The Honor Committee unanimously voted Sunday night to alter its bylaws to modify the role of the initiator during cases.
"It's only changing two real things; the initiator is now called the reporting witness and initiation is now called reporting," Medical Rep. Alex Hawkins said.
These changes respond to an effort to alleviate the burdens of initiating cases, which many members of the Committee believe act as a deterrent for students with the potential to report cases.
"The whole thought process was ways to make this whole thing easier," Hawkins said.
The new procedure, which will be implemented after further discussion, will increase the optional aspects of the reporting witness' duties, such as attending the Investigative Panel. At the trial, the reporting witness will be treated like any other witness. Previously, the initiator was set apart from the other witnesses while giving testimony.
"It's mainly more about the way the reporting witness is handled throughout the process," Hawkins said.
Sunday's vote changed the language of the bylaws, but the real procedural changes will stem from how the Committee instructs the support officers to streamline the process.
"This is much more of a symbolic change," Honor Chair David Hobbs said.
Next week, the issue will be brought to the Honor "Brain Trust," an informal group of Executive Committee members and senior support officers, which will work to implement the changes.
"It's more changes we won't be able to make in the bylaws," Hawkins said.
The Committee also debated suggested procedural changes including the possibility of not assigning an advisor to the reporting witness.
"The problem I have with not giving the reporter an advisor is it's nice to have someone who you know on Honor to answer questions," Vice Chair for Investigations Lauren Ross said. "I'm not sure not having an advisor would streamline the process."
Engineering Rep. Alison Tramba said reporting witnesses would be given the option of having an advisor if they so choose.
"We didn't want to make anything seem like it's something the reporter had to do," Tramba said.
Hobbs said these changes do not mean students can report cases anonymously.
"This is not anonymous initiation at all," Hobbs said.
The Honor "Brain Trust" will start making plans for implementation of the new procedures, but real changes will probably not be made until next year, Hobbs said.
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