Members of the Campus Life Council debated, but ultimately tabled, a resolution proposed by Student Senate to investigate resident assistant training policies and procedures.
The issue came to the forefront earlier this year when students who missed portions of RA training were dismissed from their posts. A desire to protect employee-employer relations, however, will prohibit any committee that is formed from investigating specific incidents.
"We understand the delicacy of the relationship," said Howard senator Brin Anderson. "But we are trying to look into things like this that affect students."
Knott rector Brother Jerome Meyer expressed concern that changes in the attendance policy could undermine the effectiveness of the training program and emphasized that attendance at mandatory meetings is a part of any job.
"It's a contract," he said. "If somebody signed up to work at IBM and the contract said you [should] be there on Sept. 3 and you show up on the 4th, IBM [will terminate you]."
After a 10-minute debate on the issue, Dillon rector Father Paul Doyle proposed that the council postpone the resolution until the next meeting.
"As a general rule, I don't like to vote on the day I meet a resolution," he said.
No members of CLC raised objections to postponing the resolution and Pat Hallahan, CLC chairman, encouraged members to reflect on the issue.
"Over the next two weeks think about what you want this committee to do if we vote for it," he said.
In other CLC news:
- Members approved redefining the Safety and Sidewalk Committee to focus on gender relationships at Notre Dame. The committee will now be devoted to exploring relationships between the two sexes and how they define campus life. The committee plans to research how other co-ed colleges and universities with single sex dorms deal with such issues.
- CLC agreed to look into the quality of landscaping throughout campus. Some members expressed concern that the quality and maintenance of landscaping on the grounds is deteriorating.
