Teaching and Learning Statements, Guidelines and Resources

As we enter the 2024/2025 academic year, please note that that the guidance on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) communicated in September 2023 remains unchanged. Key points include:

• No broad ban on GenAI tools: Queen’s has not banned generative AI tools.
• Provide students guidance: Instructors should specify the parameters for AI tool use in their courses and advise on terms of use via a syllabus statement.
• Academic integrity: Unauthorized use of generative AI is considered a departure from academic integrity.
• AI-detection tools: These tools should not be used due to privacy and reliability concerns.

Why Generative AI Tools Are Not Banned

Due to their widespread presence and the challenges in detecting their use, Generative AI tools are not banned at Queen’s. The university also acknowledges the persuasive arguments regarding the potential benefits these technologies can offer.

Provide students guidance on use

Instructors are expected to clarify if and how generative AI can be used in their courses, and it’s recommended to discuss their stance with students.

Include a syllabus statement

Instructors should include clear guidelines or a statement in the syllabus to advise students on the use of generative AI tools. The below statements were developed by the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science and shared with permission. 

• Permitted with citation
  • Students must submit their own work and cite the work that is not theirs. Generative AI writing tools such as ChatGPT are welcome in this class, provided you cite the material that they generate. Any other use constitutes a departure from academic integrity.
• Permitted in specific assignments, with citation
  • Students must submit their own work and cite the work that is not theirs. Generative AI writing tools such as ChatGPT are only permissible when explicitly noted in the assignment instructions. In these cases, be sure to cite the material that they generate. Any other use constitutes a departure from academic integrity.
• Not permitted
  • Using generative AI writing tools such as ChatGPT in your submitted work is not permitted in this class. This type of use constitutes a departure from academic integrity. Original work, completed wholly by you, is expected to be submitted in this course.

Unauthorized use of GenAI is a departure from academic integrity

At the October 5, 2023 Senate meeting, Senate approved proposed revisions to the Academic Integrity Procedures. These revisions introduced a new type of departure from academic integrity called Unauthorized Content Generation and modifying existing categories like plagiarism to include the misuse of technological assistance.

In April, 2024 the Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) developed a resource titled “5 investigations steps for instructors for suspected unauthorized content generation,” which was shared with Associate Deans in Faculties and Schools for broad distribution.

Avoid AI detection tools

The use of third-party AI-detection tools is strongly discouraged due to their unreliability and the potential breach of student privacy and intellectual property rights.

Ongoing monitoring and support

The Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning portfolio will continue to monitor the influence of AI on education, providing support and guidance to the institution, academic units, and instructors.

Further support

For further guidance around teaching and curriculum design, please review the resources created by Centre for Teaching and Learning.

July 2024

As educators we share ethical, legal, and professional obligations to support the success of all learners at Queen’s University. Through understanding the foundation of our institutional practices, Queen’s educators and staff are in a better position to help enhance the learning environment for all. This statement aims to set the foundation for academic accommodation practices for use by instructors and staff involved in instruction at all levels at Queen’s University.

It summarizes:

1. the provincial legal context for academic accommodation;
2. how academic accommodations are made;
3. the role (and limits) of “universal” frameworks in supporting student accommodation; and
4. a listing of supporting services and resources on accommodation.

1. The Legal Context for Accommodation

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (“AODA”) and the Ontario Human Rights Code (“the Code”) are laws that work together with the goal of making the province more inclusive by reducing and removing barriers. It is under the AODA and the Code that the institution has a legal obligation to provide academic accommodations to students.

In The Opportunity to Succeed: Achieving Barrier-free Education for Students with Disabilities (“the report”), the Ontario Human Rights Commission (“OHRC”) establishes a foundation of principles for student accommodation in post-secondary education. In the report, guidelines detailed in the following sections are especially relevant for our work as an institution:

• Post-Secondary Education
• Roles and Responsibilities

As detailed by the OHRC, accommodations should not lower academic standards or interfere with the achievement of different outcomes. Through the development of flexible engagement in the academic material (including tests, quizzes, and exams), appropriate accommodation removes or reduces barriers experienced by a student with a disability, allowing them the equal opportunity to demonstrate individual mastery of the academic material.

Post-Secondary Institutions

The duty to accommodate rests on the whole educational institution with responsibilities shared by instructors, the institutional office for students with disabilities, and institutional policy makers. Students with disabilities engage with the university in the accommodation process.

Post-secondary institutions are responsible for ensuring that their facilities and services are accessible; that the environment is welcoming and non-discriminatory; that appropriate, effective, and dignified accommodation processes are in place; and students who experience functional impacts in a classroom because of their disabilities are provided an appropriate accommodation to the point of undue hardship[1] for the institution.

As detailed in the report, all members of the post-secondary institution have a role to play.

For example,

• Faculty and staff have a duty to educate themselves about disability-related issues and the processes and guidelines for seeking accommodation, to interact with students in a non-discriminatory manner, to engage in the accommodation process, and to provide appropriate accommodation to the point of undue hardship.
• Staff and faculty responsible for designing or developing new or revised facilities, services, policies, processes, courses, or curricula[2] must ensure that these are designed inclusively, with flexibility to allow students with disabilities access to the course with minimal impact to curriculum or student.
• Clear and reasonable processes and guidelines for seeking accommodation should be in place at all post-secondary institutions, and these should be clearly communicated to all students.
• Based on the three principles of the duty to accommodate as outlined by the OHRC in the report the process of accommodation, as well as the outcome, should be respectful of the dignity of the persons seeking accommodation, engage with the person seeking accommodation as a unique individual with unique accommodation requirements, and should consider the importance of integration and full participation.
• Any university plans and policies related to accessibility should recognize that persons with disabilities are important stakeholders in the process.

