Final Piece

FACULTY ADVISORS/Caleb Waldron 1
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS HAVE LOVE, HATE, OBLIVIOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH FACULTY ADVISORS

By Caleb Waldron

The events of September 11^th, 2001 shifted the world’s focus to Islamic issues. “There were a lot of questions and interest about Islam and its followers after 9/11, and I took that as a good way to educate people on Muslim issues,” said sophomore Mohsen Ghazi. He and junior Alyssa Al-Dookhi took that interest as an opportunity to start the Muslim Student Association, a group dedicated to Islamic issues. “The group’s goal is to help create awareness about Islam and Muslims, to explore various feelings people have about Islam, to think progressively about Islamic issues, and to support each other in a non-Muslim setting,” said Al-Dookhi.

The process of forming a student organization proved to be a complex issue. A formal submission of the group’s mission statement, student membership, leadership, and proposed budgeting were all required. The task was overwhelming for the group of students who had little to no experience with the inner bowels of Kalamazoo bureaucracy. Due to issues of paperwork, the MSA was unable to become a formal student organization and receive school funding. But through the help of College Chaplain and Professor of English Mary Ellen Ashcroft, the organization was able to independently raise money for its events. “Mary-Ellen was a lot of help- she really helped us get off the ground,” said Ghazi.

The situation of the Muslim Students Association speaks to the larger issue of faculty involvement in student organizations as a whole. Student organizations have a need for constant, relatable sources of information and guidance. This is especially true for long-term establishment, considering that leadership gap formed by juniors’ de-acclimation to campus issues following their study abroad. Faculty are an ideal resource.

“I think that having a faculty advisor is a great help because we can turn to him for more ideas when we have come to a road block,” said Amnesty International member and sophomore Jillian Belstler. “The students do pretty much all of the work, but it is nice to have Dr. Dugas there when we have questions or need another opinion.” Faculty advisors provide a sense of history, stability, and continuity that helps student organizations overcome otherwise daunting obstacles.

“If from year to year groups don’t see what’s good or bad, they fall into the same mistakes,” said Director of Student Activities and Hicks Center Brian Dietz. “Advisors would help groups work on previous mistakes and build on previous success.”

But while faculty advisors provide a valuable resource to student organizations, the school has no official policy regarding their responsibility or availability. Said Dietz, “I don’t know if we have a clear policy. Nobody’s got a real history; I don’t know if it was ever stopped- no one seems to recall anything official.”

The relationship between faculty advisors and student organizations is forged on a case-by-case basis, independent of any official guidelines or policy. “I assumed that student groups were required to have a faculty advisor. My assumption was that it was a requirement that wasn’t enforced,” said Dan Lipson, faculty advisor for the American Civil Liberties Union and Assistant Professor of Political Science. Lipson had never been asked to sign papers or officially register himself as a faculty advisor. He simply accepted the group’s invitation to join their organization.

While a clearer policy would help broadcast the potential resource of faculty advising, the vagueness of the policy isn’t altogether unintentional.

Not all student organizations want faculty advisors, such as groups that focus on peer-to-peer discussions. But more importantly, faculty advisors pose a potential threat to student organizations’ sense of independence.

“The point of a student organization it to be independent of authority. So I don’t know if the role of faculty advisors is required-- it seems to be another hoop to jump through,” said Associate Professor of Psychology Karyn Boatwright.

The element of independence that surrounds the general college experience seems to prevent many student organizations from seeking out a potentially autocratic authority figure. “We like feeling independent and able to make decisions for ourselves without having to consult a faculty member first,” stated Sexual Health Awareness Group member Caitlin Rider.

Faculty advisors have to strike a delicate balance. They can discuss, but can’t dominate—they can complement, but can’t command.

The administration recognizes this delicate equilibrium between independence and inexperience. It recognizes that leadership must come from the student body and that faculty advisors must not be mandatory, especially considering that there aren’t enough faculty advisors for the 93 student organizations currently running. (With 93 organizations, any policy that made faculty advisors mandatory would either force faculty to advise multiple organizations at a time, or student organizations to officially shut down.) But it also wants to make the resource of potential faculty advisors known to campus, and to create a formal system for helping faculty advisors connect with student organizations.

“I’ve been an advisor of the WRC for three years, and I’ve never been asked for advice or to attend a meeting,” said associated professor of psychology Karyn Boatwright on a crisp fall afternoon.

Heide Taylor, member of the WRC, said later that night: “We have an advisor? I’ve never even met her.”

The administration would like to prevent situations like these from re-occurring.

It’s a delicate balance, and the school will address it accordingly. The school’s plan for dealing with the unclear policy is to gradually introduce the concept of faculty advisors to the campus. The next few years will be a bridge period, in which the concept of a faculty advisor will be set in place and organizations see the benefits of having one. “Initially we wouldn’t make it mandatory. If a group wants a faculty advisor they’d be assigned one, to build a concept of what an advisor is. Other groups will see that setting goals, committees, and faculty advisors helps groups. And then, we’ll see where it goes from there,” said Dietz.

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