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Show Can teachers eject students from class? By .RHIANNON BENT JOURNAL STAFF WRITER What kinds of rights do U tudents have? This question arise with the issue of whether or not teachers can withdraw students from their classes for disruptive behavior~ terling Church, vice president of student services saM, "It's a sense of respon ibility of the teacher to make sure the student doesn 't infringe upon the rights of other in the clas room.• The official statement, found in the 1998,99 t udent Handbook, states, "All members of the univer ity are charged wlrh the re ponsibility of maintaining order and discipline within their sphere of influence, i.e., instructors in classrooms .... n But can student be thrown out of class? "Teai:hers need to e parameters and be consi tent in enforci.ag them so students know wbat is expected, • said Wayne Hinton, profe or and department chair of ocial ciences. He has never had to ask a student to leave cla for disruptive behavior. Hinton said that he ha had interferences, but called the student to pay attention and they did. If a teacher has a complaint with a tudent, it 's the teacher' re pon ibility to inform the student what the objectionable behavior is; the tudent has the right to hear the rea on . U ually if it' a one-time occurrence, the student may come back to class if the tudent modifies his/her behavior. If after discus ing the problem, the tudenc doe n 't c~angc, the teacher ha the right to withdraw the student from the class. There i alsu precise proce for tuden complaints found in the tudent Handbook. Fonunately, tudents do have rights. If they fee l victim to a situation, they can ap peal. If a student has a complaint, the first step is to discuss it with the teacher. If no agreement is reached, the student can take the matter to the department s,."7-1. chair. l')'Je If there 's still Chzt.,.c:l.l no resolution, or if the tudent exhibit further behavior that' threatening to the teacher or the cla , the matter i di cus ed between the student and Church, who is responsible for coordinating discipline. If the matter still cannot be resolved or if suspension is warranted, the Ready to . take the plunge? problem goes tO the Student Disciplinary Board, which is composed of cudent and faculty . Church said that to his to his knowledge , no student has ever been suspended for disruptiv behavior in the cla room . He added that though he occasionally hear of disruptive cudents, they are rarely asked to leave clas becau e ~eor the most part, we have very responsible students. Faculty members go the extra mile to try to accommodate students. It is only in rare occasions that students are asked to leave the cla room and that i usually as a la t re ort." How do tudents feel about chi ? Greg Roper, a junior businesscommunication major from Fillmore, Utah, was asked to leave a class because he was talking. llFE He said that the teacher had repeatedly asked him to top and finally a ked him to leave. He hasn 't returned to clas , but he continues to do the assignments and tests. Roper never di cussed the matter with the teacher because he aid that he was afraid the teacher wouldn 't let him come back to cla . "Thi way at least J have a chance to pass the class, " he said. But he said that he agrees with the teacher's actions. "I think chat teachers should be allowed to do that if omeone is disrupting the class. " Sarah Bagley, a junior communication major from Greenwich, Utah, said, "It [the valid ity of kicking students out of class] depends because the teacher needs to respect the student and the student needs to respect the teacher. If a student is too disruptive, he or be hould be a ked ro leave ." Ronald Cantera, assi cane profes or of communication , al o said that it depend on the circum tance . "If a student i being di ruptive to the re t of the clas , the instructor hould take action , but there are other ways to deal with it first, " he said. Cantera said he couldn 't recall ever asking a student to leave one of his classe . He aid hat the first step is to always speak with the student privately to work out a solution . "You need to keep the communkation flowing ," said Cantera. PHASE ·c FITNESS E N T E R 246 EAST FIDDLERS CANYON ROAD ( BEHIND THE MOVIE THEATER ) 586-7447 • RACO!) ETBALL , AEROBICS FREE WE IGHTS · T READM ILLS • BIKES · CIRCU IT WE IG HTS · STAIRCLIMBERS DISCOUN T AEROBICS PASSES STUDENT SPECIAL Let Castro & Co. break your fall r:1:1 ~ & (k, . -~&~ 75 "Jto,,d. ~ euuvi~ 5K6-2422 $25 INITIAL FEE $25 MONTH~Y 3 MONTHS - 3 YEARS, YOUR CHOICE • \. |