Student Policy
Student policy is important to communicating college policies to students and employees of the college. Without student policy there is rules don’t have any backing in righting. All colleges and businesses need policies and procedures to be in writing. If they aren’t in writing it shouldn’t be considered a policy or enforced. Currently there are several documents of student policy. These currently include: the Student Constitution, Club and Organization Policy Handbook, Homecoming Policies, Code of Conduct, and Student Activities Fee Policy Handbook. Next year the Policy on Academic Integrity and Tobacco Use will be added to the collection of student policy.
Frequently, student policy is amended every year during the spring semester. The committee responsible for amending student policy is the Student Government Association Policy and Procedure committee chaired by Buckley Wheeler. This committee meets every two weeks to discuss issues in Student Policy and the enforcement of policy. Some suggestions included amendments to the SGA Constitution, Homecoming policy and suggestions about the Code of Conduct.
Policy and procedures are not very effective in communicating to the students what students should know. For example, the Student Organization Policy Handbook is overly detailed to the requirements on what a club and organization needs to do to be recognized and receive funding from SGA. This makes it confusion to club advisors and officers to understand what the sender (Reinhardt) is is saying. Furthermore, the Student Code of Conduct is not often updated and many policies aren’t enforced. For example, gambling and wearing apparel with alcohol logos is a level one offensive. Those rules are never enforced by the Resident Assistant and professional staff. Third, it is difficult to change student policy like the SGA constitution, Homecoming Policy and Procedures, and the Code of Conduct. For instance, to make an amendment to the SGA constitution it takes a three-fourths senate majority vote and a majority student vote (Half of the student body including the North Fulton Campus) to pass. The student government can’t even get two hundred people to vote in a Student Government elections.
Student Policy is important for communicating the policies and the rules of the college. Often policies are not sender focus and can be confusing if not explained by qualified individuals. In addition, the college needs to spend time editing and rewording the documents making it more students friendly. The wording needs to be between an eight grade to eleventh grade reading level so where it could be understood by the bellow average student. Finally, rules and regulation need to be updated to the 21st century and follow how way things are actually done.
