The interim Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, which has been in effect for 14 months, will continue as an interim policy until April 1995.
The Regents voted 7-1 at their February meeting to accept the recommendation of Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen A. Hartford to continue the policy’s interim status.
“We all agree it’s not exactly the language that we want,” Hartford said.
Regents Rebecca McGowan and Shirley M. McFee praised Hartford’s willingness to postpone the vote on a final policy.
Extending the interim policy will give the entire University community, particularly students, an opportunity to address the policy, said McFee, who added she thought students’ comments at the Regents’ earlier public comments session were constructive and appropriate since the policy deals with students’ relationships to one another.
Regent Deane Baker, an opponent of the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, voted against the extension, noting “my position has not changed.”
Among those who asked the Regents to postpone adoption of the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities were Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) President Craig Greenberg, MSA Vice President Brian Kight and Vincent Keenan, chair of MSA’s Students’ Rights Commission.
Among the problem areas they cited: the process for amending the policy, due process for students charged with offenses, and the proper way to handle cases arising from incidents that occur within a 30-mile radius of campus.
