XVII: AdCom

XVII.A. Composition of the Committee

A. AdCom is composed of a mixture of elected student members, two hired members (AdCom chairs), and advised by the Operations Manager and the AdCom Member Advisor.

B. AdCom will be split into two subcommittees of three elected members and one chair. Each four-person committee is its own separate decision making body, and each committee shall independently review and decide on cases with the oversight of the Administrative Committee Chairs.

C. Quorum shall be at least two elected members and an AdCom chair.

D. Elected members of AdCom shall work 3 hours per week. Two hours will be compensated with rent credits at the workshift rate, and one hour shall count towards their unit-level workshift.

E. AdCom members will be elected in the Spring to serve 1-year terms. AdCom members without summer contracts may still hold the position as long as they have an academic-year contract for the unit that elected them.

F. Elected committee members will be elected from units selected as follows:

i. The AdCom Chairs and Operations Manager will randomly select units to send people to AdCom for the next term, making sure that the random selections adhere to the requirements below.

ii. Units may not be chosen again before all other units in their rotation have had a chance to send someone to AdCom.

iii. AdCom members are elected each year from a different set of six houses, rotating annually through all houses regardless of occupancy or capacity.

iv. Each unit may not elect more than one person in a particular term.

v. If a unit has not elected an AdCom member by the end of the Spring semester, then HiCom will hire an alternative.

XVII.B. Duties of the Committee

1. Jurisdiction & responsibilities: AdCom will interpret and apply the provisions of the Administrative Code and all sections except those describing conduct. Cases involving conduct issues should be brought to the BSC Conduct Committee or conduct appeals committee as appropriate.

a. AdCom may compensate a member at their unit’s expense, e.g. for habitability problems, improper fining, etc.

b. AdCom may distribute emergency grants from the BSC emergency grant fund. The amount of the emergency grants is at the discretion of the committee, but should be consistent and fair.

c. AdCom decisions will ideally be made by consensus. If the committee is unable to come to a consensus, all decisions must pass by at least a 2/3rds majority. If the deciding subcommittee cannot reach 2/3rds agreement, the other subcommittee will decide.

XVII.C. Exceptions to Policy

1. In addition to the duties already mentioned in the Administrative Code, AdCom has the authority to depart from the Administrative Code in unusual circumstances. When this type of exception is made, the circumstances and motivation must be stated in the decision and communicated to the member and IACom or SumCom (whichever is in session).

XVII.D Training of the Committee

1. All members of an AdCom must be trained in the Administrative Code, procedure, mock cases, and anti-oppression at the start of each semester.

2. AdCom members who have not been trained may not vote.

XVII.E Reporting and Confidentiality

1. All members of the Administrative Committee, including both elected and hired members, are expected to keep all sensitive information confidential. This includes (but is not limited to) personal information about members, any evidence submitted, contents of deliberations, and the circumstances of their requests. Information on the contents of deliberations may be shared with the member filing the case upon request and at the discretion of the committee, and should be shared with the appeals body.

2. At the end of each Spring semester, (a) member(s) of AdCom should deliver a report on their decisions to IACom on their decisions in the past year. When possible, specific cases should be anonymized for this and similar reports.

XVII.F Appeals of AdCom decisions

1. Appeals to decisions made by one AdCom subcommittee may be heard by the other subcommittee provided they meet the standard appeals criteria described in section XVIII (Appeals).

[Updated all sections of the Policy per approval at Board #6 (04.10.2025)]