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The Committee on Student Affairs (CSA), a long-established faculty committee whose primary charge is in regard to "student life and the quality of the learning and living environment at MIT," is re-examining its scope and effectiveness.
In fact, CSA has suspended work on projects previously identified this year in order to look more closely at its charter and the influence of its decisions over the past several years. The need for this introspection comes as the result of a proposal submitted to Chancellor Bacow in October 1999 as part of the Unified Response to the Residence Proposal (URRP). Students who participated on the Strategic Advisory Committee (SAC), which authored the URRP, made several suggestions that appeared as overlapping responsibilities for their proposed "Student Life Council" and the current Committee on Student Affairs. Due to this potential overlap, the Chancellor suggested that the CSA both consider the SAC proposal and perform a self-assessment in the time remaining to the committee this semester. The CSA membership agreed. What follows is an overview of the suggestions of the Strategic Advisory Committee and the CSA assessment results to date.
The Student Life Council (SLC), as conceived by the SAC, would be composed of the new dean for Student Life (ex officio), faculty, administrators, and both graduate and undergraduate students. It would have standing subcommittees in three areas: strategic planning, programming, and monitoring student life at MIT. The Council would fundamentally be responsible for the following:
The CSA has taken steps to explore these recommendations with a subset of members of the SAC. In doing so, the CSA has discovered that there are two primary motivations for the establishment of a Student Life Council. First, students reported that there are few efficient conduits for affecting change when student life issues arise. Some students believe that the Institute administration has been unresponsive or indifferent to repeated requests for establishing systematic pathways that could be utilized by students to bring their issues to the attention of the administration.
Second, students wish to play a more decisive role in determining the direction that student life will take at MIT in the future. They believe that their intimacy with issues provides them with the most informed view for effective decision making.
Some students have suggested that the CSA has not succeeded in consistently advocating for changes that are important to the vitality of student life at MIT. Therefore they propose, at a minimum, to re-charter CSA, or to supplant it with the Student Life Council.
In addressing the proposal by the SAC, the CSA has drawn on several resources. Among these are the chairs of other faculty committees, administrators at MIT, student members of CSA, and the deans of both Graduate Students, and Minority Education. The CSA has reviewed the position description for the new Dean for Student Life and has spoken extensively with the existing Dean for Student Life.
After listening attentively, and we hope responsively, to all constituent groups interviewed to date, the Committee plans to submit a draft proposal to the Chancellor that is intended to address the following:
It is important to note that some current members of the Committee on Student Affairs believe the Student Life Council concept goes too far in attempting to manage the student life aspect of MIT through a committee. The SAC makes thoughtful arguments for more student inclusion in decision-making that affects student life. However, the role of faculty committees is to advise on matters that require administrative action, not to take on the responsibilities of strategic planning and final decision making.
The CSA membership does realize, however, that changes are needed. As outlined above, the CSA will move to expand the mission, scope, and effectiveness of this important faculty committee. We believe that the concerns promulgated by the Student Advisory Committee can be substantially addressed through this proposed restructuring of the Committee on Student Affairs.
We invite faculty responses to the issues as outlined and encourage you to direct them to me.
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