The College will postpone the implementation of the Organizational Adjudication Committee student board until Spring term due to the preparation of College budget reduction proposals, Nathan Miller, assistant director of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs, said Tuesday in an e-mail to student board members. The e-mail, which was obtained by The Dartmouth, came one day before the first scheduled training session of the student board.
"As you are aware, many students and administrators have been tapped by the College to work on preparing budget reduction proposals for the upcoming Board of Trustees meetings," Miller said in the e-mail. "Because of this, I did not want to add another project to our already full plates."
The student board, which will hear allegations of minor misconduct involving student organizations, will be comprised of 25 students selected by Student Assembly and 25 students selected by acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears. Plans for the board began last spring and Spears agreed to the implementation of the board in late October, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Student Body President Frances Vernon '10 and Inter-Fraternity Council President Zachary Gottlieb '10 both said they were not told about plans to postpone the student board's initiation prior to receiving Miller's e-mail.
Gottlieb is a staff columnist for The Dartmouth.
Vernon, who pushed for the creation of an OAC student board in her presidential campaign, said students are questioning the rationale for delaying the student board's implementation.
"We haven't heard any of it and weren't a part of this decision at all," Vernon said. "Postponement without including any students who are the key stakeholders in this decision? That's pretty frustrating."
Director of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs April Thompson said that her office received feedback from students and staff that led to the decision to postpone the student board's implementation.
"Because of all the things that were going on as we started this term, there was a concern that we wouldn't be able to devote the time and attention that is needed to make the project successful," Thompson said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "The project is still happening, we're still committed to it being successful, so we don't want to compromise it in any way by rushing into it."
Thompson also said the student board, which is intended to represent a cross section of Dartmouth's student body, lacked sufficient diversity.
"We were still working at the end of last term to make it a fully representative pool," she said. "We were still trying to recruit students early last week. The pool of students needs to be bigger."
Thompson pointed to the Sunday fire at Phi Delta Alpha fraternity as another factor in her office's decision making.
"Given what happened with Phi Delt and what is happening with the budget, students are being pulled in a lot of different directions," Thompson said. "We had questions about asking too much of students and staff right now."
Miller did not reference the composition of the committee or the Phi Delt fire as reasons for the postponement in his e-mail.
David Imamura '10, who chaired the Assembly committee that proposed the student board, said the Assembly understands the College's wish for additional diversity in the student board.
"The Assembly will be happy to work with the administration and Judicial Affairs to make sure that any student board reflects the diversity of campus in terms of Greek and non-Greek [students,]" Imamura said.
Gottlieb said that while he was not asked for feedback before the decision was made, he understands the College has "more pressing concerns."
"[The OAC student board] was initiated in large part by Judicial Affairs and it's their prerogative to decide when it begins," Gottlieb said.
Vernon said she was frustrated by the unexpected news because so many students are invested in the implementation and success of the student board.
"I am sure we have plenty of people who would be willing to help [Miller] or [Thompson] in any capacity," Vernon said. "That's definitely something that is part of a conversation we should have had before a decision was made."
The next step in planning for the student board's implementation will be a discussion between students and staff about when the student board should be formally established, according Thompson.
"My office will coordinate with the students a new timeline," Thompson said. "If the students say Yes, we can do this,' we'll work a new schedule around what those students and the staff supporting them can do."
Vernon said that because Dartmouth students are so involved in the community, they would "be willing to go the extra mile" for this initiative and others "in a heartbeat."
Vernon said she and the rest of the student board are very invested in improving the student board and discussing the reasons for its postponement.
"Let's think about the logic behind this decision, if we need to find other students to get involved, if the Judicial Affairs Office has too much on its plate right now," Vernon said. "How do we restructure, how are students involved in terms of leadership, do we need a student chair to alleviate some of the pressures?"
Imamura and Gottlieb both emphasized that while the delay is unfortunate, they are optimistic that students will work to expedite the implementation process.
"Obviously we're disappointed, but I have confidence that we'll definitely be able to get this moving forward at some point in the next term or next two terms," Imamura said.
At the time this article was written, student leaders had not yet discussed the postponement with members of Judicial Affairs or the College administration.
