The Stanford Daily reports (including a couple of paragraphs on the difference -- at least at Leland Stanford Junior University -- between 'probation" and "suspension." Exactly what the "provisional" portion of it means may still be unclear -- it may refer to the outcome of the investigation -- but Stanford has plenty of Nobel Prize winners on its faculty, so maybe somone will step up and explain it:
Fraternity house placed on suspension
Monday, October 11th, 2010 | By Marisa Landicho
Campus officials have put housed fraternity Kappa Sigma on provisional alcohol and party suspension for conduct and possible policy violations during New Student Orientation, according to Nate Boswell, associate director of Residential Education (ResEd). . . . ResEd, the Office of Student Life (OSL) and the Alcohol Advisory Board issued the suspension, pending investigation and possible further action by the Organizational Conduct Board (OCB).
“The University is following up with Kappa Sigma regarding concerns of an alleged unregistered event during NSO,” wrote Kappa Sig President Harris Brown ’11 in an e-mail statement to The Daily.
Under suspension, Kappa Sig may not host events where alcohol is served or consumed, according to Ralph Castro, manager of Health Promotion Service’s substance abuse prevention program.
A Greek organization can be put on alcohol and party suspension if it violates the Controlled Substances and Alcohol Policy of the University, which prohibits serving alcohol during “dry” weekends.
. . . Probation, unlike suspension, means the Greek organization may still host social events and parties with highly controlled alcohol, though under increased scrutiny by the University.
Probation, given for sustained behavior patterns, is considered a warning to fraternities and sororities, cautioning them to improve their conduct or risk losing their housing if probation continues for several years.
Suspended fraternities and sororities, on the other hand, may not have alcohol of any kind for gatherings larger than five people. Suspensions may be imposed for single incidents or series of incidents.
Both suspension and probation periods depend on the severity of the offenses and the conduct of the offending organization. . . .
The Kappa Sig suspension comes at a time when ResEd is dealing with an upswing in alcohol-related incidents.
“To date, this year has been especially troubling for us because we have seen more serious alcohol incidents than in the past and some of these have centered around Greek houses,” Castro said.
Alcohol suspensions and probations may be administered by ResEd to any residence or student organization prior to OCB review, not just Greeks, Boswell said. But Castro said Greeks in particular are under more scrutiny by the University. . . .
More at
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/10...on-suspension/