A report urging the university to include a gender-identity footnote in its anti-discrimination policy is closer to reality.
The Academic Council's executive committee voted Tuesday to send the issue to the full Academic Council after hearing the recommendations of five smaller groups representing students, faculty and administrators.
The report has been in the works since it was brought to Academic Council by ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government, more than a year ago.
A special committee was assigned to develop the argument in favor of the proposal which has been in the hands of the five smaller groups since November.
Although three of the five committees said they had some uncertainties about the report, they voted to pass it to the full Academic Council anyway.
"I am very happy that it was essentially accepted as we presented it, because we worked extremely hard on it," said Matt Weingarden, ASMSU student assembly chairperson.
Weingarden served on the committee which oversaw the report.
"There's got to be a push from the student body," he said. "This campus is moving toward a more inclusive environment and I would hope the university would follow."
MSU's Academic Council is a policy-making group of administrators, faculty and students who make recommendations to the Board of Trustees. The trustees will ultimately decide if the clause becomes policy.
"There was significant discussion," said Bridget Behe during the meeting.
Behe is chairperson of the University Committee of Academic Policy.
"There were also some concerns on how the policy would be enacted," she said.
Jared English, chairperson for the University Committee of Student Affairs, said his committee also had some questions about the report. He said the language in some areas was a little bit vague and members hoped the wording would be clearer "to ensure uniformity in colleges and on campus."
But the decision to approve the report by the University Committee on Faculty Affairs wasn't unanimous.
"They just felt it was another layer of regulations," said Gwen Wyatt, chairperson of the committee.
Members of the group that constructed the report agreed to take the concerns into consideration before sending it to the Academic Council.
The full Academic Council will meet Jan. 28.
