The Honor Committee is working to improve the efficiency and continuity of its procedures by shuffling long discussions and brainstorming sessions to its procedures committee.
Committee Chair Charles Harris said he is hoping for extensive conversations between small groups of people to take place in the procedures committee, rather than the Committee's weekly meeting with all Committee representatives.
"We don't want to stifle discussion, but sometimes small debates form in front of a large audience," Harris said. He believes that having a more moderated approach to discussion will allow the Committee to accomplish more of its goals.
The procedures committee consists of support officers and is open to committee members, but the Committee is considering allowing non-members to weigh in on matters as well. Procedures committee members would develop a menu of options for solving a problem for the Committee to discuss.
"Instead of thinking of options, we should be thinking about options," Harris said. "I want the options already out there."
Harris aims for the procedures committee members to develop and present concrete ideas to change procedural operations.
"We don't want discussion to be, 'This doesn't work right,' but rather, 'I think this will work better if we do A, B or C," Harris said.
Procedures chair Alex Solomon, for example, cited the gap between a student's formal accusation and trial as an issue that the committee should address.
"Our goal is to streamline the process and make it more efficient, while maintaining the rights of the students," Solomon said.
The procedures committee plans to break up the process from when a report is filed to when the trial takes place to make the process more efficient. The Committee also is looking to tie together investigation panels, which meet to decide whether a case is worth sending to trial, and pre-trial processes to avoid redundancy.
Harris hopes for a new set of bylaws that cover the procedures from report to trial will be finished by the second-to-last meeting of the semester.
Read More
D.C. baseball legend Ryan Zimmerman to deliver keynote Valedictory address
By Xander Tilock | 8 hours agoFamously nicknamed “Mr. National” for his many contributions to the Washington, D.C. franchise, Zimmerman is considered one of the most successful alumni in Virginia baseball history.
Administrators and faculty paint conflicting pictures of May 4 encampment clearing
By Cecilia Mould and Finn Trainer | 4 days agoThe details contested between the town halls included the clarity of the University’s tent policy and the presence of suspicious individuals at the encampment.
Faculty Senate calls for an external review of May 4 clearing of encampment
By Priya Kommu | 4 days agoSenators had questions about the lack of direct communication between University administrators and the students and faculty present at the encampment.
