Compromises will need to be made as the Student Association moves toward changing GW's Guide to Student Rights and Responsibilities, administrators and SA senators said.
The SA Senate adopted a series of recommended revisions to the guide last week and will pass them along to the Joint Committee of Faculty and Students and the Board of Trustees for approval after re-working the document with administrators. Sen. Ben Traverse (U-CCAS), who led a special committee to look into the document, said he envisions a tough road ahead.
"From what I've heard from all the administrators I've talked to, the Guide to Student Rights is sort of a sacred document," Traverse said. "They don't really like to touch it or open it up for editing."
Proposed changes include reorganizing the document to eliminate overlaps with other sets of regulations, greater protections for fraternities and sororities, and limits on what punishments the University may impose for certain violations. Administrators said senators will have to provide specific arguments for many of the proposals.
"The University is going to want to know why these are concerns that the Student Association has," said Peter Konwerski, special assistant to the senior vice president for Student and Academic Support Services. "I would want to have some more background on why they're asking for these changes."
While they said they had not had the opportunity to thoroughly review the proposed changes, officials said they were hesitant about some of the ideas in the report. One area of contention was a clause that prevents Greek-letter organizations from being punished for the actions of its members outside of group-sponsored events.
"We'd probably have to spend some time talking about that one," said Mark Levine, senior assistant dean for the Community Living and Learning Center. "Certain organizations sign on to certain agreements to be registered as a student group ... It would have to depend on a lot of things."
The SA Senate adopted a series of recommended revisions to the guide last week and will pass them along to the Joint Committee of Faculty and Students and the Board of Trustees for approval after re-working the document with administrators. Sen. Ben Traverse (U-CCAS), who led a special committee to look into the document, said he envisions a tough road ahead.
"From what I've heard from all the administrators I've talked to, the Guide to Student Rights is sort of a sacred document," Traverse said. "They don't really like to touch it or open it up for editing."
Proposed changes include reorganizing the document to eliminate overlaps with other sets of regulations, greater protections for fraternities and sororities, and limits on what punishments the University may impose for certain violations. Administrators said senators will have to provide specific arguments for many of the proposals.
"The University is going to want to know why these are concerns that the Student Association has," said Peter Konwerski, special assistant to the senior vice president for Student and Academic Support Services. "I would want to have some more background on why they're asking for these changes."
While they said they had not had the opportunity to thoroughly review the proposed changes, officials said they were hesitant about some of the ideas in the report. One area of contention was a clause that prevents Greek-letter organizations from being punished for the actions of its members outside of group-sponsored events.
"We'd probably have to spend some time talking about that one," said Mark Levine, senior assistant dean for the Community Living and Learning Center. "Certain organizations sign on to certain agreements to be registered as a student group ... It would have to depend on a lot of things."
