The Office of Judicial Affairs saw a 25 percent increase in the number of students reported through the disciplinary system during the 2007-2008 academic year.
A total of 721 students were reported compared to the five-year average of 578 students, according to disciplinary statistics released Sept. 23. Of this number, 55 percent of the cases in 2007-2008 concluded with informal resolutions, which are typically not reflected on students' permanent records.
Stephen Bryan, associate dean of students and director of judicial affairs, said the increased number of students reported can be attributed partially to stronger communication between the residence halls and the Office of Judicial Affairs.
But Bryan noted that the number of off-campus reports filed by local and federal law enforcement agencies more than tripled, accounting for most of the 25 percent leap in the total number of students reported.
Although just more than half of adjudicated students were reported by non-Duke authorities, the high number of off-campus infractions probably does not indicate a spike in student activity, Bryan said. Communication between the University and Durham Police Department has improved in recent years, meaning that officers are sending more reports of incidents to the Office of Judicial Affairs but not necessarily citing students more frequently, he added.
"[The University is] educating Durham police that we do expect our students to conduct themselves in a manner that's befitting to Duke," he said. "As [DPD's] awareness with campus increases, some officers are choosing not to cite students because they know the University can follow up."
Despite the statistical leap, senior Kevin Brightly said he has not witnessed more students being reprimanded at off-campus parties over the past two years.
"I'm not at every off-campus party every weekend, but I saw no change in the frequency of kids being cited," he said. "I've never been cited for anything-I've always broken the law without getting caught."
Maj. Gloria Graham, DUPD operations commander, added that contrary to some students' perceptions, communication between the University and DPD is not always geared toward punishing students.
"We want to know if a student has been convicted of a crime just as much as if a student has been accused of a crime," Graham said. "If a student has been robbed, we want to get them resources and make sure that case is being followed up on. We don't just want to know about a student with beer in a red cup."
Students with beer in red cups, however, constituted a significant proportion of the total number of students reported last year-half of all infractions were alcohol-related, 13 percent more than the five-year average.
Bryan said he finds the 98 students granted "amnesty" because they required evaluation by medical personnel-a five-year high-to be particularly alarming. In addition, a record-breaking 61 of those students were treated for alcohol-related injury or illness.
"I don't know if the number can be attributed to a greater number of students reaching out for help or if there's greater incidence of binge drinking," he said.
Although the proportion of academic dishonesty cases remained consistent, Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek said she is concerned with the number of foreign students who have continued to be involved in these infractions, noting that 32 percent of the students involved in academic dishonesty last year were not U.S. citizens, compared to the five-year average of 19 percent before last year.
Different cultural expectations may contribute to these reports of dishonesty, Wasiolek said, adding that she believes most of the cases stemmed from foreign students misunderstanding expectations at Duke.
"I do know that from a cultural standpoint, there are a number of students from countries where they are much more accustomed to doing collaborative work than they are sometimes allowed to do here," she said, adding that Duke plans to continue to work with foreign students on these issues.
Overall, male students and freshmen represented the majority of disciplinary cases: Men were involved in 77 percent of cases, and freshmen were involved in 35 percent.
Most students and instructors rated Duke's disciplinary process as well above average, Wasiolek said in a statement Sept. 23.
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