Spring Break
Faculty Senate places cell phone principle on hold
Krystal Moya / Administration Editor
Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: News
Discussions on the proposed cell phone principle scratched the surface of some faculty discontent with the language in the code at yesterday's Faculty Senate Meeting.
Penned by Blair Lord, provost and vice president for academic affairs, some faculty had voiced concerns over vague language that seemed ineffective, said Faculty Senate Chair John Pommier.
"We began to toss around comments and it led us to realize that the language of the principle wasn't clear enough," he said.
Lord sent his proposal to Faculty Senate for discussion back in November. The full faculty body was not surveyed on cell phone policies in the classroom.
However, Lord conducted research about other institution's policies to construct the principle.
Lord's proposal states: "Each faculty member has the authority and responsibility to establish the conditions for student cell phone use in his/her classroom, and these shall be specified in the course syllabus. Such conditions are at the discretion of the faculty member, but shall provide that a university-initiated campus security text message can be received and disseminated to the classroom in a timely manner."
Pommier believed that Lord, in his proposal, had no intention to implement his preliminary idea without discussion from a wide variety of faculty.
The senate, which had the intention to motion for acceptance of the above principle on Monday, decided to table the proposal, or postpone a decision.
"We received some e-mails from faculty members who had read the principle and had some concerns," Pommier said.
The senate devised an ad-hoc committee that will work together with Lord to develop a "clearer" message for the faculty.
They will continue the dialogue until the senate's summer meeting date, July 23.
Members Dawn Van Gunten and Ruth Hoberman actively voiced some concerns on the policy.
Senate member John Best said he was in favor of a dialogue for the principle, but generally had no comment himself.
Pommier said that the Faculty Senate ultimately arrived at a decision to work on the language.
"We need something we can all agree on within the legal parameters, meaning we must ensure that students can receive their safety text alerts," Pommier said. "The committee will create language we can all agree on."
In other items, the senate committee also elected their board members.
Pommier was re-elected as chair. Van Gunten was elected as vice chair and John Coit was elected as recorder.
Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.
Penned by Blair Lord, provost and vice president for academic affairs, some faculty had voiced concerns over vague language that seemed ineffective, said Faculty Senate Chair John Pommier.
"We began to toss around comments and it led us to realize that the language of the principle wasn't clear enough," he said.
Lord sent his proposal to Faculty Senate for discussion back in November. The full faculty body was not surveyed on cell phone policies in the classroom.
However, Lord conducted research about other institution's policies to construct the principle.
Lord's proposal states: "Each faculty member has the authority and responsibility to establish the conditions for student cell phone use in his/her classroom, and these shall be specified in the course syllabus. Such conditions are at the discretion of the faculty member, but shall provide that a university-initiated campus security text message can be received and disseminated to the classroom in a timely manner."
Pommier believed that Lord, in his proposal, had no intention to implement his preliminary idea without discussion from a wide variety of faculty.
The senate, which had the intention to motion for acceptance of the above principle on Monday, decided to table the proposal, or postpone a decision.
"We received some e-mails from faculty members who had read the principle and had some concerns," Pommier said.
The senate devised an ad-hoc committee that will work together with Lord to develop a "clearer" message for the faculty.
They will continue the dialogue until the senate's summer meeting date, July 23.
Members Dawn Van Gunten and Ruth Hoberman actively voiced some concerns on the policy.
Senate member John Best said he was in favor of a dialogue for the principle, but generally had no comment himself.
Pommier said that the Faculty Senate ultimately arrived at a decision to work on the language.
"We need something we can all agree on within the legal parameters, meaning we must ensure that students can receive their safety text alerts," Pommier said. "The committee will create language we can all agree on."
In other items, the senate committee also elected their board members.
Pommier was re-elected as chair. Van Gunten was elected as vice chair and John Coit was elected as recorder.
Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.
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