New on the job, JIO starts to learn ropes

Freshmen hustling past his office near the Quadrangle mail room know more about campus than he does. But, after two weeks at the University, Steven Blum already has definite ideas about his new job as Judicial Inquiry Officer. His top priority? Restoring confidence in the University's judicial system. Meanwhile, Blum will try to gain confidence in his new urban surroundings – a great contrast from his former home on the serene campus of Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., and his own undergraduate experience at the small liberal arts school of Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Blum, who was chosen to be the new JIO in early September, was formerly Dartmouth's judicial affairs director. He said he envisions a judicial system that is perceived as fair by all members of the University community and a system whose decisions are considered "wise." While admitting that controversy will always surround the judicial system, Blum hopes the JIO will be less controversial in the future and will be given less public attention. "The business of this place is education," he said. "And while I feel strongly that my department plays a role in that process, it is a small role. The attention paid to [the JIO] should be proportional to its importance in that overall educational process." He said he will take an active role in helping students understand the judicial system and this should help build confidence in the JIO. Blum, who admits his stature and bookish appearance hardly make him physically intimidating, doesn't look like a tough disciplinarian. But he insists he can be tough with students who violate the University rules. Listening to student concerns and making students feel comfortable with the system are keys to creating a perception of fairness and rebuilding students' confidence in the JIO, he said. "In the future, it will not be the intent of my office to trick students if they don't know what is going on," he said, declining to comment on past allegations of procedural abuse by the JIO. The new JIO would also like to see the JIO perceived as "less adversarial" and wants to develop a process to give students the option of having disputes mediated rather than going through normal judicial procedures. Blum, who has a degree in conflict resolution and negotiation from Harvard University, said he would eventually like to train students to work as dispute mediators. Ultimately, time may be the biggest factor in restoring the system's integrity, Blum said. And time will be a factor in Blum's own adjustment to the University's urban environment, large size, bureaucracy and tight security. Blum doesn't foresee any long-term problems adjusting, saying the University's warm reception has been both comforting and surprising. One thing he must adjust to is the University's judicial system, which differs greatly from Dartmouth's system. Since Dartmouth is an honor code school, procedures for academic integrity violations are different and more students take part in the system, he said. Blum added that fewer cases go to a full hearing board at Dartmouth and the dean of students takes a more direct part in the investigation and in presiding over the hearing boards. When he left Dartmouth, Blum said, the school's judicial system was being criticized for being too complex, even though it is not nearly as complicated as the University's procedure. "The language of the Penn judicial system is hard to get through, but once you go beyond that, the policy is not really that complex," he said. Blum said he is impressed with on-going campus debate on issues such as free speech and the University judicial system. He added he would like to play a part in this debate, but does not want a larger role than "any other member of the community" and might take a less active role since he is new to the University. He hopes to use the JIO as a "bully pulpit" in addressing two problems which he called critical to most universities across the nation – underage drinking and cheating. He said he sees a problem with drinking to excess because it often results in "extremely poor judgment" on the part of the students and can lead to serious problems with alcoholism. Blum believes cheating is widespread at American universities and he would like to see the University consider instituting an honor code. "Studies have shown that schools with honor codes have less [cheating] than schools without them," he said.