BOG Discloses UNC Drug Violation Statistics

The report, which covers the period from Aug. 1, 2000 to July 31, 2001, details the number of drug violations at the 16 UNC-system schools.

According to the report, the system had a total 692 alleged student violations. UNC-CH reported only 13, while N.C. State University, a school with similar enrollment numbers, had 53.

Appalachian State University led the system with 141 violations. Overall, there were 57 more alleged student drug violations systemwide than last year.

Gretchen Bataille, UNC-system senior vice president for academic affairs, said the increasing number of drug policy violations per year indicates that campuses are getting more serious about penalties for drug use.

Bataille said some of the smaller schools in the system reported a high number of violations because of the severity of their drug use punishments. "(Some smaller campuses) have a no-tolerance policy, period," she said.

The reason for UNC-CH's extraordinarily low number of reports remains to be explained.

UNC-CH Assistant Dean of Students Melinda Manning theorized that the residence halls' no-tolerance policy might be partially responsible for the lack of reports. "Residents who are found with drugs have their housing contracts canceled," she said, noting that losing housing might be a deterrent.

Appalachian State's 141 violations more than doubled from 70 violations during the 1999-2000 year.

Barbara Daye, Appalachian State associate vice chancellor for student development, said the increase was far from alarming. She said the 1999-2000 numbers were low becuase of a mild winter, during which fewer students stayed in their rooms, leading to less violations.

Daye also said the high figure for 2000-01 indicates that the school is effectively addressing a problem present at most universities. "At Appalachian, we enforce the drug policy," she said. "We seldom have a second violation."

Daye added that the university's emphasis on upholding the illegal drug policy, established in 1988 by the BOG for all system schools, is the reason for a disproportionally high number of violations. "Appalachian's policy is exactly the same as the others', and we abide by it."

N.C. State, which is similar in size to UNC-CH, reported 53 violations in 2000-01, a decrease of only four from last year.

"Our system is grounded somewhat differently (than that at UNC-CH)," said Paul Cousins, director of student conduct at N.C. State. He cited differences in the standards of proof as the primary factor in the disparities between the schools' numbers of alleged violations.

Cousins said N.C. State's comparatively tough disciplinary policies might account for some of the difference between the reported figures.

But he added that he does not think the results of the BOG report indicate any difference in the student population at the two universities. "It seems unlikely to me that students at Chapel Hill are that fundamentally different than students at the other schools in the system."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.