> We have a student who is being very disruptive in a particular lecturerUs class
> - she is also very aggressive towards this lecturer and is threatening her with
> the complaints procedure. At the same time, she is also proclaiming that she
> has a mental illness and is about to have a nervous breakdown. Although she is
> noisy and talkative in other lecturerUs classes, she is not aggressive towards
> them. The Course Director, while being sympathetic to the lecturer is also
> sympathetic to the student and refers to care in the community etc.
I think Margaret is right to raise this. Too often it can
seem politically incorrect to even ask such questions. Our unit is a
very busy one and will interview enough students this year that even
if 1% do not like what we do or how we do it it will
result in procedures that can tie me up in appeals paperwork for
weeks.
Some years ago all but one of my small group had grievance procedures
against them. None came to anything and I can admit it simply
because I knew they had done nothing wrong. Such students are quick
to remind me of our duty of care to them. But what of our duty of
care to ourselves? I would like procedures that were as willing to
acknowledge my staff's rights not be harrased or threatened. Of
course it is not a perennial problem, but when it arises it can make
those targetted feel very unhappy. We should not let the system make
cowards of us.
Before Christmas I attended two conferences run by law firms on the
legal aspects of the DDA in FE and HE. In both cases it was admitted
that the act was very vague on all manner of things that would have
to be sorted through case law. The lawyers obviously relished the
prospect but all I could see was that to clarify the law some staff
would get dragged through the courts and be accused of
things they almost certainly never intended.
While concerning itself with disabled students' rights, I do not want
the system to lose sight of my own.
Dave Laycock MBE
Head of CCPD, Chair of NFAC
Computer Centre for People with Disabilities
University of Westminster
72 Great Portland Street
London W1N 5AL
tel. 0171-911-5161
fax. 0171-911-5162
WWW home page: http://www.wmin.ac.uk/ccpd/
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