Ohio Administrative Code
Title 3354:1 - Cuyahoga Community College
Chapter 3354:1-60
Section 3354:1-60-03 - Free Speech Policy
Universal Citation: OH Admin Code 3354:1-60-03
Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
Cuyahoga Community College is committed to providing a workplace and educational environment that allows for the free dissemination of knowledge by means of research, teaching, discussion and debate. It is the proper role of an institution of higher education to encourage diversity of thoughts, ideas, and opinions and to encourage, within the bounds of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the peaceful, respectful, and safe exercise of First Amendment rights. To ensure compliance with federal and state laws and public policy and to affirm its commitment to promoting the goals of fairness and equity in all aspects of the College community, the College hereby adopts policies and procedures which will provide a prompt, fair, and impartial process to ensure the fullest degree of intellectual freedom and free expression allowed under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and the Ohio Constitution.
A. Definitions
1) "Time, Place, and Manner Restrictions"
means restrictions on the time, place, and manner of free speech that do not
violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article I,
Sections 3 and 11 of the Ohio Constitution that are reasonable, content- and
viewpoint-neutral, narrowly tailored to satisfy a significant institutional
interest, and leave open ample alternative channels for the communication of
the information or message to its intended audience.
2) "Faculty" means any person who is tasked
with providing scholarship, academic research or teaching and includes tenured
and nontenured professors, adjunct professors, visiting professors, lecturers,
and those in comparable positions, however titled, but not those persons whose
primary responsibilities are administrative or managerial.
3) "Student" has the same definition as used
in the Student Conduct Code, 3354-1-30-03.5.
4) "Student group" means an officially
recognized group at a state institution of higher education, or a group seeking
official recognition, comprised of admitted students that receive, or are
seeking to receive, benefits through the institution of higher
education.
5) "Free Speech" means
speech, expression, or assemblies protected by the First Amendment to the
United States Constitution or Article I, Sections 3 and 11 of the Ohio
Constitution, verbal, written, audiovisual, or by electronic means by which
individuals may communicate ideas, including, but not limited to: all forms of
peaceful assembly, protests, demonstrations, rallies, vigils, marches, public
speeches, distribution of literature, carrying and displaying signs, or
circulating petitions. "Free speech" does not include the promotion, sale, or
distribution of any product or service, or any action that falls within the
College's policy against distribution and solicitation, 3354:1-20-03(E-F)
Operations Policy.
B. Right to Free Speech
1) Students have a fundamental constitutional
right to free speech and the College is committed to giving students broad
latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, learn and discuss any issue, so
long as their exercise of the right of Free Expression granted by the First
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution cannot be characterized as threatening, hate
speech directed towards a particular class of individuals; are not defamatory;
do not threaten individuals or groups, disseminate false, misleading or
inaccurate information, infringe upon the rights of others, and/or incites
violence.
2) The primary
responsibility of faculty is to engage in honest, courageous, and persistent
efforts to search out and communicate the truth that lies in their area of
competence and may freely disseminate those ideas without suppression, so long
as those ideas cannot be characterized as threatening, hate speech directed
towards a particular class of individuals; are not defamatory; do not threaten
individuals or groups, disseminate false, misleading or inaccurate information,
infringe upon the rights of others, and/or incites violence.
3) The College is committed to providing
students with an environment where they are free to speculate, experiment and
create and where faculty are free to inquire, study, evaluate, and gain new
understandings. While students and faculty are free to express their views and
contest the views expressed by others, they may not substantially obstruct or
otherwise substantially interfere with the freedom of others to express views
which they may reject or even despise.
4) Students may not receive a penalty imposed
on their grade for an assignment or coursework based solely on the contents of
the student's free speech and unrelated to ordinary academic standards of
substance and relevance, or any legitimate pedagogical concerns.
5) Retaliation for filing a complaint under
this policy is strictly prohibited. If a person or student group feels they
have been retaliated against for filing a complaint alleging a violation of
their right to free speech, they may file a claim under the college's policy on
Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Retaliation,
3354:1-60-02.
C. Applicability
1) The College is committed to
maintaining all campuses as a marketplace of ideas for all students and faculty
that exercise their right to openly and vigorously contest the ideas they
oppose without suppression solely because their ideas are thought to be
offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal,
traditional, radical, wrong-headed, or against the common ideas of civility and
mutual respect.
2) Students and
Faculty may make judgements about ideas for themselves and it is not the proper
role of the College to attempt to shield individuals from free speech, so long
as that speech is not threatening, hate speech directed towards a particular
class of individual, defamatory, disseminates false, misleading or inaccurate
information, infringes upon the rights of others, and/or incites
violence.
