Faculty concerns about revisions to El Camino College’s time, place and manner policy—which balances protecting freedom of speech with maintaining campus security—were voiced at the Academic Senate meeting Tuesday, May 6.
At last month’s meeting, a committee was formed to write a letter containing the faculty’s objections on the policy revisions to be sent to college President Brenda Thames.
Thames spoke during the May meeting and denied there is an alleged “nefarious attempt” to prevent ECC faculty from posting flyers in office spaces on campus.
In the letter drafted by the Academic Senate Subcommittee on Board Policy 3900, faculty highlighted a lack of clarity in the proposed policy’s terms and insufficient collegial consultation, or communication, with college employees about the revision.
“[There’s] a lack of clarity, so potential nefarious actions can occur,” Erica Brenes, Academic Senate vice president of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; and associate English professor, said during the meeting. “[It’s] unclear what the policy will look like and it’s scary.”
The letter draft scrutinizes the “content-neutral” approach of the proposed policy and states that exposure to challenging and thought-provoking ideas is essential in an academic environment.
The proposed policy reclassifies public and private spaces, increases administrative control over expression, and places a burden on the Student Development Office to review postings, according to the letter.
Polly Parks, biology professor and Guided Pathways Steering Committee chair, said the circumstances are unfair.
“[It] feels like the campus doesn’t care about me,” Parks said.
Talks during the meeting brought up that if a posting-approval process is necessary, a faculty and staff peer-review system could be implemented to monitor what faculty can display on campus.
A peer-review system is also mentioned in the subcommittee’s letter, although it states that such monitoring may violate free speech rights.
Thames discussed the concerns the senate had toward the policy, addressing those who feel that the policy is unconstitutional.
“There is no nefarious attempt to harm anyone. The policy needs to be revisited,” Thames said.
Thames expressed that the policy itself is outdated and needs revision.
However, faculty and senate members perceive the new additions to the policy to be damaging and unfair.
Faculty were confused as to the reasoning behind why only certain departments on campus were notified of the new policy.
Brenes said she is worried about how the situation is being dealt with and that the order of events leading to the enforcement of the policy are concerning.
At the end of the discussion, Thames spoke from the podium and addressed a student reporter from The Union sitting in the audience.
The college president urged the student reporter to report on the story in a respectful manner and not have the Academic Senate represented in a negative way.
No vote was taken at the meeting, which platformed discussions related to the letter, which will soon be sent out to the college president.
