<p>Not sure what to think any more after reading all of this. Part of me is flabbergasted at the advice to get an attorney. And yet, it’s the world we live in. A few years ago, a student sledding at a local university suffered a horrific injury. I am quite sure the school was sued for not forbidding sledding. Now, signs posted on the hilltops warn students that sledding is forbidden. So, a student ignores the sign (or moves over a few yards so it’s to right in front of her face), gets caught, suffers disciplinary action which will stay on file for x number of years, and so she gets an attorney . . .</p>
<p>What is an institution to do? Allow sledding (or students on the rooftops), get sued. Make rules forbidding the action but deal with the threat of suits anyway?</p>
<p>^^and for a university to even attempt to think of everything a student could possibly do to get in trouble seems like both an exercise in futility and legally dangerous, as in “see, you have a 10 page list of banned activities but you didn’t list gum-swallowing contests, so it’s your fault!!!”</p>
<p>I don’t get the part about 8 years since most students generally graduate from college in 4 yrs. Unless she was charged/convicted of a crime and the police were involved, there is no such thing as a ‘permanent’ record. Police records are the only permanent database of information that I am aware of. A future employer would only be interested in whether you actually graduated and probably would never have access to internal college student files. As someone else mentioned, you are apparently only getting her side of the story. Hiring a lawyer seems extreme for what sounds like a simple internal disciplinary action.</p>
<p>I am confused by the 8 years, and I really suspect that the parent has not heard the entire story. If I were paying for college I would tell the student that if he/she wants me to keep paying, we are going to schedule a meeting with the school to discuss.</p>
<p>I have a few questions. If it was the friend who posted pictures to their Facebook account, what was their punishment? Did they also get the ‘eight years’. Secondly I rather doubt college administrators have time to go perusing students 'Facebook accounts or would investigate unless, the area accessed was damaged, vandalized or has a high security due to research being carried out there. It’s time for the OP to get the full story from the student and possibly it will turn out that the punishment is understandable…
As for having a lawyer present, that is not a new phenomena. Back when I was in college in the late 70s, my college tried to institute a rule that only parents could be present at a student disciplinary hearing, run by students at the time . The student Senate voted against it taking the opinion that if the school had the power to expel you, you had the right to be represented by counsel, not just your ,parents who might not understand the nuances or be as helpful.</p>
<p>The OP said that the student handbooks says all disciplinary infractions stay on your record for 4 years after graduation. Hence the 8 years. No reason to appeal, if all infractions have the same penalty. And if she just got “probation” from the college, who else is going to know about it? A slap on the wrist. Move on.</p>
<p>She did it. Her friend was stupid enough to post pictures. Let her take the consequences and learn from it. If she keep her nose clean for the next 3 1/2 years, she’ll be fine.</p>
<p>What jaded said…the school spotted it on Facebook? How did that happen? With a large university with say ten thousand students, posting dozens of pictures weekly, how did these few photos come to their attention. Either someone tattled or they were caught.</p>
<p>I ask becuase daughters story doesn’t hold up. Not that it matters. It is what it is. But before the op stirs the hornets nest, get all the facts. </p>
<p>I woud, say, daughter, it makes no sense they discovered the roof top adventure thru Facebook stalking. So there must be more to the story. But you don’t need to share or clarify. Just don’t mess up again. I would love to see the report, but if you don’t want to show me, that’s fine. Love you.</p>
<p>Even though colleges typically do not share academic probation with parents, I am pretty sure that a copy of disciplinary action/probation notice would be sent to the parent? </p>
<p>Did this happen so very recently that you have not yet received one? Call the school…</p>
<p>I note, once again, that OP has never actually said that her daughter didn’t know that going on the roof was prohibited. She only says that it was unlocked and that there was no sign.</p>
<p>If she was told that it was prohibited, she has no case, and can’t “clear her name,” because she knowingly violated the rule. That seems pretty simple to me.</p>
<p>We can go only by what you say your daughter says what happened. Since there were no signs saying not to go there, a policy must be in place that says you aren’t allowed to go on the roof. That would likely be the basis for finding her guilty and disciplining her.
It is likely there is a policy because schools have to protect themselves (by having policies telling students not to do things that are dangerous) and protect students (by not letting them get into obviously dangerous situations such as on roofs). The schools probably also wants to have signs and locks, but a policy is extra insurance in case other things break down and someone falls off a roof.
As for graduate schools, your daughter should explain to them what happened, emphasizing she was a naive freshman and now she knows better.
Most employers don’t see college transcripts.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m abit nieve but hiring a lawyer because your kid did soemthing she wasn’t supposed to sounds like helicoptering. She screwed up, she should pay for it. If you get her out of it, 10 years from now she’ll be livng in the basement asking you to pay her credit card bills. </p>
<p>She sounds like she has handled it, leave her alone.</p>
<p>I usually let my son be responsible for his gaffes in life, but I got involved during an incident in HS where the principal wanted to discipline him and tarnish his record with a charge of ‘harassment’ for not stopping other kids from drawing unflattering pictures of her son the teacher.</p>
<p>That was nuts, but mostly I tend to be sympathetic toward institutions who act crazy in an attempt to ward off lawsuits.</p>
<p>not really relevant for your issue, because it happened long ago, but my Mom has talked about when she was suspended from college for a week her freshman year for climbing onto a roof. Apparently she & a roommate climbed onto the roof of a covered walkway that ran betweens the girls dorms. They stamped out a birthday message in the snow on the roof so that another roommate would see it when she looked down from the window of their dorm. They were caught by security and weirdly, they were charged with being peeping toms into the girls dorms, because they could supposedly see into the second floor from up there. She said nothing ever came from it other than getting a week off school and getting teased about her voyeuristic tendencies, but again, it was forever ago. And it was at that large religious university previously mentioned. Hopefully your daughter will just end up with nothing more serious than a funny story too.</p>
<p>Unless it is an emergency evacuation situation, what good reason does any student have to be on a university school roof?</p>
<p>If OP’s D had fallen off or gotten hurt on that same roof, she would be looking to sue the school because the school had not done their due diligence to keep D safe.</p>
<p>When schools say that something is on your “record,” that means that it’s on file with the school. Grad schools and employers can request the information if it is part of her educational file, but they very rarely do. Sometimes they will ask the student if they’ve ever been subject to disciplinary action by the college and then give the student the chance to explain themselves in a supplemental file. If your daughter explains this, I doubt it will have any effect on her ability to get into grad school or a job.</p>
<p>I honestly wouldn’t worry about it. My brother-in-law got into a fight at a frat party at FSU and was disciplined by the school and police, but this didn’t keep him from getting into (a reasonably prestigious) law school. He did have trouble getting into the Bar eventually, but that was because of the police charge, which your daughter does not seem to have. By the time she applies to grad schools, this will be almost 4 years in the past.</p>
<p>When I was in college, someone jumped off the roof of a building committing suicide, causing a huge amount of bad publicity for the school (a medium-sized university in the East) and sadness for the students. Not to sound insensitive, but we probably would not even have been AWARE of the suicide if it had been another method, but as it was, it was a mess of emergency vehicles, news crews, etc. I’m guessing that is why schools may be emotional about people going up on roofs. Also, I agree with Owlice about maybe campaigning for signage. What’s the point of getting people in trouble for climbing on the roof if they don’t even know it’s against the rules. Signs would keep people OFF (Okay, maybe).</p>
<p>The fact that she or her friends posted photos of it probably did not help her case, unfortunately. Made it look cool.</p>