3) The College may make
reasonable time, place and manner restrictions upon speech that occurs at any
of its locations, campuses, or College sponsored or approved events that occur
including, distance education opportunities, study abroad, experiential
learning opportunities, clinical placements, athletics, club sports, group
travel, and online sites such as the College's Learning Management System (LMS)
or other College operated websites.
4) The College may impose the following
restrictions so long as they do not violate the First Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution or Article I, Sections 3 and 11 of the Ohio Constitution:
a. reasonable viewpoint-neutral restrictions
in areas it has designated as a "nonpublic forum;"
b. the use of the College's property in order
to protect the free speech rights of students and teachers and preserve the use
of the property for the advancement of the institution's mission;
c. prohibiting or limiting speech, expression
or assemblies that are threatening, hate speech directed towards a particular
class of individuals; have content defamatory to the College; threatens
individuals or groups, disseminates false, misleading or inaccurate
information, infringes upon the rights of others, and/or incites
violence.
d. content restrictions
that are reasonably related to a legitimate pedagogical purpose, such as
classroom rules.
5)
Nothing in this Policy shall be construed to grant students the right to
disrupt previously scheduled or reserved activities occurring in a traditional
public forum.
6) Nothing in this
Policy shall be interpreted as restricting or impairing the College's
obligations under federal law including, but not limited to, Title IV of the
Higher Education Act of 1965, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1962, Title
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of
1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans
With Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Age
Discrimination Act of 1975 as addressed through its non-discrimination and
Title IX policies.
D. Reporting
Annually, the Office of Institutional Equity shall submit a report to the chancellor that discloses:
1) The total number of submitted complaints
in the academic year; and
2) A
description of the following for each complaint:
a. The investigation of the
complaint
b. The outcome of the
hearing conducted regarding the complaint.
c. If it was determined a violation occurred,
the resolution to address the violation.
E. Oversight
1) The Office of Institutional Equity shall
oversee the implementation of this policy and shall be supervised by the Office
of Legal Services. The Office of Institutional Equity has the primary
responsibility for coordinating the College's efforts related to investigation,
resolution, implementation of interim actions and/or supportive measures and
monitoring to stop, prohibit, eliminate, remediate, and prevent violations of
an employee's or student's freedom of speech under this policy. The Office of
Institutional Equity will coordinate with Student Affairs and/or Human
Resources for implementation of any disciplinary actions related to violations
of this policy.
2) The Office of
Institutional Equity shall act free from bias and conflicts of interest. The
Office of Institutional Equity shall oversee all resolutions under this policy
and the related procedures. All individuals involved in the investigation and
resolution process shall be vetted to ensure they are not biased against any
party in a specific case, or for or against Complainants and/or Respondents,
generally and trained annually on this policy and the Free Speech Violations
Procedure. To raise any concern involving bias or conflict of interest by an
employee of the Office of Institutional Equity, contact the College's Office of
Legal Services.
F. Process for Complaints
1) The College hereby
establishes that the process by which a student, student group, employee, or
faculty member may submit a complaint about an alleged violation of this policy
by an employee of the College will be the Free Speech Violations Procedure and
shall set forth the grievance procedure that shall be used to provide for the
fair, prompt and equitable resolution of such reports or formal complaints; the
proscribed conduct in violation of this policy; the process of both the
investigation and disciplinary action phases after a complaint is received; any
timeline for reviewing complaints; and how, and from whom, the complainant will
be notified of the status of their submission. The Free Speech Violations
Procedure shall require the College to investigate complaints, provide a fair
and impartial hearing on the complaint, and provide an approved resolution to
address the violation and prevent any further violations of this
Policy.
2) Under the Free Speech
Violations Procedure, if after an impartial hearing on the complaint, the
Office of Institutional Equity finds that this policy was violated, the Board
of Trustees has determined any one or combination of the following resolutions
will address the violation and prevent any further violation of this policy:
a. Warning (verbal or written),
b. Discretionary sanctions as defined in the
Student Code of Conduct and/or Employee Code of Conduct,
c. Performance improvement/management process
for an employee,
d. Required
counseling, training, education or mediation,
e. Required additional coursework or
assignments for a student,
f.
Probation (interim or permanent),
g. Loss of annual pay increase or supervisory
responsibility for an employee,
h.
Demotion for an employee,
i.
Suspension with or without pay,
j.
Termination or Expulsion; or
k.
Organizational sanctions that include loss of privileges conferred upon
students or employees.
The President or the President's designee is hereby directed to take all steps necessary and appropriate for the effective implementation of this policy.
Effective date: October 18, 2022
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Ohio may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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