Off-Campus Community Standards
office of the dean of students
View the Community Standards Sanctions in PDF format. (Adobe Reader required.)
Policy Enforcement Off-Campus
All Boston College students are expected to abide by state and city laws, as well as the student codes of conduct. It is also our expectation that your behavior will reflect favorably on yourself and your family, as well as on Boston College, a Jesuit and Catholic university. Remember, many of the apartments or houses our students live in are across the street from, abut, or are very near our non-student neighbors. Retired couples, families with young children and young professionals, are frequently negatively impacted by elements of the “collegiate lifestyle.”
The Boston College Student Guide (bc.edu/studentguide) states that students will be held accountable for behavior both on and off campus. Disciplinary action can be taken in response to complaints from landlords, neighbors, the BC Community Liaison, or the Boston or Newton Police Departments. Please avoid behavior which could result in arrests and campus disciplinary action that could seriously impact your future.
In addition we want to help assure that your off campus experience is as productive and problem-free as possible. Therefore, please do not hesitate to contact the Dean of Students Office (617-552-3470), Residential Life-Off-Campus Housing (617-552-3075), the BC Police (617-552-4444) or Community Affairs (617-552-4787) if you have any questions or need assistance. You can also email the Dean of Students Office directly with issues and concerns at offcampushelp@bc.edu. Thank you very much for your cooperation. Have a great off-campus experience!
Community Assistance Program
Steve Montgomery is Boston College’s Community Liaison who coordinates the Community Assistance Program (CAP), which is a service of the Office of Governmental and Community Affairs. Steve responds to calls received from the Boston Police or BCPD in an attempt to mediate situations and address community disturbances as a result of student behavior.
Steve is in the neighborhoods between 9 pm and 3 am every Thursday through Saturday and other peak activity days. He tours the neighborhoods to prevent, verify, record, investigate, and address complaints about off-campus disturbances from neighbors and the local police. He speaks with students responsible for neighborhood disturbances and discusses community standards and individual and community rights. Steve maintains records of complaints received and response actions taken and then forwards those reports to the Office of the Dean of Students for appropriate action.
Friday Night Heights Formative Sanction
Students who are found responsible for off-campus infractions are often unaware of the impact of their behavior on their neighbors. The Friday Night Heights workshop promotes citizenship, civility, and responsibility by educating them on their civic responsibilities and helping them to devise strategies for preventing problematic behaviors off-campus. It also fosters students’ identity of themselves as good neighbors, instead of temporary visitors in the community. Students are also given the opportunity to reflect on how their actions reflect on both the BC and off campus, local communities.
Friday Night Heights (FNH) is a collaborative effort between the Boston College Office of the Dean of Students, the Boston Police Department, and the Allston Brighton Substance Abuse Task Force. Off-campus students who are found to be responsible for violating university policies or city ordinances may participate in the Friday Night Heights workshop reduce their University Probation to Housing Probation. Students can only attend the workshop once.
For more information, contact Office of the Dean of Students Graduate Assistant for Off-Campus Student Life and Community Engagement, Brendan Kennedy at kennedbi@bc.edu.