Wesleyan Student Assembly — Wesleyan University

Minutes: October 27, 2002, No. 5

WSA Officers

President: Joey Wender Vice President: Yaw Agyenim-Boateng Coordinator: George Briggs Treasurer: Adam Lachman

Meeting Agenda and Business

Meeting Opening
Approval of Minutes
Discussion of Campus Planning
Committee Reports
New Business and Announcements
Adjournment

Opening of Meeting

The meeting was opened at 6:14 pm.

Discussion with John Salzer and the Board of Non Academic Conduct

Mr. Salzer commences by describing the task force assigned by President Bennet to reevaluate the Honor Code and the Code of Non Academic Conduct. Thus far, the group has learned that Honor Code violations have jumped 450% between the '98-'99 school year and the '99-'00 school year. Wesleyan is now averaging 4200 violations, while it was previously in the teens. Violations of the Code of Non Academic Conduct have doubled. Cheating is on the rise across college campuses. The purpose of the task force is to understand how students and faculty feel about these codes. The discussion, therefore, needs to be split into two discussions: the Honor Code and the Code of Non Academic Standards. Mr. Salzer asks for feelings on the Honor Code. President Joey Wender asks how freshmen are introduced to it. Gabe Tabak informs him that there were "mandatory" information sessions during orientation week, but many freshmen didn't actually attend.
Nate Victoria adds that students have to sign a card before they come to Wesleyan affirming that they read the Honor Code and agree to it.
Selina Ellis points out that the Honor Code pervades other campuses. Some professors here mention it at the beginning of the semester, but only about a quarter of them do.
Karen Courtheoux asks if there is a significant class breakdown in terms of cheating.
Mr. Salzer says that there is more of a course breakdown. Economics is usually a class that students cheat in. A lot of it has to do with increased availability to the Internet.
Emily Polak asks who reports most of the violations.
Mr. Salzer responds that mostly faculty place the reports.
Colleen Galbraith states that it is hard to cheat in small classes because of the commitment that people feel to the course. There is less of that commitment in larger classes.
Jesse Watson asks if the people who are charged are aware that they are committing a violation.
Mr. Peter Patton answers that many violations are big cases of premeditated cheating.

Mr. Patton asks the WSA how to make the Honor Code a bigger part of the community.
Matt Lerner says that the intellectual community is a big attraction of Wesleyan. Perhaps people feel that intellectuality and cheating are mutually exclusive.
Joey Wender responds that the Code needs to be discussed more by faculty and that students should sign an agreement to it every year.
Janina Nunez answers that there needs to be formal education about it each year.
Sara Mirsky points out that the importance of the Honor Code needs to be enforced.
Joe McGuire states that most students aren't clear of what the Honor Code actually is.
Nathan Victoria has had professors who breeze over it and professors who are very explicit about it. More professors need to be explicit.
Janina Nunez points out that personal ethics can't be dictated and that we should focus on making people aware of the Code.
Matt Lerner says that we need to make sure that people actually think about the Honor Code before signing it. Also, the differences between each course should be made clear at the beginning of the semester.
Gabe Tabak suggests that the greatest example of a good Honor Code is the University of Virginia. Some say that it's harsh, but it fosters a more intellectual atmosphere. "Lying cheating and stealing that harms the university in any way" is severely punished.
Ali Gomer asks where Wesleyan's level of cheating stands among other schools.
Mr. Salzer answers that it seems to be about 50% higher than its peer schools.
George Briggs asks if they are aware of any potential causes in the increase in violations.
Mr. Salzer responds that there have been many recent cases involving student athletes and that the graduating class three years ago was especially a problem.
Mr. Patton says that the Task Force is looking into the Haverford Honor Code, which students debate and revise each year.
Joe McGuire points out that students don't realize the consequences of violating the Honor Code.
Mr. Salzer responds that many faculty have a hands off attitude to the Code because they feel that students should live up to it by themselves since it is student created. They feel disenfranchised because they don't sit in on trials.
Gabe Tabak states that there is a lot of ambiguity. To decrease this, every syllabus should have a brief Honor Code section.
Adam Poswolsky thinks that teachers should have to review the rules. Honor should come from the students, not the professors.
Mr. Salzer says that he feels the Honor Code isn't a student issue, it's a community issue of which everyone is a part.
Matt Lerner points out that we must be careful when looking at models because of Wesleyan's uniqueness.
Ali Gomer suggests that the Honor Code is introduced by saying that it's from students.
Nathan Victoria proposes that the Honor Code is emphasized through FYIs.

