When papers and exams are in flux, members of the Honor Council can expect to sit on several panels where they will decide the academic fate of their peers.
However, as the year closes, the Honor Council is introducing a new program meant to improve the deliberation process by providing members with the chance to advise accused students.
An amendment was passed to bridge the gap between those who make the final decisions concerning students and those who advise students during the steps before and after the hearing process.
Lauren Law, adviser training chair of the Honor Council, said the idea of merging the member and adviser positions had been in the works along with several other changes. This process was expedited to create a more "holistic approach" to the Honor Council procedures.
"The investigative (and deliberation) process is separate from what an accused student goes through during any process of an investigation," Law said. "We felt that putting members and advisers together would give everyone an (understanding) of what it's like to be on the side of accused students."
This understanding is intended to provide members with the additional perspective of a student when deliberating in panels and will improve the advising process through the experience and knowledge that is acquired after sitting through several panels.
Nine members have been trained this semester to become advisors. New members inducted this school year will be able to undergo adviser training after completing one year as a member beginning in the spring of 2009.
