Members of the Committee on Standards believe changes to the COS process implemented this fall have been largely successful in increasing transparency and the campus' understanding of the College's judicial system, according to April Thompson, director of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs. Some students, however, say the system still lacks consistency and clarity.
As a result of changes to the COS process, the College established an optional training program for any Dartmouth student who wishes to serve as an adviser to accused students. In addition, accused students are now allowed to bring someone to their COS hearings for support.
These changes have made the COS process more fair, Thompson said.
"It's going to be stressful no matter what if you're a student accused of violating standards, but I think students have a better understanding of what's happening and why," COS member Drew Galbraith, senior associate athletic director, said.
Offering accused students aid from Dartmouth community members who are trained in the COS process has allowed them to make more informed decisions, Thompson said.
Kadian Campbell '11, who completed training this fall to serve as an adviser, said having trained COS advisers has helped to inform the student body about College regulations.
"That's a gray area on campus," Campbell said. "Most people who ask for information aren't anywhere near getting kicked out of the school. They just want to know what's right and wrong."
Many of the accused students have been more informed about the process since the training was implemented, several members of COS said.
"So many times in past years students are in the middle of the process for unfortunate reasons, and they realize how little they knew about it, and they ask for help from friends who have never been through the process," Galbraith said. "It's a telephone game. Everything is a little bit off. The adviser training has been a huge help because there are more people impacting students' lives on a daily basis who are knowledgeable about the approach."
Allowing accused students to bring a companion to COS hearings has also eased anxiety in the hearing room, Thompson said.
"It opens up our process to more people, so the mystery behind the COS is less mysterious," Thompson said. "We're showing there's nothing to hide here, except the privacy of the people involved, when people can bring their friend to the hearing."
The changes have also given COS members more flexibility in determining sanctions based on the specific details of each case, COS member and executive associate athletic director Brian Austin said.Originally, five different case models were used to teach committee members how to assign sanctions, Thompson said. Currently, board members use a broad range of cases drawn from a longer period of time, which together demonstrate the overall principles underlying the sanctions, Thompson said.
"It felt in the past like you were kind of forced to reach certain sanctions," Austin said. "With the information they give us, you have to be cognizant of what has happened in the past because you want the sanctions to be consistent to a certain degree, but I think there's more flexibility to consider the individual circumstances, the individual and how they're presenting themselves, the intent."
Additional changes require that appeals be made directly to Dean of the College Tom Crady, instead of the case's original COS committee.
"In the past, when you wanted to appeal, you had to appeal to the same person who heard your case -- that felt unfair," Thompson said. "This system does give students a neutral person."
Thompson added that having Crady review the decisions on a regular basis helps keep him involved in student life.
"He gets to see personally some of the decisions that are made and some of the input that students have provided," Thompson said.
One student interviewed by The Dartmouth who went before the COS after the changes were implemented felt that those involved in the COS hearing did not provide enough information about the process. The student wished to remain anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the case.
"Every time I'd ask a question, instead of getting a direct answer, [a dean] would refer me to someone else to talk to," the student said. "At first I was like okay, they know better than me. And then after talking to my friends who are on the COS and work for the dean, they were enraged."
The student said the adviser was helpful in dealing with the situation emotionally, but was relatively uninformed about the COS process. The student did not know if the adviser had completed the College's training program.
"Everything possible [to read], I've read it, and I still felt like everything was very hush," the student said. "They kept me in the black about what I was facing."
Mat Grudzien '11, a member of the committee, said the changes implemented last fall were not sufficient to address students' concerns. COS sanctions lack consistency, he said, because each case is heard by different COS board members.
"Some people are there for the first time at their first hearing, and they're there to decide the fate of someone who might be suspended for a couple of terms," Grudzien said. "It's hard to make it unified and consistent."
Different board members are chosen from the larger pool of COS members for each case, based largely on members' availability, Thompson said.
Grudzien is a former member of The Dartmouth Staff.
