The Keene State College Senate approved the 2025-2026 bylaws. There are two main parts of the bylaw changes. The first is reorganizing the senate’s committee structure and the second is specifying who can serve as chairs of the committees as well as the senate itself.
According to the revised bylaws, the chairs serving on the senate must be tenured full-time faculty members. Currently, it is students, part-time and full-time faculty and staff who serve on the body.
I question what led to this action being voted on. In previous years, part-time faculty, staff and students were able to serve as chairs and now a majority of the senate wants to put a stop to this after many years. Personally, I do not know how many years students have been involved. Does this come as a surprise to people?
I disagree with this bylaw revision being put in place because it is important to have not only tenured full-time faculty members but also students to have the experience to understand what goes on at Keene State College campus as well as the community to be involved and get a sense of what is going on. Why are they excluding students from the process when they have every right to be educated on what directly affects them as much as it affects anyone else on campus?
Although college students have many responsibilities to juggle between school, work and personal affairs, the same can often be said of faculty. Faculty members, too, have personal lives and day jobs that may also get in the way of their judgment and ability to fully focus their attention on important issues that reach the senate.
While challenges may arise for both staff and students but it does not mean students are not capable of holding the same amount of responsibility when it comes to having a seat on the senate.
Tamy Jacques can be contacted at
tjacques@kscequinox.com
