The UNC Policy Manual 700.4.4
Adopted
02/27/25
Policy on Campus
Gatherings & Related Student Conduct Matters
The
United States Constitution, the North Carolina Constitution, the laws of North
Carolina and longstanding University policy combine to operate the University
of North Carolina in a manner that balances the first duty of public safety of
campus communities with an unflagging commitment to free expression and
thought. It is that commitment to free expression and thought—and cultivating
both among the approximately 250,000 students who enroll in the University
annually—that sets the academic arena apart from other parts of society. The
responsibility to balance the competing interests of public safety with free
expression falls to the hundreds of campus professionals working every day in
North Carolina in the areas of law enforcement, student affairs, and campus
administration.
Such
balancing must inherently be campus-based and does not lend itself to hard and
fast “one-size fits all” prescriptions at a System-wide level. The Board of
Governors does not operate each of the seventeen campuses of the University of
North Carolina—indeed, that task would be insurmountable given the unique missions
of our institutions and nature of the seventeen communities of which our
campuses are vibrant hubs. Instead, the University rightly reaffirms the
principle that operating our campuses is the duty of our chancellors as
codified in Chapter 116 of the North Carolina General Statutes and The Code.
The balancing and tailoring asked of each campus professional in doing his or
her job is made even more complex given the myriad related federal and state
laws, including those governing destruction of public property, free
expression, trespass, access to buildings by persons with disabilities and the
confidentiality of student and personnel information that serve their own
important public policy goals.
I.
Minimum
Requirements for Campus Policies Regarding Mass Gatherings & Related
Student
Conduct
With this background
in mind, each constituent institution of the University of North Carolina shall
continue to comply with the following minimum principles in crafting and
administrating its campus-specific policies regarding public gatherings on
campus and student discipline arising from conduct by students on sister
campuses of the University of North Carolina:
1.
Reasonable
Prior Notice & Reservation. Each constituent institution shall maintain a
mechanism whereby persons wishing to gather in groups larger than a size set by
the campus must reserve or otherwise provide not less than 24-hours’ notice to
the campus administration and the appropriate campus safety official of the
intent to gather in indoor spaces located on campus or in specified outdoor
areas for purposes other than university-sponsored instruction, classes, or
research. These reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions tailored and crafted
by the campus shall empower campus officials to prepare for and ensure the
safety of students and other community members inside campus buildings and in
specified outdoor areas.
2.
Fostering
Spontaneous Expressive Activity. Furthermore, to ensure that students, staff,
and faculty may continue to assemble and engage in the “spontaneous expressive
activity” encouraged and facilitated by Section 1300.8 of the
UNC Policy Manual,
Policy on Free Speech and Free Expression Within the University of North
Carolina System, each constituent institution shall ensure that the outdoor
portions of the campus not specified as requiring a reservation or notice remain
freely accessible so long as they are not utilized in a manner that
substantially interferes with or materially and substantially disrupts the
institution’s missions, as set out in Section IV of Section 1300.8 of the
UNC Policy Manual.
3.
Safe
Ingress & Egress & Sound Amplification. Each constituent institution
shall ensure that its applicable policies governing student conduct and public
gatherings prescribe clear rules about the maintenance of safe points of
ingress and egress to each campus building and the use of sound-amplifying
equipment near such building. Such clear rules should be crafted in a way that
ensures that students, staff, and faculty residing, working, learning, and
teaching are not disrupted while free expression continues.
4.
Regulation
of Camping. Each constituent institution shall ensure that its applicable
policies governing public gatherings prohibit Camping on University Property without
prior written approval from the appropriate campus official and the appropriate
campus safety official. In accordance with UNC Policy and applicable state and
federal law, any requests for approval from campus officials shall be
determined in a viewpoint neutral manner considering necessary time, place, and
manner restrictions.
a.
“Camping”
is defined as any of the following:
i. The establishment of,
or attempt to establish, temporary or permanent living quarters at any location
on University Property other than residence halls, apartments, or other
university managed housing;
ii. Sleeping outdoors on
University Property with or without bedding, tent, hammock, tarp, or similar
device, protection, or equipment overnight (between sunset and sunrise);
iii. Sleeping in, on top
of, or under any parked vehicle on University Property;
iv. Establishing or
maintaining outdoors, or in or under any structure not designated for human
occupancy, at any time during the day or night, a temporary or permanent place
on University Property for cooking, storing of personal belongings, or sleeping
by setting up any bedding, sleeping bag, mattress, tent, hammock, or other
sleeping equipment, or by setting up any cooking equipment that has not been
approved by the appropriate University health and/or safety officer.
b.
