SGA Senator Eyes Student Code of Conduct Overhaul, Changes To SGA Rules, And More
Image Courtesy of the Student Government Association
By Patrick D. Lewis
Student Government Association Senator Jack Hermes (Class of ‘27) has major plans for this academic year’s legislative session, including changes to the university’s Student Code of Conduct, SGA bylaw amendments, Kane Center improvements, Cardinal Card improvements, and more.
The business administration major is one of the most vocal members of the Senate. This year, he is serving as president pro tempore, the highest position a senator can hold, which he says is a first for a sophomore. He also chairs the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Perhaps the biggest change Hermes wants to make involves the university’s Student Code of Conduct.
“There’s been a lot of controversy and issues that students have had with conduct officers and the Code of Conduct itself,” Hermes said. “Many students feel that they are being given an unfair process in the office of student conduct, the Dean of Students Office.”
Hermes would like to see changes in several areas. First, he wants to clarify portions of the Code.
“There’s a lot of vague clauses in our Code of Conduct. For example, one of them is, ‘conduct unbecoming of a CU student.’ I think the university should have to clarify what on Earth that means.”
Second, Hermes wants to clarify what he calls the “complicity clause.” He asked, “What does it mean to be complicit in seeing another student commit an act or a violation of the Code of Conduct? Should students have to rat out their roommates and their friends if they break the Code of Conduct? Is that truly in line with Catholic social teaching?”
Hermes is also concerned about records regarding student violations. He says students have told him that graduate school, internship, and job applications have been compromised because they believe the university shared conduct violation records when contacted by potential employers or schools.
Finally, Hermes wants to change the early stages of the disciplinary process. He says that students charged with violations have only two days to ask to reschedule the mandatory meeting with discipline officers or to ask for additional information.
“There have been cases, for example, that students have told me, where they get an email from the Office of the Dean of Students on a Tuesday stating that they have a conference on that Friday, three days later, or whatever it is, four days later, but they don’t see the email until Wednesday, for example,” he said. “Well, time’s up for the two-day requirement if they wanted to reschedule that meeting.”
Hermes wants students to have more time to prepare for hearings, collect and submit defensive evidence, and review their incident reports prior to the initial conference with Dean of Students Office officials.
Jon Sawyer, the Dean of Students, said during a phone call that, contrary to Hermes’ statement, students are permitted to request a change in meeting time a day in advance, and even later in cases of major discipline violations. This, he said, is referenced in section 4, part C of the code.
Dean Sawyer also said that, regarding release of disciplinary records, the University only does so after receiving permission from the student or in cases of application for transfer, in which case the records must be released.
Hermes also wants to see changes to SGA itself. Part of the forces driving the ongoing debate around SGA transparency is the executive branch’s refusal to release the vote counts or percentages in elections, which was once standard practice. Hermes wants to make those results public.
“There’s great, I think, distrust in our student government right now,” said Hermes. “I think much of that comes from the fact that many of these results are hidden.” He says he has never been given a reason or seen a policy explaining why the results are no longer released.
Senatorial candidates can ask to see the numbers, but only in the race in which they ran. “We’re not allowed to share those numbers,” Hermes added. “It just, to me, seems to be, again, almost an intentional lack of transparency.”
Student Body Vice President Clare Tong said in an email that, “Historically, it has been our practice to only provide the percentage results to candidates that request them. This is mainly done out of respect for all candidates by allowing them to find out the specific margins in their race if they choose.”
Another goal Hermes hopes to accomplish is clarifying various clauses and sections of the SGA bylaws that he finds vague or confusing. This includes senators’ right to amend agendas and how Senate committee assignments work.
Hermes also wants to address the Kane Student Fitness Center. Last year, the Senate passed a resolution introduced by Hermes that added a variety of protein foods and drinks to the Kane Center. Now, Hermes wants to address the exercise equipment.
Hermes wants the university to poll Kane users on “what the top machines that we would want to be used, new equipment that we would want, and then hopefully purchasing, one, two, maybe even three new pieces of equipment.”
He also wants the university to add Cardinal Cards to students’ mobile devices. This would mean students wouldn’t have to carry their physical ID with them, thereby lessening the chance of them losing it and having to pay for and then wait for a new one.
Finally, Hermes plans to introduce legislation advocating for the addition of a smoothie stand to Garvey Hall.
“It probably would start with just, like, three options,” Hermes said, although he would like to see a “fully-customizable” bar in the future.
These plans will come in the form of resolutions and bills, which Hermes plans to introduce throughout this and next semester.
