Policy to guide classroom conduct
Greiner approves document designed to help faculty handle student disruption

By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor

Faculty members now have specific guidelines to help them deal with student disruption in the classroom.

President William R. Greiner has approved a policy on student conduct in the classroom that was drafted at the end of last semester by the Faculty Senate.

In a memo distributed recently to deans, department chairs and program unit heads, Greiner called the policy "an eminently sensible document which offers sound guidelines to instructors and students alike on dealing with disruptions to the classroom."

The policy, which is effective this semester, stems from a request by Dennis Black, vice president for student affairs, to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee that guidelines be developed to help instructors deal with escalating incidents of disruptive behavior by students in the classroom. Black told committee members that instructors were not sure how to handle these situations since the university had no published rules or regulations regarding student behavior.

Black's comments triggered an outpouring by FSEC members regarding incidents they had experienced in their classrooms, ranging from students using cell phones, having food delivered to them during class, kissing in the back of the classroom, reading newspapers and coming to class late and leaving early.

The new policy, which was approved by the full Faculty Senate in May, defines classroom disruption as "behavior that a reasonable person would view as substantially or repeatedly interfering with the conduct of a class." Examples could include persistently speaking without being recognized, continuing with conversations distracting the class or, in extreme cases, resorting to physical threats or personal insults.

The document notes, however, that "lawful, civil expression of disagreement with the instructor or other students is not in itself 'disruptive behavior'" and is not prohibited under the regulations.

The policy states that faculty members are responsible for effective management of the classroom environment to promote conditions that will enhance student learning. Accordingly, instructors should set reasonable rules for classroom behavior and must provide these rules, in writing, to the students at the start of the semester.

When a student is disruptive, faculty members are to follow a specific course of action, beginning with a warning, preferably in private. If the disruptive behavior continues, the faculty member is authorized to ask the student to leave the classroom.

If a student refuses to leave, the student should be informed this refusal is a separate violation subject to additional penalties.

If the behavior creates a safety risk or makes it impossible to continue class, the instructor should contact Public Safety to assist in removing the student and/or may dismiss class for that day.

A student may be dismissed from the course for the remainder of the semester, subject to Student Conduct Regulations and due process proceedings, as appropriate.

The policy includes some "classroom etiquette expectations" for students, such as attending classes and paying attention, not coming to class late or leaving early, not talking with other classmates while the instructor or another student is speaking, not eating and drinking during class time and turning off electronics, including cell phones, pagers and beeper watches.

Some strategies suggested in the policy to help faculty members minimize classroom disruptions include serving as a role model of the conduct expected of students, offering a general word of caution, rather than singling out particular students, speaking with individual students after class and directing a student who persists in disrupting a class to leave the classroom for the remainder of the class period.

Faculty members can obtain further information on the policy by contacting the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education; Myron A. Thompson III, executive director of the Graduate School, or Madison L. Boyce, judicial affairs ombudsman.