kadie@eff.org (Carl M. Kadie) (06/15/91)
Resolved: The punishment that a computer administrator can impose on a student should be not exceed that which an instructor can impose. In 1904, the student regulations at the University of Illinois allowed an instructor to punish a rule infraction by suspending a student from class for up to three days. Such suspensions had to be reported to the President immediately. Today, an instructor can lower a grade or give the student a written warning with a copy going to the student's file. An instructor cannot suspend or expel a student (but can, of course, recommend such action). This policy is wise; it is a check against overly harsh punishment. (A suspension from the classroom, computer, or campus is serious because it may prevent a student from completing a required homework or test.) Today (not at U of Illinois that I've heard of, but at other places), computer administrators expel students from the computers. The expulsion are often indefinite. There is often no report made to anyone outside the computer organization. The student is given no explanation of his or her rights (apparently because computer administrator believes that the student has no rights.) Computer administrators should work under the same constraints as instructors. They should not be allowed to punish a student with suspension or expulsion for the computer system. - Carl -- Carl Kadie -- kadie@eff.org or kadie@cs.uiuc.edu -- But I speak for myself.
richard@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Richard Congdon) (06/21/91)
In article <1991Jun14.192722.339@eff.org>, kadie@eff.org (Carl M. Kadie) writes: |> Resolved: The punishment that a computer administrator can impose on a |> student should be not exceed that which an instructor can impose. |> |> This policy is wise; it is a check against overly harsh punishment. (A |> suspension from the classroom, computer, or campus is serious because |> it may prevent a student from completing a required homework or |> test.) |> Hear, hear! For many disciplines it no longer a priviledge (as it once was), but a necessity to have access to computers; denying such access is tantamount to kicking a student out of school. That a sysadmin anywhere can get away with seriously/fatally impede one's studies is appalling. IMHO, the sysadmin (or their boss that knows, and lets them get away with such behavior) should be seriously repremanded. -- Richard Congdon Brandeis University Computer Science 617/736-2717