Report To Disclose Ad Board Activities

A report which explains the inner workings of the the Administrative Board is almost ready for release, a College official said yesterday.

Virginia L. MacKay-Smith '78, special assistant to Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57, said the report will detail the board's procedures and establish precedents for meting out discipline. The Ad Board will review the current draft of the report on Tuesday.

MacKay-Smith, who is also secretary to the Ad Board, said the report is being distributed to house masters immediately and will be released to students upon Ad Board approval.

The draft report documents a list of infractions with corresponding punishments, MacKay-Smith said. She also said it contains hypothetical cases and examples of punishment.

"It gives examples of cases and also gives examples of how presenations at the Ad Board would go," MacKay-Smith said. "This, I gathered, was one of the chief interests of the students."

According to the report, portions of which MacKay-Smith read to The Crimson, the Ad Board asks students to withdraw in instances of sexual assault or rape, selling drugs, or plagiarism, according to the report.

The Ad Board may give students probation for infractions such as lying to a University officer, holding a "disruptive" party, engaging in "sexual misconduct" or violating College alcohol policy, according to the report.

Students receive formal warnings from the AdBoard for failing to take a make-up exam, using afake ID, misusing fire safety equipment orallowing someone else to use their identificationcard.

The report, which MacKay-Smith has been workingon since the spring, will also detail the historyand jurisdiction of the board.

The Civil Liberties Union of Harvard (CLUH) hassuggested dramatic revisions in the report duringthe past month. MacKay-Smith also said that adraft of the report had been reviewed by severalmembers of the Faculty.

CLUH officials said they were disappointed byMacKay-Smith's decision to use only hypotheticalexamples of disciplinary cases rather than actualones.

But CLUH Associate Director Allan H. Erbsen '94said he thought the report would help students tounderstand the disciplinary process.

"Our point is that students need theinformation on the board and the precedents to beable to effectively deal with the process ofdiscipline," Erbsen said.

Kirkland House Senior Tutor Garth O. McCavana,who sits on the Ad Board, said his primary hopefor the pamphlet is that it will "demystify theboard for people."

McCavana, who has not yet seen the report, saidhe believed the board would look favorably on thereport and said he thought the precedents in thereport would not hinder the board from ruling on acase-by-case basis.

"These are only guidelines for possible cases,and I think one of the strengths of the board isthat it can consider extenuating circumstances,"McCavana said

Students receive formal warnings from the AdBoard for failing to take a make-up exam, using afake ID, misusing fire safety equipment orallowing someone else to use their identificationcard.

The report, which MacKay-Smith has been workingon since the spring, will also detail the historyand jurisdiction of the board.

The Civil Liberties Union of Harvard (CLUH) hassuggested dramatic revisions in the report duringthe past month. MacKay-Smith also said that adraft of the report had been reviewed by severalmembers of the Faculty.

CLUH officials said they were disappointed byMacKay-Smith's decision to use only hypotheticalexamples of disciplinary cases rather than actualones.

But CLUH Associate Director Allan H. Erbsen '94said he thought the report would help students tounderstand the disciplinary process.

"Our point is that students need theinformation on the board and the precedents to beable to effectively deal with the process ofdiscipline," Erbsen said.

Kirkland House Senior Tutor Garth O. McCavana,who sits on the Ad Board, said his primary hopefor the pamphlet is that it will "demystify theboard for people."

McCavana, who has not yet seen the report, saidhe believed the board would look favorably on thereport and said he thought the precedents in thereport would not hinder the board from ruling on acase-by-case basis.

"These are only guidelines for possible cases,and I think one of the strengths of the board isthat it can consider extenuating circumstances,"McCavana said