Beginning this year, Wesleyan students charged with a violation of the Code of Non-Academic Conduct will be able to turn to members of the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) for help navigating the Student Judicial Board (SJB) process. All members of the SAC will be receiving training within the coming weeks to become process advisers.
A process adviser is a student or faculty member who has been trained to understand the SJB’s standards and proceedings in order to help students navigate the hearing process and explain their story as clearly as possible.
Process advisers were not always well advertised, a situation the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) is now attempting to improve through training SAC members.
“In thinking how to better serve the student body as the SAC, we’re now trying to emphasize the fact that members of the WSA will be willing and able to help students,” said SAC member Adam Ilowite ’12, a current process adviser who has already advised several students this semester.
Since the spring of 2009, the SAC has been discussing the issue of improving the visibility of process advisers on campus. Last year, they added a reference at the bottom of every university-wide WSA email, several WSA blog posts, and clearer language on the SJB website to inform students about process advisers.
While the advisers are allowed to sit through hearings, they may not speak for the student they are advising.
“They [process advisers] are not any sort of legal counsel,” said Scott Backer, Assistant Director of Student Life/Student Conduct. “They do not serve in that capacity.”
Becoming a process adviser involves a one-time training session; anyone may volunteer for the position.
“The training basically runs through the whole of the Student Judicial Hearing process from start to finish,” said David Goldman, ’12, SAC Chair. “These advisers will be able to explain which regulations the student was charged with violating, what the possible punishments entail, anything that the student might have questions about. They let the students know what’s going on before they go into the hearing.”
Students who are summoned before the SJB are encouraged to contact a process adviser. The letter notifying them of charges before the board explains where to find a list of registered process advisers.
“Every student who hasn’t gone through this before should go out and find an adviser,” Goldman said. “They are very useful.”
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