Leadership requirements lead to students’ dismissal

Students were released from leadership positions.

For most students at Indiana Wesleyan University, getting good grades and maintaining their citizenship is just a way to stay in good standing. Recently, however, five students found that these factors also meant the difference between holding or losing a leadership position.

Students looking to enter into leadership positions in any of Indiana Wesleyan’s student organizations may find that they are in for high expectations on the part of the university. In order to obtain a leadership position, students must first meet eligibility requirements relating to their grade point average and citizenship.

For most organizations, this means having a GPA of 2.5 or higher, being in good standing with the dean of the chapel’s office and meeting all parking expectations. Once these standards have been met to obtain a leadership position, students must maintain the same standards throughout the duration of time in which they participate in the organization. When these requirements are not met, however, students may find themselves quickly removed from their posts.

According to Nancy Coscia, assistant vice president for student leadership and development, this policy can be found not only in the Student handbook, but it is included in the Student Organization Policy and Procedure Manual that is presented to student organization officers during the Student Organization Workshops at the beginning of the semester.

“For student organization officers, leadership requirements are checked each semester when the Student Officer Directory forms are submitted by each organization. Students who do not meet the necessary requirements are notified directly, typically within a week of the submission deadline,” said Coscia. Coscia stated, however, that only a few students each semester do not meet the requirements.

This past semester showed more than just a few falling short of the requirements, as the Student Government Association alone had five senators fail to meet the eligibility requirements needed to maintain their seats in the senate. Though all of these senators did not return to their seats, Tyler Brooks, Executive Vice President of the SGA, maintains that three of the five senators left due to personal reasons.

There are, however, ways in which students can regain their posts. An excerpt from a letter by Vice President of Student Development and SGA advisor Michael Moffitt from this past semester states the following about the policy for chapel attendance:

“Since your fall 2009 chapel attendance records indicate excessive absences, you are on citizenship probation and must step down from your position until you have met the requirements to be removed from Citizenship Probation. We recommend you visit the Dean of the Chapel Office if you have questions regarding this requirement.”

Though this is the policy for excessive chapel skips, the policy for GPA-related removal differs. The aforementioned letter states the following requirement for regaining a position after a GPA related offense:

“Student leaders falling below [the minimum GPA of 2.5] (or the higher minimum established by their respective group or office) are expected to suspend involvement in leadership until such time their accumulative GPA reaches the prescribed level.”

Brooks believes that this policy is necessary, but he also notes the disservice it does to SGA as a whole.

“We can still function [as an organization], but we lose feedback and it causes a disservice to the students [outside of the organization],” said Brooks.

Though this is just one inconvenience caused, Nick Graham, SGA vice president of public relations, explains that it does do a positive service for the organization as well. Graham explains that organizations, the SGA included, need people who are respectable, who have good grades, and who are going to chapel–people who portray the qualities upon which the University’s mission statement is built on.

People involved in the SGA deal with extremely sensitive and important issues and should be taking their posts seriously, and this includes their grades and their citizenship standing as well, according to Graham.

The SGA has, so far, filled all but one of the vacant seats in the Senate.

“[This policy and what recently happened] is a testament to the importance of the SGA. [The people who were lost] were great people and we will miss them,” said SGA President, Cory Sprunger (jr).

According to Brooks, “[Students in leadership positions] are a reflection not only of themselves, but also of the university and their organization. Having the right people in those positions is extremely important.”

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 8:00 AM and is filed under Frontpage.
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