SG Update

At the November 15 Student Government (SG) meeting, two representatives of university policies came to discuss a proposal for policy review and categorization. Some present bylaw revisions were also passed.

Proposal to Change Categorization of University policies

Kathleen Martin, director of university polices, accompanied by Susan Provenzano, assistant vice president, presented a document of proposals that will overhaul a large amount of issues with the current system of RIT policies. One of the main revisions involves changing some policies from governance to administrative. The other aim of the proposal is to remove redundant polices, have one authoritative version of each policy, correct historical inaccuracies, ensure the appropriate offices are responsible for the appropriate policy and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the review and approval process.

 An example policy problem includes the outdated policy on skateboards and bicycles, which does not currently specify who gives out warnings and fines. The policy on being eligible for participating in RIT athletics has no reference to graduate students because it has not been updated since 1975. During that time RIT had little to no graduate students. Other polices have not been reviewed in well over 10 years and some polices have different version published elsewhere.

The proposal will also be presented to the Academic Senate and the Academic Staff Council for suggestions on changes and revision. Once enough feedback is received, a final revised proposal will be submitted and presented for approval by the Institute Council. The final version to be re-presented to SG, Academic Senate and Academic Council for a follow-up.

Bylaws:  Election Committee

Tristan Wright, student relations representative, presented a set of revisions to bylaw amendments. The changes were made to Appendix D: Election Committee, which explains the process and rules of elections. The bylaws were voted on and passed through SG.