The 426th meeting of the KSC Senate convened on Oct. 11 to discuss and vote on two major items: a revision to the Dean’s List policy regarding the display of legal names and updates to the academic calendar beginning in the 2027 academic year.
The meeting began on a somber note, as senators took a moment of silence within the courtesy period in remembrance of the Keene State student who died earlier in the week.
Following this, Senator Karen Stanish announced that the search committee established in September for the position of registrar ended after being declared as “failed.”
The first item on the agenda for the Senate was a revision to the Dean’s List policy. Academic Policy Committee (APC) Chair Greg Knouff spoke on the committee’s work regarding the change. Knouff explained that the committee was looking to see if there was an avenue to revise the Dean’s List policy to allow students to display their chosen name on it, rather than their birth name.
Knouff said that the committee found it was not possible legally to allow chosen names on any official academic transcript, and that they would instead allow students to opt-out of being presented on the Dean’s List if they want by filling out a form. “The bottom line with the transcript is that legally, the only thing that can appear is the student’s legal name… the only way to change what appears in any transcript-related document is to change your legal name, which is a pretty onerous process,” Knouff explained.
Senator Amber Davisson said that the opt-out process for students can be streamlined, rather than requiring a separate form. “As we have students who are coming in and saying ‘This is my chosen name,’ if they were able, at that moment, to opt-out of this then if they want to,” Davisson said.
“I have a student for whom this was a fairly upsetting experience. Being on the Dean’s List should’ve been exciting and it was not pleasant. Their chosen name has been put into the system everywhere, so they were under the impression that that was solved,” Davisson said.
Senator Nicholas Germana noted that KSC has had a chosen first-name policy since 2015 in regard to what is displayed in the system in terms of student information.
Senator Peg Richmond, who also serves as director of admissions, noted that the Admissions Office had recently implemented a chosen name policy for applications.
Previously, the registrar’s office had a separate system for chosen names, and Richmond said she would like to see the systems work with each other.
Senator Jacob Favolise raised questions regarding why chosen names cannot be displayed on documents that reference the Dean’s List, such as emails to students, a website listing or a newspaper article. “If we’re going to go down this road, I don’t understand why we wouldn’t just allow students’ chosen names to be placed on public-facing documents that are not the transcript themselves,” Favolise stated.
Knouff responded, saying that the documents are a reflection of the official transcript and that the committee did work regarding the question.
The motion for the policy change then passed the Senate, with some members voting nay. Knouff then moved to suspend the 48-hour rule to vote on immediate implementation of the policy. The 48-hour rule in the Senate is a rule that mandates Senators get 48 hours’ notice to review a proposal or motion not listed in the agenda.
All senators must be in support of the rule suspension for it to pass. The motion to suspend unanimously passed and the Dean’s List revision was then passed, allowing it to go into effect immediately.
The second item to be voted on was academic calendar changes. Senator Charles Kerwin, who serves as chair of the Academic Standards Committee, noted work done regarding the academic calendar. Kerwin urged members to view the changes to the calendar in their information packet and noted the changes were not major. “What it’s asking us to do is to shake loose some of the wording from the old version which is restricted to particular days starting the semester, and ending the semester, and when some of the commencement starts and things like that so we can move it, as the [University System of New Hampshire] is wanting us to synchronize our schedule,” Kerwin explained. Kerwin said that the committee voted to approve the changes, and then motioned to suspend the 48-hour rule to consider the proposal, which sparked debate.
Senator James Stemp asked why the particular policy required immediate action and suspension of the rule and worried about setting a precedent with multiple overrides of standard procedure. Kerwin referred the question to Senator James Beeby, who also serves as provost. Beeby explained that there were difficulties getting the policy documents to the senators, saying that they should’ve been sent out in time, but weren’t. Stemp responded by asking why the policy could not be considered in the following senate meeting. Beeby responded by saying there was no need to stall the policy, as it was approved unanimously by the committee and went through their process. Beeby also noted that he wished to have the policy approved before the USNH Board meeting the following week.
The 48-hour rule was suspended, which was followed by an extension of debate on the motion to pass the policy, with a friendly amendment added. Following debate, the motion passed and the Senate adjourned.
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
