STUDENT DEVELOPMENT

Academic Policies and Regulations: Classroom Behavior

The Kalamazoo College Honor Code applies to classroom behavior as well as other types of interpersonal interactions on campus: "Respecting Others" of our Honor System includes respectful behavior in class. While Kalamazoo College is committed to the fundamental principles of freedom of speech, including controversial positions taken in the classroom, all types of speech and behavior must be balanced with principles of appropriate classroom behavior. It is ultimately the faculty member who controls the classroom, and if a situation develops in which, in the opinion of the faculty member, the class is being disrupted, the faculty member has the right to ask a student to leave the class. Resolutions under this policy will be dealt with according to College's Student Conduct Code.

What is Disruptive Behavior?

Generally, disruptive behavior is any behavior that interferes with the instructor's ability to conduct the class, or the ability of other students to profit from the instruction. Such behavior may take various forms, and can be dependent upon many factors including class size, subject matter, and the relationship between faculty and students.

Disruptive behavior may be viewed on a continuum ranging from the isolated incidents of mildly annoying or irritating behavior (which probably should be tolerated as much as possible) to more clearly disruptive, dangerous, and/or violent behavior that should not be tolerated.

Examples of disruptive behavior may include the following:

Preventing Classroom Disruptions

Classroom disruptions are rare. Setting clear guidelines at the start of each quarter aids in setting the tone in the classroom. This investment of time will aid in keeping disruptions to a minimum, and will hold students account-able to a clear and known standard. Expectations should be discussed with students and detailed in the course syllabus. It may be helpful to have a discussion of expectations regarding the class, classroom behavior, and the rationale behind those expectations. Students are often the strongest supporters of a positive and productive learning environment.

Faculty Rights and Responsibilities

Kalamazoo College respects the right of instructors to teach and the right of students to learn. Protection of these rights requires classroom conditions that do not impede their exercise. To ensure these rights, faculty members have the prerogative:

What about the First Amendment?

According to SYNFAX, published by the Editors of SYNTHESIS: Law and Policy in Higher Education, the Supreme Court has held that students at public institutions do have limited rights to freedom of expression in the classroom. In Tinker v. Des Moines School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) the court held that the non-disruptive wearing of armbands in a classroom to protest the Vietnam war was protected by the First Amendment. The Court concluded, "First Amendment rights, applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment, are available to teachers and students. It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."

However, First Amendment rights are not absolute. The Court in Tinker also affirmed "the com-prehensive authority of the States and of school officials, consistent with fundamental constitu-tional safeguards, to prescribe and control conduct in the schools." The college classroom isn't a "public forum" like a city street or a park. Teachers can define the course agen-da, set and limit topics for discussion, give grades that reflect a student's knowledge or reason-ing, and maintain order in the classroom. They should freely perform these important functions, as long as they refrain from unlawful discrimination, or seek to punish students solely for express-ing unpopular viewpoints pertinent to the course.

What if a disruptive student claims the disruptive behavior is the result of a disability?

Again, according to the Editors of SYNTHESIS: Law and Policy in Higher Education, the fact that a student may have a disability should not inhibit notification of appropriate authorities (including the campus police, as needed) about disruptive behavior. Students - with or without disabilities - must adhere to reasonable behavioral standards.

Disability claims and accommodation requests should be discussed with the Disability Coordinator (7209). There are established procedures students should follow if reasonable accommodation is required. If a student has provided documentation of a disability to the College, faculty will be notified in writing at the beginning of the quarter of any student requiring accommodations. Faculty are not obligated to provide accommodations or ignore behavior if a student claims a disability, but the faculty has no written notification from the Student Development Office. In this case, notify the Disabilities Coordinator promptly.

Generally, pertinent federal agencies and the courts have made it clear that an institution of higher education does not have to tolerate or excuse violent, dangerous, or disruptive behavior, especially when that behav-ior interferes with the educational opportunities of other students. Colleges and universities may discipline a student with a disability for engaging in misconduct if it would impose the same discipline on a student without a disability.

Documentation of Incidents and Outcomes

Faculty at Kalamazoo College have been encouraged to report and document inappropriate classroom behavior and outcomes to the Associate Provost and the Dean of Students.

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