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Syracuse University’s Student Association will collaborate with SU’s Community Standards office in the coming weeks to train more community members to be qualified procedural advisors for Student Conduct Code hearings.

According to SU’s Student Conduct System Handbook, a student called in for a Code of Conduct hearing is “entitled to be advised by a member of the Syracuse University community,” such as an SU student, advisor or faculty member. Though the handbook is publicly available, SA’s Student Advocate Lucio Maffei said he believes the university could do more to make students aware of these rights.

“Historically, a lot of students didn’t know their rights, haven’t been told their rights, haven’t been able to exercise their rights,” Maffei said. “And then they’ve gotten the short end of the stick with Community Standards.”

SA President William Treloar said each advocate chooses their projects based on the feedback they receive from students. Maffei said during his time in the position, he wanted to fill a “representative-type” role by helping students be aware of their rights in conduct proceedings.

“As it is the student advocate position, it’ll change as the students change,” Treloar said. “Every product they work on is in direct response to what students are talking about on campus right now.”

On Jan. 25, SA released its new “Contacted by Conduct” form — which seeks to connect students who have been contacted by SU’s Conduct Board or the Department of Public Safety with the appropriate information and guidance about the process. Maffei said he has connected with two students through the initiative as of March 3.

The student advocate role, which was added to SA through its new constitution in 2021, also serves as a “public defender” for SA members accused of violating the rules of the association, Maffei said. He added that the advocate is the “voice” of the student body within the cabinet.

The student advocate cannot provide legal advice but can refer students to the relevant resources, such as SU’s Student Legal Services, Maffei said. While Maffei can help connect students with SLS, he wanted to emphasize that student conduct hearings are not official legal proceedings.

Past student advocates have sought to improve other aspects of the university, such as its sustainability goals, Maffei said.

One of SA’s first student advocates, the current Vice President of Community Affairs Olivia Curreri, used student feedback to co-author SA’s Dec. 2022 sustainability report — which eventually led to the university releasing accelerated sustainability goals in April 2023. During her time as student advocate, Curreri also worked with DPS to create a PSA campaign intending to inform students about how to prevent robberies at off-campus apartments, she said.

“Our current student advocate (Maffei) is doing an amazing job and has worked tirelessly to identify areas where the rights of students are potentially being harmed and creating solutions to address those problems,” Curreri wrote in a statement to The Daily Orange.

Along with emphasizing transparency surrounding students’ rights, Maffei has also worked with the university to address student concerns surrounding SU’s Food Services — such as “food quality” and accessibility, Treloar said. Trealor added that the association primarily collects this feedback through its “No Problem Too Small” form, students visiting their office or talking to SA leaders directly.

“If this campus doesn’t represent the students who are on it, this campus has failed in its primary goal,” Treloar said. “We’re here to make sure this administration and the entire university stay on track and keep student priorities their number one priority.”

While filling the “relatively new” role of student advocate, Maffei said he hopes to make people pay attention to their rights. He said SA wants to expand the “Contacted by Conduct” initiative by providing more support resources to students, such as releasing pamphlets explaining students’ rights.

“The conduct process, while not a legal process, is a complicated one,” Treloar said. “Even though the feeling of getting contacted by conduct may feel isolating and scary, it’s really important to know that there are so many resources for you on campus, whether that’s us here at Student Association or Legal Services or with the university itself.”

Published on March 3, 2024 at 9:38 pm

Contact Julia: jmboehni@syr.edu