In an attempt to smooth transitions between administrations, the Honor Committee will discuss a proposal Sunday night to create a formal training process for new Committee members.
Education Rep. Jim Haley is working to implement the new proposal, which would set up a system to train the new Committee while the old Committee is still in office.
Haley said he hopes to "develop a transition task force" of both Committee members and support officers, to help train and acclimate new members to the system.
He said that the limited time used to train new members to "administer a system that is very complicated" sometimes can lead to problems.
"Every time there's a transition ... I know there will be mistakes," Haley said.
Several of the recent lawsuits filed against the Committee have come from cases that arose during the transition period. These cases include a lawsuit filed on behalf of Jonathan Cobb, expelled in 1997 for cheating, Dina Padula, who dropped her suit after being retried and Maurice Guillame Goodreau III who allegedly embezzled money from a student group.
Committee Chairman Hunter Ferguson said while he feels that not all mistakes are the result of transitions and not all transitions breed mistakes, it has been a problem in the past.
"Some lawsuits arise from cases" that are investigated or tried during the time period between Committees, Ferguson said. "A better effort from the outgoing Committee could make things run a lot more smoothly."
He said he shadowed former Committee Chairman Cabell Vest for about three weeks after being elected.
He added that his training consisted of "large[ly] internal stuff" and he was able to ask Vest any questions he had about his duties.
Haley said he hopes the "outgoing Committee will take responsibility" for their successors and participate in the program.
He said training is particularly important for members of the Executive Committee, as those positions involve "huge responsibility."
Vice Chairman for Education Peter Leary said he commends Haley for his effort to create a training system.
Leary said it is important Committee members are able to learn their duties and become accustomed to their positions as quickly as possible - preferably before officially taking over.
The responsibilities are "too important to allow on-the-job training with the possibility of very serious repercussions," Leary said.
Ferguson said some problems are lessened because many Committee members already have been involved with the system for a number of years. Support officers undergo intensive training, he said, including a week-long summer orientation which covers topics such as initiating and investigating cases, the pre-trial process, trials and appeals.
UJC Chairman Brian Hudak said the UJC has a system to orient its members, as well as a system like Honor's for training support officers.
Hudak said outgoing representatives train new members for their new positions in a system that allows for the retention of "institutional memory."
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