Received by the Senate Clerk and incorporated by reference in these Minutes.

March 27, 2006

Dear Urbana-Champaign Senate:

As academic professionals in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology Instructional Program, we are responsible for myriad aspects of the educational experiences of our students in the high-enrollment Core Curriculum courses.  Our responsibilities include the training of teaching assistants, development and improvement of course materials, delivery of assistance to struggling students, and development of classroom management strategies.  This last facet is perhaps the most critical component of what we do, because if we are unable to adequately manage our classrooms, whether they are small discussion rooms, or large lecture halls, the most educationally fantastic presentation will not penetrate, and we will have failed.  Thus, as educators, we find that it is a critical, if not our primary goal, to ensure an excellent learning environment for our students.  

On March 3, 2006, the day designated as “Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day,” our efforts to provide this type of environment were fundamentally undermined by the “celebration” of this manufactured holiday.  We were unable to provide an adequate learning environment not only for the students who created disruptions in our classrooms due to their celebratory activities, but also to the students in the classroom that were present to learn.  Though we are typically able to reprimand and contain the occasionally disruptive student in our large lecture halls without incident, the extent of the disorderly behavior on USPD proved to be beyond containment.  Our lecturers did an admirable job of delivering lectures to the students who were there to learn, and to the extent that some of the attentive students were able to tune out the distractions occurring throughout the room, learning happened on that day.  However, the extent of the disruptive behavior was far beyond anything that we have ever witnessed in a classroom in all of our collective years of experience.  We have included below a description of our experiences in our three main lectures on that day.  We hope that this provides a clear illustration of the necessity for the University to take a strong stand toward the elimination of USPD.

MCB 250: Molecular Genetics
Class enrollment 251
Lincoln Hall Theater, 1 PM
Comments by Nicci Obert

Before even entering the classroom, I was greeted by the smell of alcohol in the lobby area outside of Lincoln Hall Theater.  I slipped into the back of the theater as the bell rang and the professor began lecturing.  Typically, this commands the students’ attention and the typical “passing period” restlessness quiets down, but on March 3, students continued to talk loudly through the beginning of the lecture.  We began to ask the loudest groups to quiet down, which resulted in a cacophony of exaggerated shushing from one student to the next.  As the inebriation of many of the students was apparent, I began quietly requesting that the most disruptive students—those speaking in a loud voice or laughing—leave the lecture hall.  Some students left willingly, if not quietly, but one called me a bitch, and another yelled obscenities once he reached the lobby area.  

Things did not settle down throughout the lecture period.  Large groups of students stood up to leave periodically throughout the lecture period, and talked loudly on their way out of the room.  At approximately 15 minutes past the hour, a laughing group caught my attention.  They were passing a thermal mug around and I noted several students drinking from it.  I sat down next to the group, and asked what was in it.  The young woman holding the mug told me that it was chocolate milk.  I asked her to come with me and escorted her out of the lecture hall.  I asked to smell the mug and determined that it was, in fact, alcoholic.  I escorted the student back to the Core Curriculum office, called campus police, and then went back to attempt to continue to manage the class as effectively as possible under the circumstances.  Upon entry, I began to make my way toward another loud group.  One student in that group made a bit of a show about finishing up whatever was in his water bottle, and then made his way to the aisle.  I greeted him at the door and asked for the bottle, which he surrendered.  It was nearly empty, but it clearly contained an alcoholic beverage (beer).  I escorted him from the building and instructed him to come with me to the instructional programs office.  He indicated that he wouldn’t go with me and began to verbally assault me with obscenities.  He indicated that I shouldn’t care about what goes on in the classroom, and that he had been there to learn.  The student then ran from the quad.  I went back to the instructional programs office to await the campus police.  

The female student indicated to me that she wasn’t even a student in our course, and that she had simply come to “visit” a friend in class.   She also left the building before campus police could arrive.   I believe that the male student was also not enrolled in our courses, which clearly compounds the problem in our classes.  While enrolled students may be inclined to exercise at least a modicum of decorum in a classroom in front of a professor, course coordinator, and a TA who know them, other students are less likely to respond to this.  

