For the second time in 10 months, the immediate fate of the top student body leaders lies in the hands of the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (OSCCR).
Michael Benson, Student Government Association (SGA) president-elect, and Chad Cooper, vice president-elect for student affairs, faced officials in OSCCR yesterday after an investigation conducted by the university’s Information Services Security staff.
Benson and Cooper were reported to OSCCR after allegedly stumbling upon confidential files on the university server.
“Confidential files were accidentally found to be on an openly-shared university account,” Benson said in a written statement. “Immediately upon accidentally encountering these files, I brought this issue to the attention of the proper university official. In so doing, I acted in good faith as a concerned student and in the best interests of my fellow students.”
In his written statement, Cooper said he and Benson came upon the confidential files while using a student account “that has been used for years,” and the open access was reported to the proper university official. However, both received a notice two weeks ago summoning them to OSCCR for their actions.
Although they declined to reveal what they are officially being charged with, both Benson and Cooper confirmed they are facing “a gamut” of possible sanctions should they be found responsible.
“Everything from a slap on the wrist to expulsion,” Benson said.
Should they be handed a sanction of anywhere between probation and expulsion, Benson and Cooper would not be able to hold the SGA offices they were elected to in April.
Both are scheduled to begin their terms of office on July 1. If they are found responsible, Benson said he and Cooper would likely file appeals and thus take office as scheduled until a final decision is handed down.
“I assume we would exhaust the [appeals] process before us, until there’s a resolution; I would still be president-elect and [Cooper] will be vice president-elect,” Benson said.
Cooper and Benson are scheduled to find out the results of their hearing today.
Calls to OSCCR yesterday were not returned as of press time.
Elected as Student Center Leader of the Year last semester, Cooper said being charged with violating the Student Code of Conduct is “heartbreaking.”
“I give my all to this university,” Cooper said. “It was a very painful letter and it delivered a world of hurt because I eat, sleep and breathe this university. It’s just disheartening.”
In reference to general university regulations for the appropriate use of computer and network resources, the Student Handbook states: “All users are required to honor and observe the rules of confidentiality and protection of privacy when accessing and using any information that resides on Northeastern information systems and/or any information that pertains to university programs, students, faculty and staff.”
Glenn Hill, manager of information security for Information Services, said the university is obligated to take action against those who violate confidentiality guidelines in the best interest of all who use the university server.
“There’s moral, legal and ethical responsibilities around access to data and the university acts by articulating policy to the foundation for appropriate electronic behavior,” Hill said. “The reason we do that is so we can help deliver the highest level of protection for student, faculty and staff records. The university strives to protect all information.”
Hill said when a student or faculty member’s privacy is violated, they are notified of the problem immediately and the university guides them through a process to rectify the situation.
“When the university discovers someone’s information has been breached and/or viewed in an inappropriate way we notify them as quickly as possible … if something is posted in an inappropriate place the university will take that down,” Hill said
SGA Vice President for Administration and Public Relations John Guilfoil, who has now seen five different e-board members face OSCCR for two separate incidents, said he does not believe Benson and Cooper should be accused of any wrongdoing.
“I’m not going to speculate on the details, but it seems like two guys were trying to do the right thing and somebody in the university doesn’t think so,” Guilfoil said.
Benson, who watched as former SGA President Andres Vargas was forced to resign after being found responsible for holding an illegal party last summer, said the only comparison which can be made between the two cases is the fact that no student is held above the code of conduct.
“Based on the circumstances, while I feel disappointed I also feel proud — I feel proud that no students on this campus are held to a higher or lower standard than anywhere else and that is a comfort to me,” he said.
The hearing lasted close to five hours, as both sides provided statements and one witness. Cooper said although he was nervous at the beginning, both became more comfortable as the hearing progressed.
Cooper added he has always had faith in the judicial process, but doesn’t feel the investigation prior to his hearing was fair, and was relieved he was able to present his side of the story.
“The process was fair, however I don’t feel the [investigation through the complainant] leading up to the actual hearing was fair,” Cooper said. “I’m glad that the judicial board got to see the other side of a very one-sided report.”
From his experience as a former SGA vice president and Curry Student Center building manager, Benson described himself as being more proficient than the average student when working with computers. He plans to use this experience not only to educate other students, but as a reference point in future dealings with OSCCR.
Cooper said if he and Benson had the knowledge of the situation they have now, the problem wouldn’t have occurred in the first place. He added that neither he nor Benson considered any possible repercussions at the time and were simply trying to do the right thing.
“This is an innocent instance, so we didn’t know we were putting our necks on the line,” Cooper said. “You don’t think about consequences when you think you’re doing the right thing.”
