For many students, an e-mail from Judicial Affairs Officer Veronica Carter strikes fear into the strongest of hearts. Yet students who find themselves in trouble are not beyond help: they may call upon a student advocate for advice on how best to navigate Tufts judicial apparatus.
Eleven Tufts students are involved in this advocacy program, a sub-group of the Tufts Community Union Judiciary (TCUJ), Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said.
Student rules and regulations can be a complicated web for students who find themselves at fault. While Reitman and Carter are well-versed in the intricacies of the system, their status in the administration would create a conflict of interest were they to advise students on its operations.
"Sometimes we get frustrated that we can't give advice," Reitman said. "But we can't play that role."
Enter the student advocate, who offers strategic advice to students facing disciplinary charges or bringing complaints against a student, staff, or faculty member.
There are now 16 advocates at Tufts, trained in part by Carter and Reitman. This number is on par with last year's levels, but students have shown additional interest, junior student advocate Allison Towle said.
"We have secured infrastructure [and Carter is] regularly referring people to us now," sophomore Allison Sorkin, the TCUJ's advocacy chair, said.
Reitman said that, on average, each advocate handles as many as 15 cases per year.
Students have not always enjoyed this resource for judicial affairs, however. "Like all organizations, interest [in judicial advocacy] peaks and wanes," Reitman said. "You need a driving force ... until it becomes so institutionalized that like the [Judiciary] or [the Allocations Board (ALBO)] it runs on its own."
The original advocacy program dates back to the early 1990's, when students and professors were involved in generally advising students on University policy, Reitman said. The interest in advocacy took a dip toward the middle of the decade until 2002.
Mike Ferenczy (LA '02), who felt students should to help their peers in difficult situations, spearheaded the program's comeback in the spring of 2001.
At the time, the student institutional framework was more flexible and less established, he said: the TCUJ and the TCU Senate were barely more organized than "a group of friends."
While the program "didn't really get off the ground," Ferenczy said, his initiative and judicial advice helped lay the groundwork for future advocacy.
In her sophomore year, alumna Abigail Moffatt (LA '04), who would chair the TCUJ a year later, witnessed first-hand the workings of the student advocacy program.
She called on Ferenczy's help to mediate between her and Carter when she was accused of a breach of academic honesty. After they discussed the case, Carter lessened the severity of Moffat's punishment.
"They [Carter and Ferenczy] talk[ed] all the time," Moffat said. "And [Carter] was very responsive ... she clearly respected him."
Since 2002, student advocates have been trained by the Dean of Student Affairs Office every year, Reitman said. In the spring of 2005, then-Advocacy Chair Jordanna Starr (LA'06) helped write the program into the TCU constitution.
Starr was the first person to ever hold the position of Advocacy Chair, which serves as an intermediary between the TCUJ and the student advocates.
Though University disciplinary hearings are based on the Pachyderm, the University handbook, and not state or federal law, many students bring lawyers to the hearings.
The advocacy program was designed as a viable alternative to professional lawyers, Reitman said.
"[The lawyers] play the exact same role as the advocates," he said.
During a disciplinary hearing, advocates and lawyers are allowed to consult with students during breaks and offer closing statements.
"We're trying to get the students involved in every step of the [judicial] process," Sorkin said.
For now, students and administrators are looking forward to the program's continued success in helping students make prudent decisions within the disciplinary system. And, for the advocates, the program offers valuable law experience.
"Yes we have the debate society [and] ... the mock trial club ... but this is another opportunity," Reitman said. "It's working hand in hand with administration and lawyers to deal with these cases."
And the advocates may soon have some additional work on their hands. At last Monday's training meeting for the advocates, Carter discussed the recently-instituted university policy that requires professors to report all cases of academic dishonesty to the Dean of Student Affairs Office.
Both Sorkin and Reitman think that this policy will likely increase the number of cases student advocates receive, as all alleged violation of academic dishonesty will go straight to Carter.
Next week, pamphlets on how to use the advocacy system will be made available in her office.
