Students who live off-campus and violate Seton Hall or public health guidelines could face monetary sanctions of as much as $1,000 from the University, according to Associate Dean of Students Winston Roberts.
According to Roberts, who spoke with The Setonian via email on Monday, there will be varying levels of sanctions for on-campus students due to the fact that the “range of on-campus conduct violations is expected to be much broader, ranging from minor violations to the more serious.”
Roberts said that punitive actions for on-campus students would stretch from warnings up to residence hall suspensions and expulsions and noted that sanctions would reflect both a student’s past disciplinary history as well as the “seriousness of the violation.”
The news of the potential penalties comes just over a week after the University’s updated code of conduct went into effect on Aug. 15, adding new guidance that gives it broad authority to enforce university and public health guidelines set in place to limit the spread of infectious diseases.
Students may be disciplined for not following any federal, state or local public health order and requires that when those orders conflict, students follow the most restrictive rule available. Students can also be penalized for failing to follow any University or campus department rule related to mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
In order to enforce the guidelines off-campus, The University will rely heavily on its existing relationship with the South Orange Police Department to gather incident information on suspected transgressions. Students who are found to have violated the code of conduct can be fined as much as $500 per-resident in the house for a first-time violation. A second violation could result in a fine of up to $1,000 per-resident, while a third violation could culminate with potential suspension from the University.
“It is important to note that the monies collected from these fines will be donated to our off-campus partner the South Orange Rescue Squad," Roberts said, "For their continued volunteer service to our campus community."
Nicholas Kerr can be reached at nicholas.kerr@student.shu.edu. Find him on Twitter @nickdotkerr.
