Click here for full SBCC Academic Senate Minutes of 3/14/2012.
Below is excerpt 6.1 pertaining to discussion items on Free Speech.
6.0 Discussion
6.1 BP/AP 3900 Speech - Time, Place, and Manner
President Nevins stated the
purpose of this is to find
out what you would like to see in the policy; to gather commentary before the
next election so everyone
is clear. This will not be something the Senate approves at this time. With
commentary from senators it
will first go to BPAP and then routed through the normal consultative process.
Senator Alsheimer reported that the IA has been in discussion with the
administration on Free Speech
Rights and with the very first paragraph there is a fundamental difference
between the administration
and the IA where it states that SBCC is a non-public forum. The IA council has
stated that school
grounds are by default public forums. Also, what does it mean that the District
reserves the right to
revoke that designation and apply a non-public forum designation? What does it
mean that faculty
offices are non-public forums? What are our working times and non working times
– in particular if we
are only allowed to exercise our free speech during non working times.
We would need to incorporate the statement that SBCC is a public forum in BP/AP
3900.
Senator Eckford-Prossor asked in terms of student groups how fast can a student
group be created e.g.
an aggregation of student’s vs a sanctioned club.
Senator Stark asked from where/whom did this policy originate: concerned about
censoring student
expression. President Nevins explained this is a model/sample straw man policy
from the League. We
sort of have a policy BP 2440 however it only affects 7370 Political Activity
(see agenda item 6.2
below) and not Speech – Time, Place, and Manner.
Senator Alsheimer added we have Policy 4030 Academic Freedom which addresses
freedom of
expression and freedom of speech.
Senator Morris asked about the cited cases of public forums and whether they
were in reference to two
year or four year colleges and the reason may be because of the difference
between 4-year and K-12.
Technically where are we? We do not fit in the four year model. There is also
outdated language – clear
and present danger was struck down by Supreme Court. President Nevins added that
K-12 is a nonpublic forum and K-12 teachers have very limited free speech rights
and do not control what is in the
classroom – it is all dictated by the Board and very different than a community
college.
6.2 BP/AP 7370 Political Activity replaces BP 2440
President Nevins stated the purpose of this is to find out what you would like
to see in the policy; to
gather commentary before the next election so everyone is clear. This will not
be something the Senate
approves at this time. With commentary from senators it will first go to BPAP
and then routed through
the normal consultative process.