As part of the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” initiative, three working groups — focused on student and organization standards and review, social event and alcohol management and community citizenship — began meeting last week to examine current policy and potentially recommend changes in the wake of the plan’s announcement on Jan. 29. The groups will meet regularly and submit final proposals by the end of spring term for implementation this fall.
The working groups each consist of two chairs along with other Dartmouth community members. Students, faculty, administrators and alumni were able to apply to the groups until Feb. 9.
Interim Dean of the College Inge-Lise Ameer said in an interview Monday following the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” town hall meeting that the working groups aim to include student voices.
“For me, student concern is always valid and always an important issue, so we really want these working groups to be inclusive and have students participate in them in a productive way,” Ameer said.
The social event and alcohol management group is chaired by assistant dean and director of case management Kristi Clemens and Taylor Watson ’16. The group will soon begin to look over College alcohol policy and expectations for planning social events.
Associate dean of the College Liz Agosto recommended Clemens for the role due to her prior experience with the most recent revision of the student event management procedures when she served as Greek Letter Organizations and Societies director. Watson served as Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity president last summer and will take on the role of Greek Leadership Council accountability chair beginning in the spring. GLOS Standards and Management assistant director Sam Waltemeyer also recommended Watson for selection.
“I think that it is really important for students to be involved in the creation of any alcohol management procedure on campus, but I also think that it is equally important for the administration to have a conversation with those students in creating the procedure,” Clemens said.
Organizations that host events with alcohol should have clear direction on how to do so while also promoting safety, she said. Clemens said she is aiming for guidelines that are easy to follow but remain realistic as a result of the working group.
Clemens said that the group will first look at current procedures and then decide what the desirable outcomes are for each procedure and whether or not they are being accomplished.
Eleven working group members were selected from a pool of more than 50 students and a “couple of” alumni and staff members who applied, Clemens said. In selecting members, Clemens and Watson looked to represent perspectives from across the Dartmouth community, as well as members who had previous understanding of social event management procedures.
Watson said that the group will take a look at how rules at the College can be altered in order to maintain safety, while also creating policy with which students are more likely to comply. An example of a rule that might be looked at is a policy Watson referred to as “on the fly,” where an event can be registered with just a phone call. Under this policy, groups can have a party and, if they think they are going to be inspected by Safety and Security, register the party immediately beforehand.
Clemens said that the group will try to design a procedure for students and administrators to have an honest dialogue and to allow students to take agency for hosting their own events.
Waltemeyer, along with Collis Center director of student activities Anna Hall, will chair the student organization standards and review working group, both at the selection of the Dean of the College’s office.
The group was tasked to examine the expectations for student organizations, Waltemeyer said.
A combination of students and staff are serving on the working group, which has met once this term and discussed plans for the spring, when the group plans to meet weekly. The group is composed of eight members including the chairs.
Hall said that the working group will provide consistency and centralization among student groups that are currently governed by a variety of departments in order to promote the same basic standards.
The group will first look at what they can learn from others similar institutions who have faced the same issues, Waltemeyer said.
The community citizenship working group is chaired by director of judicial affairs Leigh Remy and computer science professor Thomas Cormen.
Remy and Cormen are still looking through applications for their working group.
The working group will produce an affirmative statement of values for the College.
As opposed to other working groups, Remy said this group is more philosophical in its nature.
