CHUL Agrees to Group Review Of Student/Faculty Committees

The Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life (CHUL) yesterday unanimously approved the establishment of a committee to examine student/faculty committees and suggest changes in college governance.

Dean Fox will ask approval from House masters and the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) before setting up the committee, which will consider new methods of representation for CHUL and CUE.

Fox said yesterday members of those two groups have reacted favorably to the idea of a review committee. He added that, pending approval, the review committee may begin its work in late February.

The Student Assembly last month sent a letter to Fox requesting the formation of a committee to find ways to channel the energies of undergraduates interested in student government into effective organizations.

Joseph F. McDonough '81, chairman of the assembly, said at yesterday's meeting CHUL and CUE are particularly respected because they provide a link with the faculty.

But he added that current modes of representation leave choices for involvement "in a sense stunted."

The review committee may suggest procedural reforms to the relevant body, but the faculty must approve structural alterations.

The new committee would include faculty members from CHUL and CUE and a house master chosen by the faculty members of those groups, one administrator chosen by Fox and one faculty member at-large, who will serve as chairman, chosen by Dean Rosovsky.

The plan provides for undergraduates on CHUL and CUE to elect one representative each, and the Student Assembly to select two more from its membership.

Fox said at the meeting yesterday it is "important" to have an effective mechanism for student input, and that CHUL has been "very good in that regard" despite a few minor problems. "I don't envision us coming up with a mode (of governance) that is dramatically different," he added.

Rosovsky said, "I think there is a genuine desire to look at these issues and we should go ahead and do it.

Alan E. Heimert, master of Eliot House, said he hopes a vote to establish the committee will not be perceived as dissatisfaction with CHUL. Faculty legislation established the student/faculty groups ten years ago, and it is time for a review, he added.

Although the review committee would deal in particular with CHUL and CUE, Fox said it could conceivably consider reforms of the Committee on Rights and Responsibilities (CRR). The faculty formed CRR in the wake of the 1969 student strike to discipline protesters.

In other business, CHUL voted to limit permission for student fasts to charities directly involved in hunger-relief or foodrelated projects.

The Ad Hoc Committee on Shuttle Bus also announced that express runs from Radcliff Quadrangle to the Old Burying Ground will continue