Faculty affairs committee discussed the Faculty Senate workgroup that has been tasked to review the policy on consensual relationships between faculty, staff and students on campus, during their Tuesday meeting. 

The committee spoke about the process of choosing members for the workgroup. There are currently no students involved because the workgroup was formed through Faculty Senate.

This was a concern for Max McCoy, professor of journalism. 

“Looking at the composition of the workforce, I am concerned that there are no students,” McCoy said. “These groups have extraordinary power, having served on Kansas Board of Regents in the past, I understand how much policy makers rely upon this kind of expertise. Looking at the composition, while I have nothing bad to say about any of the members that are on the list, I can say I am disturbed there are no students.”

Tim Marshall, school leadership and secondary education professor, brought up concerns with the workgroups main focuses.

“I think one of the biggest concerns was the University’s policy of not keeping the complainant informed to try to project the rights of the accused,” Marshall said.

According to Sheryl Lidzy, FAC chair and professor of communication and theatre, ESU has to make a decision on consensual relationships by the end of the semester or KBOR will make the final choice for us.

“All of the Kansas institutions have been charged and we (the committee) have to do something by December.”

According to the FAC’s agenda, “Johnson and his group will provide the Executive Committee with materials and/or a report (written or verbal) related to revising, or providing defensible rationale for the preservation of, ESU’s current Consenting Relationship policy.”

The next FAC meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 11 in the PDK Room in Memorial Union.

Correction: A former version of this story did not clarify the difference between the Title IX Task Force and the workgroup created by Faculty Senate to review the consensual relationship policy on campus.