Code change approved

The University Board of Regents unanimously approved an amendment to the Code of Student Conduct yesterday, taking the final say on Code changes away from the board and giving it to University President Lee Bollinger.

The Code - the University's internal discipline system - is currently under review by the board and was discussed at its monthly meeting yesterday.

The change allows the Michigan Student Assembly, the Senate Assembly or University executives officers to propose amendments, that are then reviewed by the Student Relations Committee of the Senate Assembly Committee on University Affairs. The committee will then forward its recommendations on to the University president.

Currently, if MSA, SACUA or University administrators want to make changes to the Code, they have to propose amendments directly to the regents.

"It's a step in the right direction," MSA President Trent Thompson said.

For several months, the Office of Student Affairs and MSA have been working separately and jointly to propose yesterday's final recommendations to the board. The joint recommendations come from individual reports that they have since meshed together.

Before yielding her speaking time to assembly representatives, Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford officially presented the Code report, which compiled information and suggestions from internal and external review processes.

The University conducted a review of how the Code is implemented, whereas MSA conducted a broader review of the Code itself.

Along with the amendment approved by the regents yesterday, Hartford also recommended increasing communication between MSA, the General Counsel's Office and the Office for Student Conflict Resolution - which oversees the Code's implementation - to make changes in the Code's language.

Other recommendations included in the report are:

n Working to communicate information about the Code to all students through MSA.

n Sharing greater information about Code cases with the media, while still protecting anonymity.

n Merging OSCR with the judicial office of University Housing.

n Creating a pool of advisers for students involved in the Code process.

n Moving OSCR from the Fleming Administration Office to a more accessible location for students.

Hartford said the amendment to the Code will go into effect immediately. Bollinger may decide proposed Code amendments by the board's next meeting, which is scheduled for March 18-19.

For many MSA members, yesterday's meeting with the regents marked the culmination of months of hard work reviewing the Code. Many regents expressed how impressed they were with the assembly's report, describing it as thorough and comprehensive.

"I've never seen a report like this before," Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor) said, complimenting MSA's report spurring many interesting ideas among the board.

Regent Olivia Maynard (D-Goodrich) said she "appreciated the time, energy and intellect put into the report."

02-19-99