Members of the faculty senate decided to postpone a vote on changes to the new disciplinary review process for alleged violations of the student code of conduct Tuesday.
Senate members expressed concern about whether the code should include a right for University of Idaho students at extension campuses to appear via videoconference for meetings with the dean of students.
Other issues that postponed the vote included the wording that differentiates days from “working days” and whether or not the Dean of Students should send physical mail to students or only use email for communication with students.
Sen. Wendy Couture, from the UI Boise Water Center, said the student code of conduct disciplinary procedure should include language that gives UI students on extension campuses a right to appear via videoconference, in cases where the student would usually appear in person.
“This is important in terms of credibility,” Couture said. “We need to give students at the Boise, Idaho Falls and (Coeur d’Alene) locations the right to appear before their reviewers — a right students going to school in Moscow explicitly get.”
Associate General Counsel G Costa said while he recognizes that students studying at off-campus locations should have a right to a videoconference, he thinks the draft’s current language serves that right.
“The language we use about meetings and hearings doesn’t specifically say it’s in person or not,” Costa said. “I think without any edits or without any definitions being added, we can interpret words to mean in person or video conference and it’s certainly beneficial to do so.”
Associate Dean of Students Craig Chatriand said in previous disciplinary proceedings students have been offered to appear via videoconference and they choose to instead weigh in via teleconference.
Another issue that concerned the faculty senate was the possibility of students becoming confused about the timeline for disciplinary procedures because of the draft’s language. The proposed draft says that anytime “days” appears in the code, it’s referring to “normal university working days.”
Some senators, such as Robert Perret, think the Student Code of Conduct should be more specific throughout the document so the language does not confuse students.
Costa said there are number of ways the concern can be addressed — including adopting a language style commonly used in legal documents to better identify defined terms.
“In most legal documents, when you have defined terms they’re always capitalized every time you use them so you know it’s a defined term,” Costa said. “It’s a stylistic choice that the Faculty Secretary’s Office has interpreted away from that, but I think in policies where it’s confusing and it would be helpful to have that, the option is on the table.”
The senators also discussed adding the word “working” before the word “day” anytime it appears in the code. Sen. Steven Shook said while that would clear up confusion regarding the timeline students have to cooperate with the Dean of Students Office, it would result in the student code of conduct becoming a lot longer.
The contemporary accessibility to computers and the Internet also warranted discussion because the new draft still states students could receive a DOS notice via “regular mail to the mailing address.” Some senators said references to normal mail should be eliminated completely, because UI students are required to have reachable email accounts.
Shook said the phrasing is still included in the code, because it serves as a backup.
“If email fails, then we at least want the option to use snail mail,” Shook said.
Senators will vote on whether to eliminate two sections that outline the student judicial system and the appeal process to faculty senate in disciplinary cases at next Tuesday’s faculty senate. If passed, the change would replace the two sections with one, all-inclusive section titled “University Disciplinary Review Process for Alleged Violations of the Student Code of Conduct.”
“At our Friday meeting, we will address these issues,” said Patricia Hartzell, chair of faculty senate. “We’ll hold out on a vote until next week, so we can discuss these concerns and vote on a clean draft.”
Amber Emery
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