Disciplinary figures released to the Otago Daily Times last week under the Official Information Act show that student behaviour for the first half of 2013 has significantly improved when compared to the same period last year.
Only five students were referred to Vice-Chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne in the year to the end of July, eight fewer than were referred in the corresponding period last year. Students are referred to the Vice-Chancellor “only in the most serious disciplinary cases.”
The five students seen by Hayne this year were involved in three separate incidents, and each were excluded from the University for between one and two semesters.
The number of students seen by the Provost, who is the senior academic administrator of the University, dropped from 20 to seven. The Provost generally deals with severe academic misdemeanours.
Students referred to the Proctor totaled 247, down from 271 over the same period last year. While this represents the smallest decline in numbers, this figure includes Otago Polytechnic students and non-students caught trespassing on University property.
In contrast, the number of University students fined by the Proctor’s office declined from 77 to 39, with a drop in total fines from $8,030 last year to $5,585 this year.
Total numbers disciplined for starting fires also dropped to 28 students in the first half of this year, down from last year’s 60.
OUSA President Francisco Hernandez was “pleased” by the drop in students being disciplined.
“The feedback we’ve had from police, the University and the wider community is that in general University of Otago students are behaving well and trouble-makers are a minority,” Hernandez told the ODT.
The University’s student services office felt that it was “too early to pinpoint the reasons for the decline.”
Students Learn to Appear Good and Fuck the World Discreetly
