A proposed policy that could forever change classroom dynamics has attracted discussion in both the student and faculty senates, but has yet to attract input from the general student population, despite plans for implementation this coming fall.
The faculty senate passed a revised motion banning student use of electronic devices in the classroom at their March 23 meeting. The faculty senate had earlier agreed to revise the original motion when the student senate objected to a clause that would have allowed faculty members to confiscate devices if they were used during class.
The revised motion is almost identical to the original motion, with the exclusion of the offending clause. The proposed addition to the student handbook reads: "Students may not use cell phones, PDAs, pagers, digital music players (like iPods), laptops and other electronic devices during class unless designated by course instructor. If use of any of these items is permitted by the course instructor, these items are not allowed to be used for non-class activities."
Instead of being able to confiscate the devices, faculty members would be able to ask offending students to leave the classroom. The policy also makes exemptions for those with learning disabilities and allows students who need to leave a cell phone on for an emergency situation to be allowed to do so if they inform the instructor at the beginning of the class and keep the phone on silent.
Mimi Becker, Chair of the Student Affairs Committee within Faculty Senate, said Faculty Senate was happy to work with Student Senate.
"The student senate asked us to reconsider and we felt their objections were not unreasonable," said Becker.
Becker explained that there are several reasons for the ban. She said students who use electronic devices in class are rude to their peers and professors who may find the devices disrupting. She also considers the ban necessary for professional development, saying that students would never go to a job interview and start texting on their cell phone.
She also noted a use for the devices that is slightly less innocent.
"There have been enough instances of academic dishonesty that have been perpetrated by electronic devices," she said.
The decision to pass the motion was not unanimous. Becker said that there were two or three opposing votes at the March 23 meeting, along with a couple abstentions.
Becker also polled students in her classes when drafting the motion and found that they agreed with the policy.
"It's my understanding that students are concerned with the same thing," she said.
Victoria Adewumi, Chair of the Academic Affairs Council within student senate, acknowledged student senate's role in the shaping of the policy.
According to Adewumi, the senate's executive board realized that students wouldn't like a policy that allowed their electronic devices to be confiscated, and also objected to the fact that the original motion had been passed in faculty senate before student senate got to see it. Senate Speaker Nick Wolf then drafted a resolution advising faculty senate to reconsider the policy, which passed unanimously at the Feb. 10 senate meeting. Student Senator Kevin Linton then worked with Becker to revise the policy into its current form.
Adewumi acknowledged that she did not feel the policy represented the view of the general student body.
"I think students think, 'I'm an adult, so I should be treated like an adult. This isn't high school,'" she said. "At the same time, I think faculty senate wants a policy that protects them in the classroom. This policy is the weighing of those different ideas in the best way possible."
Adewumi said that she personally did not support the decision, noting that there are already policies in the handbook that allow professors to deal with disturbances in the classroom. She said that there was some debate within her committee in student senate about whether to draft another resolution against the policy, but that they were currently undecided.
She said senators were interested in hearing from students.
"As of now, we haven't heard that kind of outrage from the student body [that would prompt a stronger resolution]," she said. "If we receive student feedback on this issue saying 'Absolutely not!' then student senate will reconsider the issue."
Sophomore Benjamin Swain, who used his laptop to type notes in his Monday morning microeconomics class, disagreed with the policy.
"I think it's a pretty terrible idea, at least for me, because I have pretty terrible handwriting and I find it much easier to type my notes," he said.
Freshman Eric Thatcher is also dependant upon his laptop in class.
"I really don't think that [the policy] is appropriate at a university level," Thatcher said, while using his laptop in a botany lecture. "Sometimes Internet is the only thing that gets me through the lectures. And for some classes, it's useful."
Professor Lee Jahnke, who was giving the botany lecture, did not have any problems with students using electronic devices as long as they weren't disruptive. He said he could not recall any instances of such disruption at any point in the semester.
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