Policy lacks clarity, new survey finds

Though the University's revised alcohol policy has sparked campus debate and spurred complaints from students about the heightened crackdown on drinking violations, two-thirds of undergraduates don't fully understand the new procedures, according to an informal survey conducted over the last week by The Daily Princetonian.

Despite students' uncertainty as to what the revised policy entails, 63 percent said they either completely or mostly disagreed with the changes. Under the new procedures, RCAs will be expected to take on a more prominent role in enforcing the University's alcohol policy next semester, while this semester Public Safety officers have begun patrolling dorms for alcohol violations.

According to the unscientific survey of 244 students, 68 percent said they felt that student input had not been taken into account before the policy was revised.

Students were evenly split as to whether the policy would make them less likely to talk to their RCA next year about alcohol-related issues. Two respondents, or one percent, said they drank with their RCA.

Asked what they believed to be the University's motivation for the revisions, almost half of students surveyed said they believed concerns about legal liability were the main factor, while 23 percent cited outside pressures and 17 percent cited concern for students' health. The rest were unsure.

To better understand student response to the revised policy, USG president Rob Biederman '08 sent an email last Thursday informing students that he planned to meet with administrators to discuss students' concerns. He followed up with a second email yesterday soliciting questions from students about the policy, which Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Hillary Herbold have agreed to answer.

In an interview yesterday, Biederman said he has received hundreds of emails from students in response to his request for questions and comments. Their "overwhelming tone," he said, is that the new policy "would make students less safe, and lessen the RCA-zee relationship."

He added, however, that most of the email responses he has received have been from sophomores, juniors and seniors, who will not be affected by the revisions to the RCA's role since they either will have graduated or will be upperclassmen next year.

Upperclassmen, however, will be affected by the weekend Public Safety patrols, but Biederman said few of the emails he received addressed the subject.

The new Public Safety patrols in dorms seemed to be of less concern to students than the fact that student feedback was not solicited in formulating the revised policy, with only half of students saying they have noticed the patrols.

The poll also found that 44 percent of undergraduates believe that Public Safety does not effectively control alcohol consumption in dorms, while 37 percent said Public Safety is mildly effective. Only 4 percent of respondents considered Public Safety to be very effective at controlling alcohol consumption.

One-fifth of respondents said they see Public Safety as helpful, 29 percent said they view them as adversaries and the rest said they have no strongly defined opinions on the subject.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The fact that administrators are willing to answer students' questions about the policy, Biederman said, suggests they will be receptive to feedback and willing to make changes. "As I understand it, they want to understand the full range of student opinions on the guidelines," he said, adding that "the policy is currently a draft, a 'living document.' "