University President Dan Mote called for a stricter anti-rioting policy and said he expects the university to get an increase in state funding this year in his annual State of the Campus address yesterday.

The university is “quite fed up with” rowdy postgame celebrations, Mote said. After lauding student organizations that are trying to provide alternatives to celebratory rioting, Mote said he expects the Board of Regents to make students eligible for expulsion who are given probation instead of a conviction by a court of law.

Under the university’s current riot policy, a student can be expelled if convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, said Vice President of Student Affairs Linda Clement. This semester, the Board of Regents will decide whether to implement a stricter policy in which students can be expelled if they are given probation before judgment, which occurs when a defendant pleads guilty before a trial but is not convicted by a jury or penalized by a court.

“It would be safe for any student who is arrested for disturbances following a campus event this year to plan on being dismissed from the university,” Mote said.

Mote said this is not different from his stance last semester against an initiative to automatically expel students given probation for riot-related charges. Rather, these students will be subject to disciplinary review under the Student Code of Conduct before action is taken against them.

Mote also said he is optimistic about state funding this year, because the state has a billion dollar surplus and it is an election year.

“We expect this to be a good year,” he said. “These guys like to give money away election years because that’s how they get elected,” he said.

The president said the Board of Regents will submit a four-year plan by the end of this semester detailing a budget request for the governor to approve. This represents a shift from years past, he said, when the governor simply dictated what state funding to the university would be.

He discussed two promises: the state’s expectation for the university to be ranked among the top public flagship universities in the country, and the university’s duty to provide talented low-income students with the means to obtain a college degree. To keep these promises, Mote said, the university would need contributions from the campus community, the state, the University System of Regents and alumni.

“Delivering the promises is our top goal,” he said. “It’s the right thing at the right time.”

To begin fulfilling the promises, he said, the university has taken steps including reducing debt for low-income students, aiding spring transfer students in adjusting to university life and supporting scholarship campaigns.

Mote also detailed the university’s accomplishments over the past year, including increases in enrollment of honor students and minorities. He discussed plans to reduce disincentives like difficulty finding housing, transferring credits and finding internships for students to study abroad.

He said foreign students continue to have difficulties obtaining visas to study in Maryland, and this past year has seen no improvement in post-doctoral students and scholars obtaining visas to come to the university.

The president also addressed the recent split between the graduate school and the university’s research programs and the upcoming search to find a permanent leader for each department.

Contact reporter Megha Rajagopalan at rajagopalandbk@gmail.com.