“University
Property” is defined as any building, structure, or outdoor space that is
owned, leased, operated, managed, or controlled by the University.
c.
Exceptions.
Actions that constitute
"camping" as defined above may be permitted under the following
special circumstances:
i. When expressly authorized by the constituent
institution in connection with a ticketed event.
ii. In extraordinary circumstances, such as times of natural
disaster, when approved in writing in advance by the chancellor or designee.
5.
Misconduct
on Other Campuses. Each constituent institution shall ensure that its
applicable policies governing student conduct establish clearly that, at
minimum, any of its students cited or arrested by law enforcement authorities or
cited by another constituent institution for engaging in misconduct,
disruption, trespass, or other conduct creating a public safety threat to the
student or others is subject to disciplinary proceedings at his or her enrolled
institution.
The foregoing requirement is designed to put
University students on actual notice of the risk of disciplinary proceedings
arising from conduct resulting in citation or arrest for violation of federal
or state law, local ordinances, and/or specified conduct engaged in on another
University of North Carolina campus. In administering this policy, campuses
shall retain discretion as to whether the conduct by a campus’s enrolled
student resulting in citation or arrest for violation of federal or state law,
local ordinances, or misconduct occurring at a sister institution, if the
enrolled campus becomes aware of it, should result in disciplinary proceedings
at the enrolled institution and what the appropriate remedy is if the student
is found to be responsible.
6.
Final
Adjudication of Student Conduct Matters by Professional Staff or Committee. In
accordance with Section 700.4.1 of
the UNC Policy Manual,
constituent institutions remain free to organize their student conduct
adjudication processes as they see fit. They are encouraged to draw from
multiple campus stakeholder groups, including students, to ensure that
fact-finding and processes are informed by the various perspectives of campus
communities and the student body. Final disposition of campus student conduct
proceedings shall be made by either one or more campus administrators, which
may include a neutral external adjudicator engaged by the campus, possessing
adequate training and expertise to perform such tasks in accordance with law
and policy or by a committee comprised of campus administrators, faculty, and
students so long as the campus administrators constitute a plurality of the
committee. All committee members must possess adequate training and expertise
to perform such tasks in accordance with law and policy. The decision of a
committee may be final, or it may be a recommendation for a final decision by a
designated campus administrator. Appeals of final dispositions of student
conduct proceedings required by Section 700.4.1 of
the UNC Policy Manual
may be initiated by either the responding student or, in the case of a final
decision made by a committee, the responsible campus administrator, and must be
heard and determined by separate campus administrator(s) or a neutral external
adjudicator engaged by the campus, none of whom participated in the initial
hearing and disposition being appealed.
7.
Intercampus
Sharing of Public Safety Information. The president shall work with the System
Vice President for Safety & Emergency Operations, or his designee, to
create or expand an existing mechanism for the exchange of public safety
related information among the law enforcement agencies of the University of
North Carolina whereby constituent institutions may confidentially exchange for
law enforcement, campus safety, and student disciplinary purposes information
regarding enrolled student or third party non-student misconduct on campuses of
the University of North Carolina.
8.
Close
Consultation with Law Enforcement Officials. To foster the proper balance among
ensuring public safety, ensuring free expression, and furthering the
educational mission of the University, each constituent institution remains
free to organize its departments of public safety and student affairs as it
deems appropriate subject to applicable law and policy. However, each
constituent institution shall ensure that a senior-ranking public safety
official is included, informed, and consulted regarding the logistical planning
of campus gatherings and that issues of public safety are prioritized in those
discussions. Furthermore, each constituent institution shall ensure that in
preparing for mass gatherings, the chancellor has the benefit of direct
consultations with law enforcement officials in effecting the proper plans for
such events.
II.
Other
Matters
1.
Effective
Date. The requirements of this policy shall be effective on the date of
adoption by the Board of Governors, and constituent institutions shall ensure
compliance on or prior to August 1, 2025.
2.
Relation
to State and Federal Law. The foregoing policies as adopted by the Board
of Governors are meant to supplement, and do not purport to supplant or modify,
the requirements of federal and state law and existing university policy.
3.
Regulations
and Directives. The president is authorized to promulgate regulations and
administrative memoranda to aid in the implementation of this Policy.