In this week’s Academic Senate meeting, a resolution has been put forth to take action against speech that violates the CSU code of conduct by faculty from the History department.
Other topics covered at the meeting included an ongoing discussion on how the university define success.
Free Speech on Campus
Currently, the Academic Senate is working on a resolution to make changes to how the university will deal with what they consider to be inappropriate speech from Stan State students.
President Ellen Junn explained that she will always be committed to protecting unity and inclusion at Stan State but the university must also be careful consult the letter of the law before punishing students speech.
Dr. Bret Carroll, Professor of History, explained the importance and the dangers of allowing all types of speech on campus especially in hostile political climates.
“We need to recognize the students rights, and I am the last person to want to infringe on those. Also, I recognize that campuses and classrooms can become lightning rods for seriously disruptive even violent behaviors and activities amid divisive political controversies,” Dr. Carroll said.
Dr. Stuart Wooley, Professor of Botany, said that all speech should continue to be protected by the university by this resolution.
“Our fundamental goal is to allow discourse and allow conversations to happen around things that we may not want to hear. We ought to protect speech that we may disagree with and that may be offensive to us,” Dr. Wooley said.
Overall, the Academic Senate tried to strike a balance between protecting students safety and protecting their free speech rights.
Defining Success
The current draft of the definition of success as defined by Stan State mostly includes information about what happens to students after they graduate, which was a main issue of concern for faculty.
Dr. Ann Strahm, Associate Professor of Sociology, weighed in on the importance of including this in the definition.
“On a certain level success is what happens after people leave, this is one of the things that shows the value of a Liberal Arts education. Having something that says that your success isn’t only defined by your GPA in school but rather what you will be doing until your last breath,” Dr. Strahm said.
Kimberly Greer, Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs, said that the definition should also include what should be counted as success while students are still here.
“Education is cumulative, we should include what student success looks like throughout the academic career,” Provost Greer said.
Faculty also discussed the idea that for some, success might not mean what we typically think of.
“I have students who may not go out and be a captain of industry, they might have children and raise them to be be wonderful people instead. Is that not success?” Dr. Strahm said.
Students and members of the community also weighed in on what success means to them.
Shelby Costa (senior, Nursing) explained what success means to her.
“It means finding a career or getting a job and putting the skills that I am learning to use and becoming financially stable,” Costa said.
Taylor Bromley, (Alumnus, San Jose State) added that success has to do with satisfaction in life.
“I think it means being content with whatever you do and being satisfied with the progress you have made,” Bromley said.