Idea advocating for more student input regarding discipline or policy changes gaining traction for near future.

As heads of their respective departments at Malvern, the team of Mr. Ron Algeo, Mr. Tim Dougherty, Dr. James Fry, Mr. Kurt Ruch and Mr. Paul Simpson are looking into giving students the opportunity for leadership and character development within the Malvern community.

The idea of having a student disciplinary advisory group began to form within the group through brainstorming ways that Malvern students could help and benefit the Malvern community through leadership.

“Between Mr. Simpson and Mr. Dougherty, they felt as though there could be some valuable experiences in character development and class leadership through using a disciplinary advisory committee,” Assistant Head of School for Student Leadership Mr. Ron Algeo said.

There are many groups and extracurriculars at Malvern that Algeo sees as opportunities for student leadership, but he sees a different, more unique potential for the advisory committee.

“We are not trying to dump these things on groups that already exist,” he said. “Again, the original premise was how can we provide some leadership opportunities that are really authentic that maybe we don’t have yet.”

The idea of having students involved in disciplinary issues has been implemented in other schools across the country, and even within the Inter-Ac. The Haverford School and Germantown Academy have similar student groups that look at disciplinary and policy issues. The Friar’s Lantern first reported on a previous version of this possibility at Malvern, which previous Head of School Mr. Christian Talbot as part of a “Character and Integrity Task Force,” in 2014.

“I worked in another school that I saw pieces of this idea,” Algeo said, “but we want to make it work for Malvern.”

There were a few different proposals on what the groups function will be. A key aspect of this that Dougherty is looking into is what type of issues this group will have input on.

“The group’s purpose is malleable right now,” he said.

The question is whether the group would be more beneficial in helping with policy issues, or discipline issues within the student body. A possible complication of having students give input on disciplinary cases that are more severe, such as plagiarism or cheating, is that the opinions from students on the committee could potentially be biased.

“There could be a problem with students being exposed to private stuff, which would be unfair to everyone involved. If you have a relationship with the student, or if the student is a senior and you’re a sophomore… all of these situations could pose problems with the committee being swayed a certain way,” Dougherty said.

Because of this possibility, Dougherty sees the function of the advisory committee as helping give suggestions on policy, or reforms that the school is planning on making.

“More policy and suggestions, handbook revisions, senior privilege, schedule changes, all that kind of stuff. More like shaping policy than enforcing it,” he said.

Although the purpose for now is set to be helping with policy, Algeo sees potential in the group evolving into more than just that.

“We want to make sure that we put people in a position to be successful, but they also have a responsibility to help this community grow, learn and improve our practices,” Algeo said. “I think our guys are ready to take on that sense of maturity.”

The set up of the group is also being discussed. The amount of people on the committee, what classes will be represented, and if the group will work in tandem with a team of teachers are all factors that are currently being considered.

“Maybe like two seniors, two juniors, one sophomore and one freshman along with academy leaders, myself, Mr. Carroll, Mr. Algeo, etc. Still a pretty big group, so it would be hard to find time where all of our schedules match up to meet occasionally,” Dougherty said.

The tasks that this committee could possibly be taking on are serious, so Dougherty and Algeo both agree that the students chosen will have to be trustworthy, and mature.

“We need to shape the application process, what requirements should look like for the students applying,” Dougherty said.

“Number one characteristic is somebody who has a track record of maturity,” Algeo said. “What I mean by that is if you want to have a positive impact of this community, there’s an element of maturity that’s in play here. You have to be able to listen with an open mind and open heart.”

With all of these things still being considered, there is a lot of planning left to do. However, the entire team of teachers involved are hopeful and excited for this idea.

On May 21, the Assistant Heads of School Mr. Ron Algeo and Mr. Patrick Sillup held an assembly with the ninth, tenth and eleventh grades, concerning alterations to the 2018-2019 school year. During this meeting, they introduced the creation of the student-led disciplinary policy, which brought the possibility to the attention of the student body.

“Mr. Dougherty will formalize the idea, and once we have the final proposal what it would look like there be a communication to the student body early in the fall right when we get back to school. I’m really, really excited to see what happens with this. It could be awesome for the students and for the Malvern community,” Algeo said.