The ASUI Senate passed a resolution Wednesday that could result in a change to the voting requirements necessary for changes to be made to the University of Idaho student code conduct.
The Dean of Students Office, university judicial council, faculty senate and ASUI task force have been hard at work in the last month, trying to sort out the proposed changes to the student code
of conduct.
The current Statement of Student Rights in the Faculty Staff Handbook requires any amendments to the student code of conduct to be approved by a student vote. The statue requires at least 35 percent of the student body to vote on the changes, and of that 35 percent a two-thirds majority in favor of the changes is required. In addition, an affirmative vote of a majority of the university faculty at a meeting where a quorum is present
is required.
ASUI senator Bruno Bennett proposed the resolution that shows ASUI’s support of changing the voting process in which the student code of conduct’s student rights section could be changed.
“What (the resolution) does is support a change to making it a vote of two-thirds of the ASUI senate,” Bennett said. “We represent the student body and it is our job to be educated on changes to the student code of conduct in the student’s rights section.”
Bennett said the resolution would transfer the voting power from the entire student body to the ASUI senate.
“The problem is that getting a third of students to vote on anything — no matter how many perks you offer — is almost impossible,” Bennett said.
Bennett is also a member of the university judicial council. He said the process of revision is taking a while but is making progress — particularly “cleaning up” the amnesty clause the Dean of Student’s Office proposed.
“The main purposes of it is if a student is doing something maybe they shouldn’t be doing — maybe they’re drinking underage, or a bystander in a similar situation — you have somewhat of a safe harbor if you need help, such as medical attention,” Bennett said. “So it really tries to protect the students so they won’t experience more danger in an already potentially dangerous situation.”
Bennett also said the faculty senate and university judicial council has plans to tackle other issues with the student code of conduct in the near future.
“Last week, we worked a lot on the judicial process,” Bennett said. “Both what’s being proposed and the original judicial process that we have in the student code of conduct. In the weeks to come, we have privacy issues to talk about as well as the jurisdiction of the code.”
Sen. Nathan Fisher said at Wednesday’s meeting he was unsure if the consolidation of voting power would be a positive or negative thing in the student code of conduct changes.
Sen. Grady Hepworth said Fisher brought up a good point, but the passage of the resolution was necessary in order to continue the process of changing the student code of conduct — even if it meant a consolidation of power in the ASUI senate.
“I personally think that consolidation of power is much, much needed,” Hepworth said. “I would say that’s our role as a student government is to act on behalf of the students. Really, the ASUI senate is the most transparent body that we can go through, so it only makes sense that we would want to represent students when it comes to changing their rights
on campus.”
The resolution will be sent to the State Board of Education. The SBOE will decide if the change specified in the resolution will be implemented. Hepworth said he thinks the board will agree with the resolution because the student code of conduct has not been changed since
the 1960s.
“Our campus, our culture, our way of life and the law — the law has changed dramatically since the student code of conduct was last changed,” Hepworth said. “The fact of the matter is our student code of conduct right now isn’t reflective of our lifestyles as students, nor our values as the University of Idaho.”
Amber Emery
can be reached at