The Butler Alcohol Taskforce presented a report of recommendations to administration about potential changes to Butler University’s alcohol policy in January.

Dean of Student Life Irene Stevens said the administration didn’t act on the recommendations until recently.

Stevens will present the list of recommendations to the Board of Trustees in May, and various sub-groups and committees will work on the recommendations over the summer.

She said the need for the recommendations stemmed from alcohol violation and hospitalization data from the last three academic years.

“We’re seeing more and more students who are showing signs of high-risk drinking,” Stevens said. “There’s been a significant increase in hospitalizations.”

The recommendations are listed in four different categories—education, student culture, policies and enforcement.

“We felt like there were some mixed messages on whether or not it’s OK to drink,” Stevens said. “We’ve been talking about if you choose to drink, drink responsibly.”

Some recommendations regarding education include alcohol policy messages to new students, required alcohol programming in residential housing and Greek housing and education on how to identify signs of alcohol poisoning and high-risk drinking.

Stevens said that in terms of student culture, some recommendations include promoting more weekend programming, educating off-campus students about the liability involved with hosting parties and having alcohol education for students and alumni during homecoming week.

“There is also a suggestion to restrict first-year students’ access to the fraternity and sorority houses for a period of time in the fall semester,” Stevens said. “The goal is to inform students of this in advance.”

A recommendation involving policies includes establishing criteria where policy violators wouldn’t be eligible for Greek recruitment, apartment living and leadership positions on campus.

Stevens said the taskforce explored the possibility of restricting hard alcohol on campus, but there was no consensus on the recommendation. It was not presented to administration.

Some recommendations involving enforcement include a more consistent and firm response from campus police on underage and high-risk drinking and increased education and fines for students who violate campus alcohol policy.

Stevens said that some of the recommendations will be implemented in the fall, but many of them will not be implemented until next year.

Sarah Barnes Diaz, health education and outreach programs coordinator, said that after the various parties look at the recommendations, the taskforce will look at the funding and staffing available to put the recommendations in place.

“We also need to be mindful of the natural cycle here and make sure we’re not pushing recommendations that we don’t really have time to fully organize,” Diaz said.

Diaz said the recommendations should be clearly communicated to students.

“I don’t anticipate a huge uproar or any major shock to the recommendations there,” she said. “It’s seeing what’s worked on our campus, what’s worked on other campuses that are like ours and just continuing those things.”

Students are not the only ones working behind the scenes for Butler’s Student Government Association.

The PuLSE Office has four individuals who advise SGA and its various boards.

Dean of Student Life Irene Stevens said the role of an SGA adviser is to help executive members do the job to the best of their ability and help them avoid pitfalls they may encounter.

“I don’t necessarily always have the answers,” said Caroline Huck-Watson, director of the PuLSE Office. “But I can also help direct someone to figure out where those are.”

Huck-Watson advises the Council on Presidential Affairs, Finance Board, the SGA president and SGA’s Executive Board. As PuLSE director, she also helps other staff advisers when issues arise.

SGA President Al Carroll said the advisers are there to say when students are or are not on the right track.

“We don’t always agree with them,” Carroll said. “But that’s the way it is.”

She said that while there are no specific guidelines for her to follow as adviser, there are expectations in terms of the role she plays. She said the entire PuLSE staff follows university law and procedures.

She said that doing so allows the advisers to help students navigate university systems.

Other PuLSE advisers include Julie Pakenham, associate director; Rob Miller, assistant director; and Jen Agnew, assistant director.

The PuLSE staff reports to Stevens.

“I also work with the exec on some issues occasionally,” Stevens said. “It’s not unusual for me to have a meeting with the president of SGA, in particular the CPA president and vice president, about various issues.”

Stevens also said that her role allows her to attend various SGA assemblies.

“It gives me a sense of what’s going on with students and what the issues are that they’re dealing with,” Stevens said. “I do enjoy going in and hearing what they’re talking about.”

Stevens said the advisers are able to provide students with a historical perspective of SGA and the university.

“I rely on Caroline quite a bit,” SGA President-elect Mike Keller said. “Al has been great with the transition, but Caroline is who I look to for knowledge of the past.”

Huck-Watson said she sees challenging students as one of her roles.

“I would hope my role is that when students are making decisions, I’m helping them see a variety of different perspectives so that they can make the most informed decision that they can at that time,” Huck-Watson said.

She said she is ever-evolving as an adviser.

“It’s such a moment of pride to see a student be a successful leader, to make change on campus, to really feel empowered, to lead a group and to make decisions that have an impact on our community,” Huck-Watson said. “That happens every year. It’s so wonderful.”

Keller said he’s already had a great experience working with the advisers leading up to his transition into office.

The advisers sat in on his vice president interviews.

“It is my decision,” Keller said. “None of them tried to influence it, but they were able to provide a lot of helpful pros and cons for each candidate.”

Carroll said he has great respect and gratitude for all of the SGA advisers.

“They make my life easier,” Carroll said. “I’m thankful for that.”

Huck-Watson said she is blessed to have the opportunity to work with Butler students in such a profound way.

“I look around sometimes at events and things that are going on that our students are accomplishing,” Huck-Watson said. “It just takes my breath away sometimes.”

Faculty Senate members read through a motion Tuesday that could urge Butler University administrators to fund and staff the core curriculum, which is $400,000 short of funding for next year.

The motion states, “It is imperative that the university fully staff the current core curriculum, which was approved by the faculty in 2005.

“We must ensure that we have sufficient funding and faculty positions to support the core curriculum.”

The Senate decided to take two weeks to think about the motion and will discuss and vote on it at the next meeting on April 24.

“This has always been a problem,” Elizabeth Mix, associate professor of art, said. “I think it’s beneficial that we have a serious conversation about it.”

Tom Dolan, a biology professor who serves on the university’s core curriculum committee, said the point of the motion is to get the core curriculum taken care of and to get a decision made.

“If this motion is a way to support a discussion about funding the core, then view it as that,” Dolan said.