Editorial:
MSA judicial system needs revisions
Published March 16, 2010
The student judicial system at MU is a mess.
When the Missouri Students Association rid the Student Court of its student conduct responsibilities years ago due to “cronyism,” it prompted the creation of the Judicial Peer Advisory Council and rendered the Student Court somewhat irrelevant.
The court now has few duties, so MSA Chief Justice Eric Woods and MSA President Tim Noce are exploring the possibility of making a new by-law that strongly encourages the MSA president to appoint student conduct committee members from the Student Court.
The student conduct committee is a standing chancellor's committee whose student members are appointed by the MSA president.
This is a good measure to make sure the MSA judicial branch stays relevant and active rather than just being a resume builder with no experience to back it.
There are additional changes that need to be made to the student judicial system.
For starters, not many know how it works.
A flow chart might not be the most effective resource to bring student awareness, but MSA's idea of creating a flow chart is a good start. Students who have their cases heard by the Judicial Peer Advisory Council may appeal. Unfortunately, the same person who ultimately makes the decision using the advice of the Judicial Peer Advisory Council is the same person who advises students on whether to appeal.
Need to read that twice? That is right. The person advising students on whether to appeal a judicial decision ultimately makes the decision. Cases do not see the Student Conduct Committee unless they are appealed.
Revisions in the latter system will take more than internal MSA revisions. They must happen on a system level and go through the chancellor, but we urge MSA to pursue these changes.
Creating a fair, balanced and transparent judicial system for students will benefit everyone. It will benefit students and faculty working within the judicial system and every student who runs the risk of being tried.
3 p.m., March 16, 2010
Evan Wood said:
A few botched facts. It doesn't really matter, but MSA didn't actually rid itself of its power to hear student conduct cases, that power was taken from the court (but not without good reason at the time) Second, changing who is there to give students advice on whether or not to appeal their case from Donell's decision is not a system wide policy, and it IS in fact something MSA can change on our own. We are looking in to creating a new Position within MSA who would not only become an expert on our own bylaws and pursue issues in our student court, but also an expert on campus conduct policy who students could turn to for advice on matters such as whether or not to appeal. So it is something that MSA can and will affect in a very real way. What needs to be changed on the system wide level (and through the Board of Curators not the chancellor) are the policies of the Chancellor's Student Conduct Committee itself.