accompany this sanction.  Suspension is part of your permanent disciplinary and academic records for an amount of time specified by the Judicial Board.   You cannot take credits elsewhere during a suspension unless approved by the Dean of Studies.  Any suspension must be approved by the Community Board.
Deferred Suspension—This notation on your permanent judicial record states that if sanctions aren’t completed satisfactorily and within a specific time, you are automatically suspended.
Withholding of degree—Withholding a degree affects second semester seniors when probation or suspension is a possibility.  It must be approved by the Community Board.
Dismissal–You are expelled from Oberlin.  Dismissal is only used in the most serious cases or when a student receives a second suspension. It remains permanently on your academic record.