Parents of students who are convicted by the Judicial Administrator of committing two drug or alcohol related violations will now receive a letter from the Dean of Students Office about their child’s actions thanks to a new protocol that took effect in July. Under the amended policy, if the student commits a third drug or alcohol related violation, the JA’s office will contact the child’s parents by phone.

The policy, which was revised by a subcommittee of the President’s Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs — a group comprised of Student Assembly members, Gannett staff, University administrators and Cornell police officers and others — does not seek to make major alterations to the preexisting policy, according to those behind the changes. Under the old procedure, the Dean of Student’s office was empowered to contact parents on a discretionary basis when administrators felt the circumstances warranted it. The new protocol aims to formalize this process.

“It’s not really a big change. Previously we’d normally be looking to contact parents by the third offense, so that doesn’t really change,” Judicial Administrator Mary Beth Grant explained. “The reason we decided to send out a letter on the second violation was more informational for the parents. When we did contact parents previously, the parents would always be surprised. They asked us, ‘well if you’re so concerned about my child, why are you contacting me so late?’”

Administrators maintain, however, that the changes were made in order to protect the safety of the students and not to appease concerns among parents about lack of involvement or to serve as a punitive measure.

“This is really about the health and welfare of our students,” Dean of Students Kent Hubbell ’67 said. “It’s really about helping students who have become dependent on alcohol or who have the risk of becoming dependent.”

According to Tim Marchell, director of Mental Health Initiatives at Gannett, students who are convicted of three drug or alcohol related violations tend to be students with more serious drug or alcohol dependency issues, based on studies and research that has been done in the area. He believes that the new policy will allow parents to become more involved in the process, which, in turn, will deter students from developing even more dangerous addictions or aid them in seeking help.

“When students have had three alcohol violations, they likely have an alcohol problem that requires intensive treatment away from campus. Parents usually play a vital role in arranging that treatment,” Marchell stated in an e-mail.

Student Assembly Vice President for Finance Chris Basil ’10, who sat on the subcommittee that recommended the amendments, echoed this sentiment.

“This policy is really just targeted towards high-risk students and really improving their lives and time at Cornell,” he explained, “Their behavior isn’t allowing them to get all they can out of their Cornell education.”

Yet most students interviewed expressed their outrage at the new policy.

Thomas Gabay ’12 feared what would happen if his parents were sent a letter about a drug or alcohol related violation.

“They would kill me. It would jeopardize my future at Cornell,” he stated. “I think its unfortunate that if you make a mistake or two in college that it can jeopardize your time at Cornell, which could hurt your career and future.”

Michael Braverman ’12 also said he had reservations about the new procedure.

“I’m concerned that these J.A. incidents will get blown out of proportion. Parents can overreact [to this type of information],” he said.

Other students felt that the policy highlighted contradictions within the administration’s practices.

“If the University feels that parents don’t have the right to see our transcript, what gives them the right to send out our disciplinary records,” Daniel Haberman ’12 said. “They have a lot of dissimilarities and disagreement regarding various campus policies.”

In the end, however, the policy change may not affect as many people as some students may think. According to a report prepared for the Student Assembly by the Judicial Administrator, approximately 60 to 70 students each year are expected to be convicted of a second drug or alcohol related offense, while only 15 to 20 are expected to be found guilty of a third.