Figures recently released by the University of Otago show that misconduct cost students $14,860 in 2012. This is up 40% from 2011, when total fines issued by the Proctor were $10,670 for the year. The increase has occurred despite a decrease in the number of misbehaving students from 136 in 2011 to 106 in 2012.
The average fine has gone up to $140 per student in 2012, compared to $78 per student in 2011. 34 of the fines were for breaking glass and 30 were for setting fires, with two of the fire starters recieving fines of $250 and $300.
Community service and charitable donations were also ordered by the Proctor when students breached the University’s Code of Conduct. In more serious cases, the Proctor referred students to the University’s Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne. From here, six students were excluded from the University during the second semester of 2012, four of whom for lighting fires.
Unsurprisingly, O-Week proves to be the busiest time of the year. A third of all students seen by the Proctor during 2012 were seen in the first two weeks of the academic year.
The steeper student fines issued by both the Proctor and the courts reflect the recent crackdown on student disorderly behaviour. One student was fined $900 by the courts earlier this semester for starting a fire, the highest fine yet.
The money collected by the Proctor is put towards the University’s Student Hardship fund which assists students in times of “unforeseeable emergencies,” such as having to urgently fly home due to a family crisis. Unfortunately, the Proctor assured Critic that this fund is “not for if you just run out of money and can’t pay your rent, as that is foreseeable.” So don’t bother trying to get some alcohol funds when Studylink fails to process your loan in time for Re-O-Week.
Shit students help students in the shit
