With each new school year comes new rules, regulations and responsibilities for Binghamton University students and faculty. To keep up with these changes at BU, the Office of Student Conduct updates the Student Code of Conduct, making changes to reflect what is required of the University community each year.

For the 2019-20 school year, the process of updating the Student Code of Conduct is currently underway. Jazell Johnson, director of Student Conduct and the chairperson for the Code of Student Conduct review committee, wrote in an email that she and her committee are always looking for ways to improve the document. This year, they are hoping to edit and add a number of items to the Code of Conduct, including the University’s tobacco-free policy, which isn’t currently included in the document.

“Reviewing the Code of Student Conduct aims to enhance the quality of interactions with students going through the conduct process,” Johnson wrote. “It’s about promoting student development through an educationally developmental process where students play an important role in the reinforcement of community standards and creating a process that creates engagement between the Office of Student Conduct and the campus community.”

Resident assistants (RA) like Maximo Casimiro, a junior majoring in anthropology, utilize floor meetings to remind residents to be up-to-date on the Code of Conduct so that they are prepared and understand what the document contains before they need it.

“I haven’t had serious issues with the Code of Conduct, but I do reference it at floor meetings,” Casimiro said. “[My residents] should know what resources they have if they need them.”

According to Johnson, after confirming a review committee, the Office of Student Conduct will be conducting focus groups and circulating a feedback form, which was sent out in October and will be open until January 2019. Once all of the information is compiled in January, the committee will meet in February to review prospective changes and make recommendations to the Code of Conduct. These recommendations will be forwarded to campus leadership for review in March 2019. Finally, in April, the 2019-20 Student Code of Conduct will be finalized.

Once the new code is finalized, it will be sent to the University’s communications and marketing office to make necessary revisions to the document, which will then be distributed to students and faculty in both print and electronic forms.

Johnson wrote she hopes that involving students in revisions to the Code of Conduct will make them more interested in understanding and knowing about the different rules detailed in the document.

“The Office of Student Conduct is excited to engage the campus community in our review process,” Johnson wrote. “Feedback from the campus community is vital in helping to ensure the Code of Student Conduct is accessible, easy to understand and consistent with the values of Binghamton University.”

Pat Miraglia, a senior majoring in English and an RA in Oneida Hall of College-in-the-Woods, said he thinks the Code of Conduct is important for the student body, especially for RAs in training.

“I think it’s important to stay updated to keep students safe,” Miraglia said. “As times progress and as things change, it’s important to change with them. We’re trained on it for two weeks over the summer, but we’re trained on the points most relevant to us, like how to deal with mental health and sexual assault in terms of our residents.”