SGA update

Author: Aseem Mulji

Despite the turbulence brought on by former president Bobby Joe Smith's '09 resignation, the Student Government Association (SGA) pushed through its agenda on March 1, displaying a collective desire for a seamless transition into the rest of the spring semester.

The meeting began with a discussion with Acting Dean of the College Gus Jordan about the proposed Honor Code changes unveiled last week.

Senior Senator Roger Perreault expressed his disappointment in the language of the third constitutional change proposed by the Honor Code Review Committee (HCRC). The amendment changed Article III c. to read "alleged violations [of the Honor Code] will be handled according to the academic disciplinary policies of the current Middlebury College Handbook."

This change, explained Perreault, "dilutes the student voice in [determining] what the judicial process is." He argued that the amendment removes any specific language concerning the judicial review process from the constitution (a student-ratified document) and replaces it with a sort of "hyperlink" to the College Handbook (a faculty-ratified document).

Jordan flatly disagreed with Perreault's reading of the amendment and assured the SGA that the intent of the language is merely efficiency. According to HCRC, the language of the new clause allows for minor structural changes to the judicial process. In revising the College Handbook, faculty can make quick changes to the judicial process as needed. He argued that students are kept involved via the Community Council.

Perreault, not swayed, said that he would urge his peers to vote against this suggested amendment.

Following a full 40-minute deliberation on the Honor Code Review, the SGA moved on to discuss a bill sponsored by Senior Senators Katie Hylas and Molley Kaiyoorawongs which makes class evaluations available to students. In order to respect the privacy of faculty members and to make class evaluations more accessible, Hylas and Kaiyoorawongs proposed that as a part of the evaluation process, students respond to a separate set of questions to be viewed by peers online. Www.middkid.com, they said, is unused and ineffective.

The SGA was in full support and approved the bill unanimously.