University of Vermont students caught on campus with drugs and alcohol this year are paying a price. With advice from a national group of schools, Vermont’s largest university is implementing new fines for students caught doing drugs, and upping the fines for those with too much booze on hand. And since UVM is a dry-halls campus, they apply even for students 21 and older.
Annie Stevens, vice provost for student affairs at UVM, says the new fines are intended to serve as a deterrent, not to make a mint for the university — though they’re likely to do both.
According to Stevens, UVM signed onto the National College Health Improvement Program two years ago. Founded in 2011 by then-president of Dartmouth College Jim Kim, the program includes 32 member schools collaborating to reduce high-risk drinking. UVM’s decision to implement its new fines, says Stevens, was based on that program.
So, what are the fines? $250 for possessing a “common source” of alcohol — that’s 12 servings or more; $150 for empties found during routine Health and Safety inspections of dorm rooms; $150 for a student’s first drug offense; and $250 for the second drug offense. The common source fine went up this year from $150, and all the other fines are new this year, Stevens says.
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Actually that is not true. Every freshman and sophmore student is required to live on campus, regardless of age. So the Iraq ?Afghanistan war vet coming home and using his GI bill to go to school can’t sit in his dorm room and have a few beers….
So your opinion is they should just find a different college to attend… and IMO that’s a pretty shitty way to thank them.
You’re just picking fights where they don’t exist. UVM staff members are, simply, not held to the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities. Nor should they be. What about faculty who live in those apartments? Do you want to hold them to the student standard as well? Nobody is forcing anyone of legal age to live in the residence halls. For those that are required to live on campus, the likelihood that they’re 21 is pretty much zero. If you do happen to be 21 and are required to live on campus … do your research and find a campus who has alcohol policies you like.
I’m consistently amazed by people who seem legitimately surprised that a state institution would not become some sort of sanctuary where laws pertaining to alcohol and drug use are ignored simply because “they’re going to do it anyway”. You and I would probably agree that the age for legal consumption is too high. I think it should be 18. We may also agree that weed should be legal and is actually less harmful than is alcohol.
But that is not what this is about. It’s about teaching young adults to live by the standards a community has in place … work to change them if you can, but don’t be surprised when you’re held to that standard. If it really bothers you, don’t attend a university who has policies in place you feel to be too restrictive. There’s still plenty of time to drop.
To suggest that the UVM officials should just look the other way is to suggest that they take on incredible liability.
According to UVM policy the residence halls are dry. However, the RD’s and ARD’s are allowed to drink, according to Reslife policy, within their rooms located within the residence halls. This directly violates the overarching UVM policy and begs the question of why should certain people in the dorms be allowed to drink, while other 21 year old students are not?
Obey your masters or they will take your money and force you to attend a re-education class. Compliance is the new freedom.
Yes, this is fairly obvious.
Just to be clear, if students make good choices, follow state laws and those policies that they agreed to follow by becoming a UVM student, and there would be zero “revenue”? Do I have that right?
Alternatively … the students that do decide to violate… those that do decide to get out-of-hand shit-faced to the point where they become incredibly disruptive and require the intervention of Res Life staff and Police services … and housekeeping staff to clean up their vomit and their destruction. Those are the students that will ultimately pay into the administrative costs of dealing with their inability to make responsible choices?
Do I have that right?
Don’t want a fine? Simple, live according to the clearly stated expectations for what it means to be a UVM student.
Good question. Sorry this wasn’t more clear: These fines have been added in addition to the existing disciplinary measures Residential Life has in place.
As for the success rate of eCheckup To Go: I didn’t see any statistics on that during my reporting.
Are these fines in addition to the other penalties residential life has in place like suspension or expulsion. Or have they removed these penalties?
I’d also like to know what the success rate is of students who’ve completed the “eCheckup To Go” course. How many go on to use marijuana again?
Get caught with a 12 pack of beer and you have a larger fine then an ounce of weed… even if your 21. Yup makes sense to me.