Otago University proctor Dave Scott has been criticised for removing several bongs from a student flat in Dunedin.

Drug-taking equipment was confiscated from a Dunedin student flat to ensure students "gain degrees and not criminal convictions", the University of Otago proctor says.

The incident happened on Leith St, in the heart of Dunedin's student quarter, earlier this month.

All but one of the flatmates, who was asleep upstairs, were out of the flat when university proctor Dave Scott visited, student magazine Critic reported.

HAMISH McNEILLY/STUFF The incident happened on Leith St, in Dunedin's student quarter. (File photo)

Scott was there to drop off pamphlets about initiations, and let himself in through an unlocked backdoor, the flatmates said. He left, but took several water bongs used for smoking cannabis.

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More Dunedin students later come forward, alleging Scott proctor took their bongs. Inspector Will Black, Southern District area prevention manager, told Stuff police were were aware of "an incident", but received no complaint.

A university spokeswoman said in a statement Scott saw, "in plain sight, through an open sliding door, a number of water bongs of the kind typically used for illegal drug use".

"He judged that the occupants of the flat would rather deal with him informally over the matter than have the police search the flat so he decided to step through the door and uplift the items."

The spokeswoman said Scott later notified the flatmates what he had done and "resolved matters with them in a way that the university is confident was to their advantage".

"Neither he nor the university claim a right to search private premises and what was done here was unusual and unlikely to be repeated."

Scott was focused on "helping students gain degrees and not criminal convictions".

A follow-up article published by Critic on Monday said a second group of flatmates had alleged Scott entered their home without permission and took their bongs too.

One of the flatmates claimed the proctor visited their Castle St house in June, while no-one was home, to pick up rubbish, Critic reported.

The flatmate said the proctor took two bongs and called one of the residents in for meeting. They were let off with a warning.

Otago University Students' Association recreation officer Josh Smythe wrote in a public Facebook post that he had received four reports of flats having bongs taken by the proctor this year.

He planned to meet with Scott on Tuesday to urge him to sign a "code of proctor conduct". If the proctor declined to sign, a protest would be organised on Thursday "with specific demands and outcomes".

The code asks the proctor to give 24 hours notice before approaching flats in the student neighbourhoods of North Dunedin, bans him from entering flats without permission, and bans him from taking items from flats without permission.

The university did not address the second complaint but said Scott was often called on to make judgments as to how to manage difficult situations "and in doing that he gives careful thought to the interests of students involved".

"Much of the Proctor's focus is on working informally with students to help them meet the university's behavioural expectations, and to help them avoid disciplinary processes or the attention of the criminal law."

Scott, a former police officer, also hit headlines earlier this year when it was revealed Campus Watch had removed hundreds of copies of the student magazine, which featured a cartoon of a person menstruating on the cover.

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