Regents revise campus protest policy
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
The Northwest Missouri State University Board of Regents closed out 2015 Thursday with affirmative votes on a revised campus protest policy and curriculum changes that will eliminate the bachelor of science in English degree and add three new writing programs focused on careers in technical writing, creative writing, editing, publishing, communications, digital content development, and business management.
During its final session of the fall 2015 semester the Northwest Missouri State University Board of Regents approved policy changes expanding the right of both students and outside groups to conduct campus protests and demonstrations.
The governing board also signed off on a slate of curriculum changes, including new writing degrees within the Department of English and Modern Languages designed to prepare students for a wider variety of professional opportunities after graduation.
The policy revisions governing free expression and speech grew out of passage earlier this year by the Missouri Legislature of the “Campus Free Expression Act,” which prohibits public colleges and universities from confining speech and other expressive activity to “free speech zones.”
Vice President of Student Affairs Matt Baker said the new rules provide both students and outside groups with “a wide latitude” to demonstrate, picket, protest, and carry out similar activities so long as their actions are not destructive or threatening.
President John Jasinski told the regents the change means that while the university can still control protestors’ “conduct” it has little authority over “content.”
Baker added that the new freedoms regarding content apply to words and phrases that might be considered highly offensive to certain groups.
He offered the example of a pro-life group displaying pictures of aborted fetuses.
While such images might be considered offensive to a significant portion of the campus community, the protest would likely be allowed under the new policy. However, Baker said, Northwest would probably be able to bar such an action in the vicinity of Horace Mann Laboratory School if the images were demonstrably upsetting or emotionally harmful to young children.
Other factors that could limit the scope of campus protests and free speech include impeding traffic flow, impeding the ability of persons to move freely between buildings on campus, speech so loud that it disrupts the ability of students to participate in coursework, speech at a time and volume that prevents students living in residence halls from sleeping, speech that incites physical violence or threatens physical violence, and actions that damage university property.
Other exceptions include speech involving written or verbal expressions rising to the level of illegal harassment.
The policy also stipulates that both students and visiting groups wishing to conduct an organized demonstration must first notify the university’s Office of Student Affairs.
With regard to the curriculum changes, Provost Timothy Mottet said modifications within the language department are meant to offset “literature-heavy” programs that currently lead to bachelor or arts and bachelor of science degrees in English.
“Our profession-based approach,” Mottet said, “requires a more sophisticated menu of degree options that allows students to tailor academic programs among literature, creative writing, technical writing, the publishing profession, and post-graduate studies.”
The new academic set-up replaces the bachelor of science degree in English with a bachelor of science degree in writing and a second bachelor of science in writing with an emphasis in professional writing meant to prepare students for “more narrowly for professional careers” in technical writing, editing, publishing, communications, digital content development, and business management.
The bachelor of arts in English is being retained, but the department will add a bachelor of arts in writing and a second writing BA with an emphasis in creative writing. In addition a separate emphasis in creative writing and publishing will be available to bachelor of arts in English students.