MCB 252: Cells, Tissues, and Development
Class enrollment 459
Foellinger Auditorium, 1 PM
Comments by Deb Bielser

I am responsible for overseeing instruction of a large MCB lecture course at 1:00 pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday in Foellinger Auditorium.  Trying to deliver instruction on March 3 was an extreme challenge.

The back half of the Auditorium was populated with students whose only purpose in class appeared to be being drunk and disorderly.  Numerous students came to class with neither paper nor a writing instrument.  Of those that did, many were found to be playing Hang Man and the like.  I, and my colleagues, spent the entire lecture period asking loud and disruptive students to leave.  I also spent a great deal of time confiscating open alcohol in original cans as well as myriad mixed drinks disguised in juice and Coke bottles.  The whole back area of Foellinger smelled like a bar.  The majority of our students are sophomores, which means that the majority of open alcohol confiscated was likely from underage students.  In addition, we had students that were not only not in our courses, but not even students at the University in attendance and being disruptive.  I had one student who I feared would vomit on himself and another that I was afraid was getting ready to urinate in the Auditorium.  Foellinger Auditorium also has the added bonus of having a large stage.  It was difficult to control the students at the back of the hall while trying to secure the stage.  We failed and had two instances where people disrupted the lecture by going out on stage.  I was able to thwart a third incident, but it required repeatedly closing doors around the perimeter of the Auditorium that had been propped open for easy access.  I would estimate that we asked approximately 60 students to leave from the 1:00 lecture.

MCB 150:  The Molecular and Cellular Basis of Life
Class enrollment 627
Foellinger Auditorium, 2 PM
Comments by Deb Bielser

 Due to the scene at the 1:00 lecture I, and my colleagues, stayed for the 2:00 lecture to assist with crowd control.  At that lecture an officer arrived at 10-15 minutes past the start of class.  Upon seeing him, large numbers of students got up and left, leaving behind open alcohol.  The officer’s brief presence helped a great deal in calming the atmosphere in the class.  The second was not nearly as loud or disruptive as the first had been.

The UIUC faculty was requested in an email sent out just before USPD to carry out instruction, and we absolutely made our best attempt to do so.  That particular piece of correspondence provided what we now feel was a false sense of security, in that it was indicated that campus police would be present in the larger lecture halls.  As was clearly seen in our experience, even a brief presence was most beneficial.  We understand that this year’s celebration of USPD placed a greater-than-expected burden on campus police, who responded quickly to many calls throughout the day.  We feel that this provides further evidence that UIUC must take a strong position toward the elimination of USPD.

As members of the MCB Instructional Program team, we find a great deal of pleasure and pride in knowing that we strive to provide students with a comfortable and adequate learning environment.   We care very much about our students and we attempt to provide the best possible opportunity for learning to take place in our courses.  Perhaps the most unfortunate outcome of USPD is that while there were students who came to class ready to learn, their best efforts were undermined by the disorderly behavior of a large number of students.  While we recognize that our students are, by and large, young adults who may be held accountable for their own actions, we also recognize that many students make regrettable decisions.  This letter is written in support of the elimination of USPD.  We hope that its elimination will help students to make wiser decisions in terms of their educational experience at the University of Illinois.

Sincerely,

Nicole Obert
Coordinator of Undergraduate Instruction
School of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Deb Bielser
Coordinator of Undergraduate Instruction
School of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Melissa Michael
Assistant Director for Undergraduate Instruction
School of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Brad Mehrtens
Instructor MCB 150
School of Molecular and Cellular Biology 

Daniel Obert
Course Operations Manager
School of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Kelly Behle
Life Sciences Teaching Specialist
School of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Nicholas Kirchner
Life Sciences Teaching Specialist
School of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Alejandra Stenger
Life Sciences Teaching Specialist
School of Molecular and Cellular Biology