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The Rice Thresher
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by OLIVIA ALLISON THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF The Faculty Council recommended that Rice ban the commercial use of lecture notes and other course materials in a memo to President Malcolm Gillis April 14. Gillis said he will wait two or three weeks before making a decision in order to gauge student opinion. "As you can see, [council members] feel pretty definite about it," Gillis said. "I suspect students do too. I'm asking for views. I want to hear from students." Gillis said he agrees with the Faculty Council's recommendation. "I don't think, at a university like ours, that this is appropriate," Gillis said. "It may be for some other kind of university, and I will make no judgments about them. For us, though, it is something we should not let happen." Gillis asked the Faculty Council to make a recommendation regarding the commercial use of course materials such as the submission of notes to Web sites like Versity.com. These Web sites pay students for their notes and then post the notes on the Internet. Although Rice is taking no legal action against Versity at this time, Gillis had no comment about whether legal action will be taken against the site in the future. "We are known for protecting our interests," Gillis said. Faculty Council members unanimously approved the recommendation April 13. English Professor Bob Patten, a member of the council, said the issue of intellectual property was an important one to faculty members because professors' lectures are often based on their research. "Most of us have shaped lectures that we give, and they are frequently lectures that are part of research and material that is going to be coming out, so the [professor] needs to be able to control the dissemination of that material," Patten said. "The faculty members are sharing with the community work that is ... the faculty member's bread and butter," Patten said. "We have to have these books published to get tenure, to stay and for professional reputation." Will Rice College junior Kim Ryser said she agreed that students should not profit from professors' lectures. "It's not really right - it's allowing the company to make profit off the professor's work, and the professor is not getting anything for it," Ryser said. "The company is profiting from students not going to class." Faculty were also concerned because they cannot control the quality of notes on the site. "The stuff represented may not be truly representative of what happened in class," Speaker of the Faculty Bill Wilson, an electrical engineering professor, said. English Lecturer Thad Logan said she felt there is a distinction between students sharing their notes with other students from Rice and students posting notes on the Internet. "I have no objection to my students or anybody at Rice getting hold of lecture notes," Logan said. But she said that she was uncomfortable with the sites. "If anybody should benefit from this, I think it ought to be me," she said. Will Rice sophomore Nancy Gresham said she does not use the site. "I don't use it, and I don't think anyone in my classes would post notes, so I've never looked," Gresham said. Wilson said the council discussed the option of allowing students to post notes on such Web sites if they obtained the professor's approval, but council members decided that a uniform policy would be best. Gillis said there are many ways this recommendation could be put into effect. Options include implementing a new policy next fall, possibly through the Honor Council. Gillis said he is open to other suggestions. Gillis said some parts of the Code of Student Conduct could currently be read as prohibiting the commercial use of lecture notes, but he said he would prefer to adopt a more clearly stated policy. The Faculty Council is a group of about 15 faculty members who advise the president on policy decisions that impact faculty responsibilities, rights or benefits. Versity's campus operations manager, Brown College senior Desmond Webster, could not be reached for comment. - back - |
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