Mike Scoles wrote: "There are differences between public and private institutions.You are correct in pointing out that, in some regards, private institutions have greater "freedom" because they are not publicly funded. When I was applying for jobs many years ago, I was surprised at the types of questions religious institutions could ask of applicants. (A photo, names and birth dates of spouse, children.) The explanation given was, "if we don't take federal money, we can do what we want."
Our university's computer use policy follows state requirements. At times, it seems that it is enforced with too much enthusiasm. For example, we had an incident where (if you can imagine such a thing), a student was looking at porn on a laboratory computer. When caught, he was embarassed, reprimanded, etc.. Almost a year later, the Director of Computing Services asked in a meeting, "Why wasn't that student terminated?" I looked at him in disbelief and asked, "You would ruin someone's academic career for looking at dirty pictures?" I'm betting that it would be safer to surf for porn at JBU!" Thanks for the clarification. I do realize there is a difference between state and private institutions but I was just thinking from the point of view of a free exchange of ideas. Does this apply equally to students and faculty? Would students sending home private e-mail using a college account be in violation if they discussed religious issues with their parents? How about classroom discussions or, more relevant to me, online classroom discussions? Can your students discuss personal beliefs on issues of politics and religion on a class discussion list using college computers? It seems political science online discussions would be a little dry if no one could ever interject their personal political thoughts. What about a faculty member communicating on a professional e-mail list like TIPS? Would it be illegal for them to mention who they were voting for or take cheap shots at particular politicians? BTW, although not constricted by law, the private institutions at which I have applied in recent years (I have worked at 3 including JBU) do not tend to ask those kinds of irrelevant questions. Of course, a major difference is that you are asked about your religious beliefs (and it is an ongoing part of your employment agreement) but that is not surprising when the mission of the college involves spiritual formation. As to surfing for porn at JBU, the filtering software would make that difficult but, if you were able to do it and someone found you, you would probably be speaking to someone about it in student development who would work with you. I think you are right to think that you wouldn't be "terminated" for it. Rick Dr. Rick Froman Assoc. Prof. of Psychology John Brown University --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
