Students joined Assistant Dean Tanya Schmidt and Associate Dean of Students Kevin Helmkamp to offer advice for revisions to the University of Wisconsin’s Chapter 17 student misconduct code at a sexual assault forum Thursday.

Schmidt said the forum was a valuable opportunity for students to share their opinions on the proposed changes to the code. At the forum, students discussed topics ranging from the inclusion of students on the misconduct panel to noting sexual assault charges on transcripts.

Schmidt and Helmkamp met with the Associate Students of Madison’s Student Council Wednesday to gain a student voice for Thursday’s forum.

Dean’s office calls for student voice in revisions to sexual assault conduct code

The student code of misconduct defines specific rules, establishes violations and outlines the appeal process involving sexual assault issues for all 26 UW System campuses. The student misconduct code is currently undergoing a revision process after receiving feedback from End Violence on Campus, the Dean of Students Advisory Council and ASM, Schmidt said.

The revisions to the code include adding definitions to reflect both parties involved in the process, clarifying the standard of evidence definition and adding definitions to types of conduct such as dating violence, domestic violence and sexual harassment. One major issue of contention is whether cases should have a hearing examiner or hearing panel with students.

Helmkamp led a table discussing whether students should remain on the misconduct panel, a recent topic of debate. Several UW System schools are against involving students since because of their small size, issues of confidentiality may arise, he said. Another argument against student panels is the sensitive nature of the cases, something some believe should not lie in students’ hands, he said.

The students on the panels always have the option to forfeit themselves from the case if they know they should not be involved, Helmkamp said.

Helmkamp said he believes having a student panel works best for UW. The approach should not be a one size fits all because each university is different, Helmkamp said.

“We trust students to be part of the decision-making process and we don’t want to lose that,” Helmkamp said.

At another table, students debated the transcript notification issue. Currently, the student misconduct code does not require university officials to include sexual assault charges on transcripts.

Allie Ebben, a student who works closely with Schmidt in the Dean of Students’ office, argued for a notification on a student’s transcript for committing a crime of sexual assault if the student is expelled.

“As a university, it is our duty not to punish, but to protect the students on campus,” Ebben said.