The Faculty Senate executive board revised the senate’s classroom disruption policy this week, clarifying some points faculty members deemed confusing.

The policy outlines the procedure for removing a disruptive student from class. At the Nov. 12 meeting, Faculty Senate members said the policy was unclear.

One of the clarifications focuses on what instructors must do before removing students, said Jack Girton, Faculty Senate president-elect. The instructor must notify students as to what constitutes disruptive behavior. If the student resumes his or her behavior, there would be cause for removal.

“If a student stops [the disruptive behavior] that should be the end of it. But if the student continues, that would be ground for removal,” said Girton, associate professor of zoology and genetics.

The board addressed questions about what students can expect after being removed from a class, including what mark would appear on the students’ records.

Girton said the revisions call for students removed from class to receive drops.

The revisions clear up confusion about the rights of students to appeal their removal from a class, he said. “[The student is] essentially being dropped from the class, so it should count as a drop,” Girton said.

Faculty are uneasy about giving a grade, especially when it doesn’t concern academic performance, Girton said.

“An ‘F’ means failure to perform academic work of a class,” he said.

Girton said being removed doesn’t have anything to do with a student’s academic performance. The policy hasn’t been changed, but enhanced, he said.

The overall points of the policy are good, said Howard Shapiro, vice provost for undergraduate programs. “I agree with the policy … and the provost supports it also,” he said.

“[The revisions] provide a better definition of what instructors and students can and should do. It clarifies the language of what should happen,” Girton said.

The Faculty Senate will consider the policy at its meeting on Dec. 10.

“I’d like to see something in place so in the future we have a process that is clear and fair,” Shapiro said.