Senate Document 06-01

                                                                                                            Agenda Committee

                                                                                                            For Discussion 2/1/06

                                                                                                            For Action 3/1/06
                                                                                                            APPROVED: 3/1/06

To:       Purdue University Calumet Senate

From:   Agenda committee

Re:       Recommendations of The Task Force on Student Civility

Date:    January 19, 2006

Proposal

The Agenda Committee of the Senate recommends the adoption of the Documents for Fostering Civility on Campus presented by The Task Force on Student Civility to the Agenda Committee of the Senate on January 18, 2006.  The documents being presented at the February 2006 Senate meeting include the following components:

1.  A Guide for Faculty- for handling student disruption in the classroom;

2.  A Guide for Students- to help them understand civil behaviors required in the classroom.

Rationale

The Task Force has addressed the growing need for improvement in Student Civility across this campus.  Recent literature suggests that incivility is increasing in classrooms across the country.  Uncivil behavior is disruptive to the educational purposes of the University.  Because students are often unaware of what is uncivil, the Task Force has developed a Guide for proper student behavior.  And, because the Faculty is often at a loss for dealing with disruptive behavior, a Guide for them to encourage proper classroom behavior was developed. 

Implementation

Once approved by the Senate, the Student and Faculty Guides will be introduced during New Student Orientation and New Faculty Orientation; reinforced through modules in all Freshman Experience Courses for all students; included in Admission and Registration forms; and included in the Student Handbook and in the Faculty Handbook.  The Guides will be available in hard copy brochure format from the Dean of Students Office and through electronic links off the Dean of Students Web page and The Faculty Senate Web page.  The Faculty is requested to address in oral and written form their standards for classroom civility with their students.  Faculty should not only discuss civil behavior on the first day of each class but make sure it is in every syllabus they develop for students.  The Task Force and Senate recognize that incivility is not limited to members of the student body or the faculty and has thusly encouraged the Chancellor to call all members of the university to commit to and promote a community of civility campus wide. 

Timeline  

If approved by the Senate in early March, 2006 the campus wide Civility Guides will be implemented for the 2006/2007 academic year.  The Senate appreciates the efforts of the Task Force on Student Civility and applauds their extra effort and their lengthy and excellent work.  The very broad representation of university community members on the task force and its sensitivity on a difficult subject made it a rewarding and successful effort for them and produced fine documents for us all.

Vote: on 1/18/06

 6- Yes:   Profs. J. Hack, A. Gregory, J. Rowan, J. Coffey, R. Foreman, A. Mitra

 0- No