Beginning this semester, the Judicial Affairs Office changed its name to the Office of Student Standards.

But the name change does not mean a sudden change in the office’s duties, said Heather Webb, director of the Office of Student Standards.

“I would not say that our functions changed when we changed our name,” Webb said. “I would say that the functions of our office have evolved over time, and the name change helps better communicate the current functions of our office.”

Those new functions include improving the relationship between students and Charleston residents.

“We also address some behaviors that are detrimental to the Charleston community,” Webb said. “We hope to help all our students grow in the area of personal responsibility and to become good citizens.”

Eastern staff members are also increasingly using the Student Standards Office, Webb said.

“We are frequently called upon for consultation with faculty and staff, whether it be interpretation of the Student Code of Conduct or advising a faculty member how to address inappropriate behavior in the classroom,” she said.

Given these new functions, the name “Judicial Affairs” is obsolete, said Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs.

“The term ‘Judicial’ is dated, inaccurate and misleading,” Nadler said.

Webb said the old title is misleading.

“Some students came to our office believing that it would be full of attorneys using legal jargon, which is not the case,” Webb said. “Others believed that our office was like the ‘principal’s office,’ and the only reason why a person would come to our office is if they were in trouble. That is also not the case.”

Webb said by carefully planning the name change, costs for new office supplies were kept low.

“The costs associated with the name change were very minimal,” Webb said. “Because of the planning timeline, we were able to use almost all existing stationery, business cards and forms with ‘Judicial Affairs’ before purchasing new items this summer.”

The Student Standards Office also added a new sign outside its office in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, she said.

“We did change the lettering on our office, but this has been done in conjunction with a larger signage project in the MLK Jr. Union, so our office signage would have changed regardless of the name change,” Webb said. “Therefore it was already budgeted as part of that project.”

Joe Astrouski can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmastrouski@eiu.edu.