The Organizational Adjudication Committee, born out of the Student Life Initiative, meets today for the first time.
Unlike the Committee on Standards, which hears cases involving individual misconduct, the Organizational Adjudication Committee is charged with adjudicating alleged violations of the College's Standards of Conduct by student groups.
The impetus for the committee was that, in the past, misconduct by different types of campus groups -- such as athletic teams, Greek organizations and other campus student activities -- was handled separately and by different administrative authorities. Students, faculty and administrators will sit side by side as equals on the committee, according to Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Officer Marcia Kelly.
Dean of the College James Larimore will serve as chair of the new committee.
Twelve students -- six elected by the student body and six appointed -- will serve on the Organizational Adjudication Committee.
Vanessa Green '02 is one of the six elected students on the OAC.
"I ran to make more of a difference at Dartmouth campus-wide, and I wanted to learn more about the adjudication process, and about what happens to individuals and groups who violate college policies," Green said.
"The purpose [of the committee] is to bring about a unified standard," Green said. She thinks "it will be a lot better for the Greeks" because the committee will be an impartial cross-section representing the entire campus.
Some of the College's past disciplinary actions against campus organizations have met with student criticism.
Green said that under the adjudication of the Organizational Adjudication Committee, "when a decision is handed down, people will have an easier time accepting it."
Jon Block '02, another member of the committee, said he "hasn't exactly agreed with some decisions made in the past against organizations."
Block, who anticipates that today's meeting will just be an introductory session, "is excited to set precedent for future decisions."
The Board of Trustees indicated in the committee's April 2001 charter their belief that "all students and student organizations should be treated under the same set of guiding principles and rules."
The Organizational Adjudication Committee was designed in part because it was decided that group violations could not be added to the already significant workload of the Committee on Standards, Kelly said.
The Dean's Office appointed faculty members of the committee from many departments. The campus administrators who will be on the committee were selected by the Office of the President.
Kendra Quincy Kemp '02 is a student member of the new committee and was also part of the team that "put together the guidelines" for the OAC. She said the intention of the OAC is to work with "group accountability."
Today's meeting will simply be a training session to orient committee members to the logistical functioning of the committee, Kemp said. Students on the committee have received informational packets to prepare for the meeting, and they will be given a walkthrough of a typical hearing.
Neither Kelly nor student members of the committee could predict how many cases will be brought before them this year. Only matters that allegedly violate the College's Standards of Conduct will be under the jurisdiction of the Organizational Adjudication Committee. Violations of other types of policies affecting campus -- such as NCAA regulations or the internal rules of student organizations -- will continue to be dealt with by separate entities.
