In Response To: “Students Want More Inclusion In Board of Trustees Meetings”

By: Khaled Dahawy, Vice President of Student Affairs, AUC

The suggested Code of Conduct was drafted as a starting point to be discussed with all constituencies and was communicated as such.

The idea, as explained to the students, was to have a first draft for discussion to make the process more efficient.

As planned the student governance body representatives met with administration, Board of Trustees, and representatives from the conduct office to exchange opinions while the Board of Trustees were on campus.

This was followed by a meeting on Wednesday Oct. 30, attended by the student governance body representatives and the office of conduct, to work on the suggested code of conduct. They will still meet more times to finalize issues of concern.

In addition, it is important to note that the suggested code of conduct was sent to both the Board of Trustees (the highest authority in AUC), AUC president, and the student governance body on the same day which I see as a sign of respect to the student governance body!

Another point relates to the title of the article “Students Want More Inclusion In Board of Trustees Meetings” which might indicate that the students were not allowed enough time in the Board of Trustees meetings.

It is important to note that the students met on three different occasions with the Board of Trustees.

The first was a two and a half hour meeting where (61 students attended) The students were divided into six tables based on their interest.

The table groups were (1) Athletes, (2) Student Governance, (3) Graduate Students, (4) International Students, (5) Student Activities, and (6) Scholars, Artists, and Innovators. The Board of Trustees members were divided into twos and they moved from one table to the next every 20 minutes.

The students were left with the Board of Trustees members and were encouraged to discuss with them whatever they thought was important for the student body.

The second was an hour and a half lunch attended by 100 students, staff members of Student Affairs, and Board of Trustees members.

Lunch had free seating and there was a large amount of exchange of opinions during this lunch.

This was a forum for open informal exchange of opinions and thoughts between the students, staff members of Student Affairs, and members of the Board of Trustees.

The third was a one-hour meeting between the Board of Trustees Members and representatives of the student governance body.

This meeting’s agenda was divided into two major parts. The first was to discuss the suggested code of conduct.

The students were encouraged to voice their concerns and were informed that this meeting was an initial meeting and that it would be followed by other meetings till the student governance body is comfortable with the code of conduct.

The second part of the meeting was kept for the student governance body representatives to inform the Board of Trustees Members of what they believed were the most important issues that the student body perceives.

I think that these clarifications are important for the readers of the Caravan to show that the Board of Trustees and administration of AUC highly respect the infant student governance body and are working very hard to include the student governance body in the vital decisions that are taken.

It is also important to note that based on a new agreement between the University and the Student Union, students now have two members on major committees at AUC like, Transportation, Budget, and Food.

It is really important for all of us to start working together with one aim, which is what is better for AUC.