Kaminski said she was appointed to the committee in the fall and appointed to her new position as chair at her first meeting, which occurred in January.

“I believe there was a meeting in October, but it conflicted with my class times so I wasn’t able to attend," Kaminski said.

According to the committees Statement of Purpose, "(a) faculty member representative will be selected Chairperson, by a simple majority vote of the committee, at the start of each academic year."

The former chair of the committee, who had served since August, was Deb Bittner.

Bittner is a "staff member" and not a "faculty member" as she is the president of Coalition of Labor Organizations at MSU.

Vankirk said this was brought up when Bittner asked if anyone else on the committee would like to be chair.

“The policy calls for a faculty member to be chair and, there were only two faculty members on the committee," Kaminski said. "It seems to me the odds were 50-50. I think it’s an important committee and I think it’s important there be an open and democratic process.”

Kaminski said she hopes to establish a constructive relationship with MSU police and wants to make sure the committee is aware of all complaints against the department so they can be addressed.

"(Kaminski) seems to be questioning just as much as the rest of us were of how to make this a better committee and how to make it so people’s complaints are actually heard and addressed and that we serve the community the best that we can," Vankirk said. "I was really happy she was willing to take such a leadership position and steer the committee down a more progressive path.”

Vankirk said going forward it will be important to let students know of the existence of the committee as well as how it works. He said he would like to see the committee put together an outreach or educational program.

According to the MSU Police Oversight Committee's Statement of Purpose, "Complaints credible in nature will require the Chairperson to contact the complainant to confirm the details of the complaint, and subsequently notify and forward the complaint to all Committee members."

Vankirk previously said this is a concern as it gives the power to one individual, the chair of the committee, to determine if a complaint is credible or not before the whole committee has chance to hear it.

Kaminski addressed this concern as the new chair of the committee.

"I don’t think it should be up to one person whether a complaint is deemed merit or no merit," Kaminski said. "I think it’s best if there is more than one person involved in general and that is just sort of a democratic process. I want to discuss this process with the committee at the next meeting and I am working to find a time when we can all meet and this will be one of the things we discuss.”

Going forward, Vankirk said he is hopeful the committee can better itself.

"I think there is momentum and I think that momentum can move the committee forward on into future years," Vankirk said. "There may not be a student who is as big of a pain in the ass as I am, but I think that won’t be as necessary in the future because we have new, progressive leadership.”

Kaminski stressed the importance of the committee.

“We entrust the police with a great deal of responsibility and certainly I believe the police do the best job they can do, but we can make sure there checks and balances in place and that there is a place people can go if they have issues," Kaminski said.