Academic dispute cases eventually could be handled by a new board of representatives from across the university if a set of proposed changes to MSU’s student rights document moves forward today.
Revisions to the document, known as the Academic Freedom Report, or AFR, are slated to be presented and voted on at today’s Academic Council meeting.
If approved, the document will be passed onto MSU Provost Kim Wilcox and MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon before its last stop at the MSU Board of Trustees, said Robert Maleczka, vice chairperson of Executive Committee of Academic Council, or ECAC.
“I would be surprised if this thing gets hung up, but I’ve been surprised before,” Maleczka said.
The AFR is similar to a bill of rights for students at MSU, said Kyle Dysarz, University Committee on Student Affairs, or UCSA, chairperson.
“It lays out due process if (a student) gets in trouble, what they have a right to that can’t be violated by anyone else,” Dysarz said.
Under the current report, academic grievances are heard by faculty members within the department or school from which the complaint originated, Dysarz said.
However, under the proposed AFR, the board would consist of a pool of potential student and faculty representatives submitted by each college and department, Dysarz said.
He said restructuring parts of the academic judicial process in the AFR by creating the new boards for university appeals will eliminate bias from the grievance system.
“(Under the current AFR), other professors in the board are going to know the professors I’m arguing the case against,” Dysarz said.
“If I go to this new board, there’s only one faculty member from (my college) and other faculty who aren’t going to know this professor.”
The restructuring of the university’s appeals board is one of the most significant of the proposed revisions, which also include cleaning up the document and eliminating inconsistencies, Dysarz said.
Today’s presentation comes almost three years after the revision process began, Maleczka said. He said the approval process could be complete by the end of the semester.
The changes are the first in the last 25 years, Secretary for Academic Governance Jacqueline Wright said.
“Since that time, it’s only been amended once in 1977 and in 1984,” Wright said. “It was time to look at it again and bring it up to date.”
Kathy Petroni, UCSA vice chairperson, said students will benefit from the changes, which made the document more consistent and easier to understand.
“When things are clearly laid out, you know what your expectations are,” Petroni said.
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