Clearness Committee in the Constitution

As the committee is only formed once every four years, the only real institutional memory with regards to its activities is carried by Honor Council Librarians. Thus, while the committee itself is not directly relevant to Honor Council, this website contains information pertinent to the activities of previous committees to aid institutional memory.

From the Constitution of the Students’ Association:

Article IX: Clearness Committee

Every four years students will convene a Clearness Committee to evaluate the quality of student life. This committee will be composed of four students, a faculty member, a college administrator, the Honor Council Librarian, and the Students’ Council Librarian

Section 1. Subjects of Evaluation

  1. Evaluation: The Clearness Committee will evaluate the quality of student life, the Honor Code and its implementation, and the Students’ Association and its governance. In this regard the committee will consider the Student Constitution, the Honor Code, handbook policies, administrative practices, and the allocation of college and student funds.
  2. Consensus: By consensus of its members, the committee may expand or contract the scope of its review.
  3. Queries: Students, clubs, staff, faculty, and administrators, may submit queries for the committee’s consideration.

Section 2. Criteria of Evaluation

The committee will consider the responsiveness, sustainability, and adherence to the Honor Code of the subjects of evaluation.

  1. Responsiveness: Does the subject respond to student concerns in a productive, timely, and inclusive way?
  2. Sustainability: Is the subject empowered through an effective institutional memory mechanism and provided with resources necessary to executing its mission?
  3. Adherence to the Honor Code: Are the subject’s policies and practices compatible with the spirit of the Honor Code?

Section 3. Timeline

Starting in September 2022 and every four years thereafter in September (2026, 2030, etc.), the student government appointment process will select four students to serve on the committee. The chair of the appointments committee, in consultation with the Provost and the Dean of the College, will select the remaining committee members. The Committee, by consensus of its members, will choose one or two students to serve as chair/co-chairs.

  1. Census: The committee will spend its first semester (September through December) familiarizing itself with the work of committees past and writing new questions for its census survey during semester two. This survey will be composed of these new questions and some asked by previous committees. At the outset of its second semester (January through May), the committee will conduct a census of the student association to discover the prevailing attitudes of the association.
  2. Interviews: The committee will conduct interviews with student government officers, faculty members, administrators, and other community members as they deem necessary. In these interviews the committee will have access to confidential information necessary to fulfilling their mission. The committee should consider the records of the Honor Council Librarian and the Students’ Council Librarian.

Section 4. The Report

  1. November Report: By November of their third semester (September of the following year through December of the following year), the committee will publish a report with the results of their inquiries. It will be published by consensus of its members. The report may contain recommendations for the following plenary session of the students’ association.
  2. All reports from Clearness Committees must be archived and available in the College Library