College and university students have most certainly had their fair share of run-ins with the law and misconduct violations, but what’s being done to deal with these problems in recent years has heads turning.

While restorative justice programs are showing up across the country for many different state and federal criminals, the University of Colorado-Boulder and Skidmore College, among others, have decided to adopt such programs to introduce their students to non-traditional penalties.

David Karp, associate dean of student affairs at Skidmore College, explained a particular situation in which a student was caught dealing drugs and was sentenced to six months in a boot camp program.

After he completed his sentence at the boot camp, the student was sentenced to a restorative justice program through the university before he was allowed to return to the community.?

“He met with us about what harm dealing (drugs) has on campus, what harm it has caused him. The program also helped him start to realize that he had some addiction issues,” Karp said. “People think, ‘well, voluntary buyer, voluntary seller, where’s the harm?’ But, I think the harm is larger in terms of the institution’s reputation and the cultural expectations.”

The student later proposed to create a video documentary that Skidmore could use with student groups and incoming freshmen.

“I think that was very powerful, where he was able to take responsibility for his behavior and do something positive for the community,” Karp said.?

When Karp arrived at Skidmore, he was conducting research on a restorative justice program run by the Vermont Department of Corrections. He then joined as a volunteer on the Skidmore Judicial Board, at which time he presented the possibility of a restorative justice program at the university. Since that time, he says the program has seen a great deal of success.?

While the evidence at Skidmore is mostly anecdotal, Karp’s experience and contact with the UC-Boulder reveals the programs are reaching new heights.?

“The findings are very, very positive. We’re seeing very low recidivism rates and really high satisfaction rates,” he said. “Student offenders who go through the system feel that it’s really fair, that they learned a lot and harmed parties and community members really feel like their needs were met.”?

UC-Boulder goes big

UC-Boulder started its restorative justice program in 1998 — the first university to do so in the U.S. — in an effort to create an alternative to the traditional justice model implemented at most schools.?

According to Gina Bata, program coordinator for the restorative justice model at UC-Boulder, the program has grown since 1998 to accepting anywhere between 300 to 400 cases per year. In 2004, the local court system began referring cases from first-time offenders to the university, including charges for fake IDs, noise violations, third-degree assaults and vandalism.?

“If [the student] takes responsibility for the offense, then once they successfully complete the restorative justice program, their case will be dismissed,” Bata added. “Students actually learn, as opposed to paying a fine.”

The school’s program looks similar to many other victim-offender dialogue programs, with an added twist. Bata said offenders and victims or community members sit down in a circle with two facilitators. The participants discuss the incident, how each person was harmed and any stress involved. The final part is to produce an agreement that satisfies each participant’s needs.?

“We try to repair all the harms made,” Bata said. “What can they do to pay back the money owed to a victim? Maybe there were medical expenses. It’s just any way an offender can restore the harms they caused.”?

Bata added the university conducts surveys to evaluate the success of the program and has observed a 95 percent satisfaction rate from all parties. She said she thinks a program like UC-Boulder could be useful at all universities in their student conduct processes.?

“Restorative justice values match the idea of student development on campus and most college administrators are going to be interested in having programs and activities that can help a student become a full, responsible adult when they leave school,” Bata said. ?

So, what’s UW doing?

While the University of Wisconsin does not have a program similar to that of Skidmore College or UC-Boulder, Dean of Students Ervin Cox said it would be “something interesting to look into.”?

However, Cox also said he thinks restorative justice probably wouldn’t be helpful for many cases at UW.?

“There are certain times when it is appropriate and when it isn’t,” Cox said. “First of all, students have to admit they violated the code at all. It has to be something upfront. We also think it really needs to be more of a violation that affects the community at large, not something that has occurred between one or two people, like an underage drinking violation or a sexual assault.”?

Cox added that putting together an office like that at UC-Boulder would require considerable resources, which UW is currently lacking.?

“We don’t have the staff to do that. It’s a great idea, but right now we just don’t have the ability to make it happen,” he said.