Guidelines for summary exclusion of a student from a class or facility

A member of staff has the power to exclude a student from a class or facility if they suspect a breach of discipline has occurred; if there is a threat to the safety of persons or property; or if the student's behaviour is disruptive or likely to be so (Rule 5.4). The area most in need of clarification focuses on the notion of 'inappropriate behaviour', in relation to disrupting a class, and how that may be described.

These Guidelines are intended to provide an overall framework within which staff members exercise their professional judgment as teachers. It is understood that the Guidelines cannot describe every behaviour which might occur in the normal learning environment and that judgment will always be required in interpretation of the Guidelines. Also, it is not intended that the Guidelines should codify the desirable personal learning relationships between academics and their students.

A number of UTS courses operate within clinical settings such as hospitals. The guidelines should be seen to operate in conjunction with published codes of clinical conduct, and students may be excluded from clinical settings if they contravene these codes. Similarly, the guidelines should also operate in conjunction with published codes of information technology usage.

It is expected that in the first instance a verbal warning be given to the student making them aware that they will be excluded from the class or facility if there is a repeat of the incident. However, there may be circumstances where the staff member would need to exclude the student from the class or facility immediately.

1. The grounds on which students may be excluded include:

1.1 Types of intimidatory threat, including acts of harassment and vilification, as covered by point (n) of non-academic misconduct (refer Rule 5.3);

1.2 Types of offensive behaviour which harass, intimidate or vilify, which may include verbal expression and written material;

1.3 Being under the influence of alcohol or any other substance if the associated behaviour disrupts the class or in the judgment of the staff member may cause danger to the student or to others;

1.4 Refusal to cease irrelevant conversation if it is annoying other members of the class and/or the staff member;

1.5 Disruption of the lecture or classroom activities through persistent excessive noise or inappropriate behaviour which causes serious interruption to the delivery of the learning material or activities, or to other students' receipt of information or learning experience;

(Note: excessive noise would usually mean loud noise or comments which had persisted after reasonable requests for them to stop and would not include 'lively debate' in which there were disagreements between students and teaching staff, or between students and students.)

1.6 Failure to observe environment, health and safety responsibilities;

1.7 Failure to turn off a mobile phone or any such device after due warning;

1.8 Misuse of or wilful damage to a facility or equipment;

1.9 Possession of a dangerous or deadly weapon;

1.10 Actions including illegal behaviour such as physical assault that pose a serious threat of harm to the student or others.

2. Behaviours which in normal circumstances would not result in students being excluded include:

2.1 Criticising or holding and expressing different opinions or beliefs to that of the staff member or other student;

2.2 An occasional outburst from a student who may be strongly disagreeing with an opinion expressed by a staff member or other student;

2.3 Non-participation in class;

2.4 Lifestyle choices, which can include style of dress (except where that would pose a serious threat of harm to the student or others);

2.5 Failure to bring the relevant material to the class;

2.6 Going to sleep during class (where other criteria such as being a danger to self or others are not present).

While some of the above behaviours may not result in a student being requested to leave a classroom, it may be appropriate for an incident to be discussed with the student after the class. Also, it may be appropriate to recommend assistance for the student from academic support staff. This applies equally to all involved whether the incident is between students or between teaching staff and student(s).

3. Procedures for staff

The following guidelines are provided for staff to meet the requirements of the Rules and to ensure that principles of natural justice are applied. It is expected that the process of excluding a student from a class or facility may vary according to the type and size of class.

3.1 Behaviours described in Section 1 may result in the student being excluded from the class or facility. In most cases it may be appropriate to warn the student that their behaviour could lead to exclusion from the class or facility, but in other cases this may be inappropriate;

3.2 If the student leaves the class voluntarily when asked, the staff member may choose to take no further action. However, in serious cases or where the same behaviour has occurred on other occasions, the staff member may choose to proceed with an action against the student;

3.3 If necessary, the staff member may decide to contact University security staff who will contact the police if this is warranted;

3.4 The staff member will need to record the incident and the reasons for the exclusion in terms of the behaviours described in Section 1;

3.5 The Dean must be notified as soon as possible and not more than seven days after the exclusion takes place (Rule 5.4.6). The notice is to be kept in faculty records, a copy of the notice must be sent to the student, from the Dean's office, and the student given the opportunity to provide a response (to be kept with the faculty record). The student should be advised by the Dean's office of options available for help such as: consulting a Student Services Counsellor or the Students' Association staff;

3.6 In accordance with Rules 5.31(e), 5.31(g) and 5.31(h), the Dean may, depending on the circumstances, exclude the student from more than one class session and/or may grant permission to attend only in accordance with specified conditions.