The All Student Judiciary (ASJ), the campus organization responsible for making decisions regarding disciplinary actions for violations of the Student Code, is looking for interested students to recruit.
ASJ is looking for six to eight new members for the upcoming fall 2010 semester. Interested students can fill out an application located on the Dean of Students Office website.
In order to become a member of ASJ, a student needs a GPA of 2.0 or above, have completed 12 credit hours at NMU and be free of any sort of probation at NMU. The Dean of Students Office nominates what applicants they see fit to serve on ASJ. It would then be up to the Associated Students of NMU (ASNMU) to approve the potential new members.
“The most important common denominator shared by (ASJ) board members is a commitment to community,” said Mary Brundage, the associate dean of students and ASJ adviser. “Members of (ASJ) have a direct impact on the NMU community.”
The ASJ consists of up to 16 students who hear cases concerning minor violations of the Student Code such as alcohol infractions, destruction of property and noise violations. The group will only make a decision on a case if the student denies the charges brought against them. The judicial hearings are made up of one of three student co-chairs and a board of six to seven ASJ voting members. The chair would cast the decisive vote if the members had a tie vote. If a student is found guilty of one of these minor infractions, they typically receive a warning or are placed on a probation by the university.
Brundage said that it is important for ASJ to be made up of students from different majors and backgrounds in order to get larger scope of viewpoints on incidents, the organization determines.
“The goal is to have the All Student Judiciary represent the student population as much as possible,” she said. “As the adviser, I like to see a good blend of background, major, personality preferences (and) ways of thinking.”
Joseph Gonzales, an English secondary education major and co-chair of ASJ, said that a lot of students aren’t aware of ASJ’s presence on campus. He also said that ASJ tries to look out for what is best for everyone in the NMU community.
“It’s one of those organizations that you don’t hear about a lot,” he said. “But it’s one that helps the campus operate smoothly. We are here to help and that’s all we are here for.”
Gonzalez said that being a member of ASJ has been beneficial to his education while being a student at NMU.
“It has been helpful in my academic career and has opened my eyes to many different viewpoints,” he said. “If you can see things in other people eyes (you would make a good member of ASJ).”
If a disputed case involves repeated small offenses or a major offense that could warrant a large suspension or expulsion, the case would be handled by the Student Faculty Judiciary (SFJ), which is made up of both students and faculty on campus. One-time offenses that could warrant a long term suspension or expulsion would be different charges of assault or drug dealing on campus. Members of ASJ sometimes double as members of the SFJ after they have gained experience on the ASJ board.
“If someone had six noise violations and they don’t get the point, then SFJ would take over the hearing,” said Darren Widder, an ASJ co-chair and member of the SFJ. “They are (traditionally) things that would have a high bearing on the university community.”
Widder said that his experiences on ASJ and SFJ have been positive and encouraged anyone interested in becoming a member of ASJ to apply.
“Don’t sell yourself short,” he said. “Most likely it will be something you are interested in no matter what your background is, and you can be a service to your university community.”
