Administrators and faculty who monitor classes at Ohio University would have to notify faculty first if a resolution spearheaded by a Faculty Senate committee passes and is approved by OU Provost Kathy Krendl.
The resolution stems from a complaint by a faculty member whose online course was monitored without her knowledge when her department's chair obtained a password for the course, said Kenneth Brown, chair of Faculty Senate's Educational Policy and Student Affairs Committee.
Brown and Carolyn Cardenas, chair of Faculty Senate's Professional Relations Committee, fielded the complaint and were informed by John Burns, OU's director of legal affairs, that the university has no policy about classroom monitoring.
The resolution would not provide faculty with the power to stop monitoring from taking place, even if a faculty member were to object, but it would provide recourse if no permission were obtained at all, Brown said. It would apply to online as well as traditional courses, he said.
Everything that's required of a regular class should be required of an online class
he said. I'm trying very hard not to have two sets of rules.
The resolution also blocks students from selling recordings of classes outside of class, Brown said. Faculty Senate Chair Phyllis Bernt said OU hopes to avoid situations like the one at the University of California, Los Angeles, where a conservative organization paid students to tape classes and then used the tapes to expose professors they deemed too liberal.
This is all part of a greater attack on what goes on in education Bernt said.
When Brown introduced the resolution for a first reading Feb. 13, Patrick Heery, Student Senate's academic affairs commissioner, asked that students also be notified if their class sessions are monitored.
I think students have a right to be informed that they are being monitored given that they are
after all
paying for the class
and given our commitment to academic honesty
Heery said.
The clause about student notification has been added, Brown said.
Class monitoring, which is done by administrators and other faculty, is important to determine which faculty should be given tenure and promotions, Bernt said.
Nobody is saying (monitoring) should not happen
she said.
The resolution is a request that faculty be treated courteously, Bernt said.
We have laws about taping telephone conversations
she said. Why shouldn't we have that courtesy when it comes to the classroom?
The resolution does not specify how much time prior to a class session faculty must be notified, Brown said. Fielding a request a few minutes before class is better than not being asked at all, he said.
It's still a bit of an imposition
but it's a heck of a lot better than just showing up
he said.
