diff --git a/member-file.scm b/member-file.scm
index 995b88c..5512504 100644
--- a/member-file.scm
+++ b/member-file.scm
@@ -122,11 +122,15 @@
  ;; returns a list of the symbol representing the type and start/stop
  ;; symbol. It returns false otherwise.
  (define (split-start/stop-symbol s)
-   (cond ((eq? s 'studentstart) '(student start))
-	 ((eq? s 'studentstop) '(student stop))
-	 ((eq? s 'suspendstart) '(suspend start))
-	 ((eq? s 'suspendstop) '(suspend stop))
-	 (else #f)))
+   (let* ((ss (symbol->string s))
+	  (mstart (irregex-search (string->irregex "(start|stop)") ss)))
+     (if mstart
+	 (let* ((istart (irregex-match-start-index mstart))
+		(bstring (substring ss 0 istart))
+		(sstring (substring ss istart)))
+	   (list (string->symbol bstring)
+		 (string->symbol sstring)))
+	 #f)))
 
  ;; Processes member line adding given value v to the dictionary d
  ;; under key k. Special handling for start/stop symbols means given
@@ -209,6 +213,9 @@
     (test-equal? split-member-line (split-member-line "  nick value   ") '(nick "value"))
     (test-equal? split-member-line (split-member-line "  nick value1  value2 ") '(nick "value1  value2"))
     (test-exn split-member-line (split-member-line "key value"))
+    (test-equal? split-start/stop-symbol (split-start/stop-symbol 'suspendstart) '(suspend start))
+    (test-equal? split-start/stop-symbol (split-start/stop-symbol 'teststop) '(test stop))
+    (test-false  split-start/stop-symbol (split-start/stop-symbol 'normalkey))
     ))
 
  )