The conversation switches to the Code of Non Academic Conduct.
Mr. Salzer informs the WSA that there has been a rise in violations; this is partly due to the fact that there are stricter regulations regarding parties and such. He asks how the stricter regulations affect life on campus.
Matt Lerner suggest that the stricter regulations promote a rebellious cause.
Joey Wender states that many people don't know what the Code of Non Academic Conduct is. Education is lacking.
Selina Ellis reports that she read it for the first time last year, and was unaware about many items in it.
Colleen Galbraith points out that students need to feel ownership of rules if they are to abide by them.
Gabe Tabak suggests that the Honor Code and the Code of Non Academic Conduct are combined.
Sara Mirsky feels that it is too late to make both sides happy.
Joey Wender points out that the Code needs to parallel the outside community.
Joe McGuire asks if most infringements are alcohol related.
Mr. Salzer responds that most of them concern alcohol or are alcohol related.
Colleen Galbraith says that respect for Public Safety needs to be emphasized.
Matt Lerner states that a strict policy leads to a greater schism between students and Public Safety. We need to return to the sentiment that Public Safety is there to make us safe, as it was before the stricter code. Nathan Victoria declares that students don't know the consequences of violating the Code.
Janina Nunez informs the WSA that there are two types of hearings: simplified, which is just heard before students, and full, which is heard before faculty, students, and administrators. Only about 180 out of 500 are actually heard. Most of the cases are handled with paperwork. The SJB meets 3-4 times a week.
Matt Lerner asks what specifically is being looked at for the Code of Non Academic Conduct.
Mr. Salzer answers that the level of significance of violations is getting too high (e.g. date rape). The Code needs to parallel regular laws, so the Code can't really be revised.
George Briggs states that the Code and the handling of the Code are fine; the problem is that students don't know what the Code is.
Mr. Salzer inquires how else to handle the situation.
Emily Polak suggests that students sign a form at the beginning of each year, as they do with the Honor Code.
Sara Mirsky proposes a mandatory freshman seminar on ethics and codes.
Matt Lerner advises having some forums where people can discuss and revise the Code.
Ali Gomer points out that having the meeting during orientation week mixes it with everything else and lessens its importance. She suggests having multiple meetings about it every year to keep it in everyone's mind.
Nathan Victoria responds that there is no forum in which to present the Code. He advises having the orientation or resident advisors inform students of it; students might be more receptive of it if other students presented it.
Colleen Galbraith recommends that freshmen might appreciate it more if older students explained the Code and were learning about it with them.
Matt Lerner advocates reinstating Wesquares, a trivia game of fun and important information played during orientation week that always had high attendance rates.
Mr. Salzer says that if anyone has further comments, they should contact him at jsalzer@wesleyan.edu.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes were approved unanimously.

Committee Reports

Educational Policy Committee (EPC)
Colleen Galbraith, EPC Chair, reports:
The EPC met with the library committee and held a successful panel on Wednesday. All four members attended the faculty meeting on Tuesday.
Student Affairs Committee (SAC)
Emily Polak, SAC Chair, reports:
The SLC and chalking subcommittee will hold a forum to discuss chalking and related issues. If members would like to get involved, contact Emily. Dean Mike Whaley is trying to get a webboard instituted to have continuous dialogue.
The Dining subcommittee is getting Hot Diggity Dave to be on campus next weekend. A campus wide email will be sent out, but he will only be accepting cash.
The URLC met with Joyce Topshe. She will be coming to the WSA to speak about storage issues, the use of Eclectic and the Westco Café, and the use of offline housing for practice space.
Adam Poswolsky updates the WSA on quick fixes that have been made in dining. Granola bars and healthier items are offered at Davenport; there are postings of what is included in meals, meal times, and information about meal exchange; freshmen who miss lunch are able to get meals; and price tags on everything at Davenport.
Students met with the managers of the different dining facilities and gathered a lot of comments to give to Tim Reiss.
Finances and Facilities (FiFac)
Ali Gomer, FiFac Chair, reports:
Ms. Gomer and Mr. Matt Lerner, FiFac Member, attended the URLC meeting to discuss the usage of empty space on campus.
On Friday, Mr. Lerner will be organizing a meeting to discuss performance space now that the '92 Theater is closed.
Community Outreach Committee (COCo)
Jeremy Abrams, COCo Chair, reports:
COCo's Get Some! Workshop last week went very well.
PSaC is getting underway. Mr. Abrams has a meeting with Maryann Wiggins on Tuesday.
Student Budget Committee (SBC)
Adam Lachman, WSA Treasurer and SBC Chair, reports:
The SBC met and allocated funds.
Mr. Lachman met with Jeff Ederer to clarify what is expected for the Program House budgets to minimize the requests that are received from them.
The Argus has exceeded their advertising demands for this semester.
Independent Projects Committee (IPC)
Yaw Agyenim-Boateng, IPC Chair, reports:
The IPC is working on reinstating Esquid and recycling around campus.
Coordinating Committee (CC)
George Briggs, WSA Coordinator, reports:
Appointments for the IPC and FiFac positions will be held on Wednesday. A tech position will not be filled.
Rather, the WSA will simply hire someone from ITS to do the technology work, and a general facilities position will be created on the FiFac committee.
The CC has taken over the responsibility of the Argus reports.
Emily Polak is named the Member of the Week.
The WSA webpage will be updated soon.
Executive Committee (EC)
Joey Wender, WSA President, reports:
President Wender thanks the Assembly for attending and participating in the dinner.
An updated version of the Strategy will be released by Tuesday.
New Business and Announcements
President Wender calls for all freshmen to meet after the meeting.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:19 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Monica Arduini, WSA Secretary