Off-campus Student Expectations
Introduction:
The policies of the university apply to students wherever they may choose to live. CUA requires that all freshmen and sophomores, with few exceptions, live on campus in addition to providing rooms to a substantial number of junior and senior undergraduates. In fact, the university provides 2204 bed thru 17 on-campus dormitory buildings and an additional 400 bed facility will open in 2009. None the less, during their junior and/or senior year(s), some students choose to move off campus and into both the Brookland Community and the surrounding District of Columbia metropolitan area.
Recognizing the unusual impact that CUA students have on the Brookland Community, the university has created "Off Campus but Not Off the Map: Some neighborly advice for Off-Campus Students" to give students a better understanding of their role as members of the CUA and local community.
Additionally, The Office of the Vice President for Student Life has created the policy "Expectations for Student Off-Campus Behavior and Living." This policy outlines the expectations for CUA students when they leave the CUA campus and become members of the braoder District of Columbia community. This policy also outlines the university procedure for the disciplining of properties (those properties leased to CUA students known to the university as having caused disturbances within the Brookland community) and how students living in such properties are sanctioned for disruptive behavior.
What to do when students are violating university policy or D.C. law
From time to time, the university receives inquiries from the Brookland neighborhood about how best to communicate concerns regarding student behavior in the neighborhood to the university.
The university addresses reports of student misbehavior both on and off campus. We set expectations for student behavior, communicate those expectations to students and enforce them. At the same time, we do not and cannot control everything that some of our students or their guests may do. Incidents and conduct (public intoxication, disorderly conduct, public urination, littering, etc.) that from time to time have been described by neighbors should be reported to the Metropolitan Police Department so that they may respond to disruptive behaviors within the community at the time of the disruption.
As a matter of practice, the Dean of Students staff follows up with off-campus incidents and concerns (specific to a student or to a property where students reside) that are reported to my office. As such, please feel free to contact that office at 202-319-5619 or via email at cua-deanofstudents@cua.edu to report issues that may require additional intervention on our part.
To assist in our efforts to follow up with students, it is most helpful for reports to include the following information:
- Date, time, and specific location of the event or behavioral concern;
- Specific details of the behaviors witnessed
- Contact information (email and/or telephone) for the reporting person
- Details related to any report filed with MPD (or any other jurisdiction), including a report number if available. If this information is not available, it is helpful for us to know the time that a report was made so that we can attempt to follow up with MPD and determine any actions taken at the time of the incident.
Craig Parker, General Counsel and Associate Vice President for Community and Government Relations, is responsible for neighborhood/community relations at CUA. Craig can be reached at parker@cua.edu.
Please feel free to contact the Dean of Students directly at sawyerj@cua.edu should he be of further assistance.
Last Revised 29-Aug-07 02:10 PM.
