A New Year

 The Office of Student Services has emerged from last year’s procedural scandals with a new, albeit familiar, staff. We applaud the administration’s courageous effort to restore student trust in this office, the vital liaison between the administration and the student body. We wonder, however, whether the new staff will remain stuck enforcing old policies. Better yet, we wonder whether they will remain complacent at running an office without any policy.

Student Services has justifiably deferred drafting its new disciplinary code until now, when student input can contribute to the process. Now is upon us, however. As soon as possible, students must be informed of precisely what to expect if they are to be investigated on a disciplinary matter. And they must be explicitly told whether they are meeting with a student advocate or with a disciplinarian.

In the past this space has been used to criticize Student Services.  We believe that the office has turned a new leaf, and we will continue to speak positively about the office so long as our trust is maintained.  The promises for reform have been made, and the people have been set in place.  We eagerly await the implementation.