Campus Reacts to New Cellphone Policy

In a late March e-mail that surprised many students and faculty, Dean of the College Fr. Augustine Kelly, O.S.B., announced the establishment of a new policy banning the use of cell phones and other electronic devices in the classroom. The policy strictly states that the use of cell phones and electronic devices are prohibited in the classroom, and are to be turned off at all times. The policy does also state, however, that cell phones may be left on vibrate mode and students may only respond if multiple cell phones go off simultaneously, signaling the activation of the college's emergency communication system.

This new policy came as a surprise to many members of the community, who believe the cell phone use has not been a problem in their classrooms, and led to mixed feelings on the effectiveness of the policy.

English department chair and professor Ann Norton, Ph.D., said that prior to the establishment of the college's new policy, she did not find cell phones to be a distraction in her classroom, but that the case is different in Humanities lectures.

"No; I did not notice them, though that doesn't mean people weren't using them," she told the Crier. "I do see them at Humanities lectures, which I find annoying and rude. Students should certainly stop texting and playing with cell phones during lecture. This is self evident."

While Norton has not found phones to be a problem in her own classes, she says that many of her colleagues see their students being easily distracted by cell phone use. She is unsure if the new policy will deter students from using their phones in the classroom; however, she is glad to see that teachers will "now have an administrative policy that defends against their use in the classroom."

Echoing the words of Norton, Prof. Jane Dwyer of the education department says that prior to the establishment of the policy, "most students come into a classroom respectfully, and immediately shut their phones off or put them on vibrate.

"The few times a phone has rung, the student has been embarrassed and apologized profusely," Dwyer said in a Crier interview. "However, it did stop the flow of our class discussion or activity at the time."

Dwyer believes that students typically use cell phones in classroom for the same reason many doodle in the margins of their notes, perhaps because they are bored or restless. Unlike Norton, however, Dwyer believes that the new policy will foster "greater collaboration" with in the classroom, as students will pull together and remind each other to turn off their cell phones in class.

Prof. Dwyer finds the most rules come into existence due to some necessity.

"I wonder," she said, "how many people never stopped or slowed down at street corners until after stop signs were placed there."

While Dwyer understands the necessity of the policy, she is glad to see that cell phones have not been banned altogether, as she believes they serve a strong purpose, citing an incident in one of her classrooms last year where a student had a potentially life threatening emergency that was relieved when a student used a cell phone to call paramedics.

The reaction of students is not much different from professors, as many may expect. Elizabeth Scrivani '09 of New Jersey did not typically find cell phones to be a distraction in the classroom, except for when a student had their phone on vibrate. Scrivani says that she finds it odd the vibrate mode is acceptable as "most students actually do put it on vibrate and it is still a distraction because vibrate is not silent."

It still makes noise especially when in a bag and vibrating against other items," she told the Crier."

Hannah Dubois '12 of Manchester believes that the policy will have little effect as those students who used their phones prior to its establishment will continue to do so regardless of a written policy.

"[T]he number of students that don't use cell phones in class drastically outweighs the number that do," she points out.


Regardless of the reactions of the community, the policy is written and immediately effective. It is actually in line with that of many other colleges and universities throughout the nation which prohibit the use of cell phones within the classroom, except in emergency situations approved by a professor.