Post-secondary institutions have a responsibility, short of undue hardship, to cover the cost of the required accommodation, unless there is sufficient (and non-discriminatory) outside funding available.

In 2016, the OHRC outlined further specific measures for universities to implement with the goal of reducing systemic barriers to post-secondary education, while ensuring that institutions receive appropriate documentation to determine academic accommodations. These measures further guide our institutional processes and detail our obligations, specifically through the Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Policy. The measures detailed by the OHRC, via a 2017 report (With learning in mind) are as follows:

• When seeking an accommodation for functional impacts related to a mental health disability, students must provide information about their disability-related needs, but it is not mandatory for them to disclose a medical diagnosis.
• Students are not required to reveal private medical information to faculty or instructors for the purpose of having their approved accommodations implemented in a class.
• Interim, retroactive, permanent, or temporary accommodations are valid for both temporary and permanent disabilities.

• Rather than directly from instructors, students should seek accommodation through a centralized process.
• Guidelines, forms and procedures are to be clearly communicated to students, faculty and staff.

In support of these measures, Queen’s students, faculty and designated staff can access approved student accommodation information via Ventus, the University’s accommodation management portal. While students’ accommodations are approved though a central process, the implementation of the accommodations in individual courses requires the engagement of instructors, QSAS staff and students.

2. Meeting our Duty to Accommodate

Accommodations are intended to provide students with disabilities[3] equal learning opportunities and equal access to the learning environment. Accommodations are not designed to give a student an advantage over other students, to alter essential requirements of a course, nor to weaken academic rigor. Rather, the duty to accommodate within the context of a Queen’s University classroom or course means that the institution, through shared responsibility and through a process outlined in part below, adjusts the learning experience so that students with disabilities can fully participate, unless that accommodation causes undue hardship.

With education, training and experience related to disabilities and the barriers students face during the learning process, staff within the Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (“QSAS”) office seek to remove disability related academic barriers while working with instructors to uphold essential program requirements and are committed to supporting students as they pursue their academic goals.

The QSAS process comprises a review and assessment of legislative requirements and institutional policy, along with understanding of the first-person experience of disability impacts from the individual student, and rigorous documentation review. The process for implementing accommodations is actioned in the following way:

• Student registers with the Ventus portal using their NetID and password where they are prompted to fill out an intake form.

• The student reviews the QSAS Documentation Criteria and uploads the appropriate documents to Ventus.

• Intake Coordinators provide the first level of understanding the students’ disability related needs by reviewing the first-person experience outlined in the intake form and reviewing the provided documentation. A determination is made whether the student is eligible for permanent, temporary, or interim accommodations.

• Accessibility Advisors further review the students’ first-person experience and the provided documentation to identify specific functional impacts and barriers that the student may face.

• Accessibility Advisors and students work collaboratively to understand the unique student barrier(s) and implement appropriate accommodations that remove the disability-related barrier while also upholding the essential requirements of the course.

• Accommodations are provided to the student through Ventus.

3. Academic Accommodation and Universal Design for Learning

With the goal of improving student outcomes, Universal Design for Learning (“UDL”) is a structured framework that calls for instructors to provide multiple ways of presenting classroom material, multiple ways of engaging the student in the learning, and multiple ways for the student to demonstrate learning. Universal Instructional Design (“UID”) is a framework intended to support the implementation of UDL by developing flexibility within the curriculum of a course.

While UDL and UID frameworks encourage educators to design learning experiences to help reduce barriers to student learning from the design or planning stage of a course, it is important to keep in mind the following from the perspective of student accommodation:

• UDL and UID approaches will not offer a substitute for all learner needs, as while these approaches can offer more inclusive classrooms, not all UDL/UID strategies can meet accommodation needs of all students.

4. Additional Resources on Accommodation

Queen's Student Accessibility Services (QSAS)

Queen’s Accessibility Hub: Students

• Overview for Students
• Documentation and Accommodations
• Supports and Services for Students with Disabilities
• Human Rights and Equity Office
• Medical professionals (from Student Wellness Services or from the community or students’ regular family physician office in their hometown)
• Academic advisor / faculty advisor
• Student Academic Support Services (SASS)
• Sexual violence response coordinator

Queen’s Accessibility Hub: Instructors

• Teaching Resources
• Accommodating Students with Disabilities
• Education and Awareness – Training for Faculty and Staff
• Accessible Instruction for Educators

Human Rights and Equity Office

Ontario Human Rights Commission: Policy on Accessible education for Students with Disabilities

Last updated: September 19, 2023

In anticipation of the 2023-24 academic year, please find an overview of the guidance and updates communicated by the Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning since February 2023, specifically as related to addressing the impact of generative artificial intelligence (tools such as ChatGPT) within the classroom environment.

Queen’s has not banned the use of generative AI tools. This technology has already entered the educational system, is very difficult to detect, and is so widespread that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to prevent its use. In addition, many persuasive arguments have been made about the potential positive uses of generative AI.

(from the General Statement from the Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning) on ChatGPT and Generative AI, February 2023)

However, inappropriate use of generative AI constitutes a departure from academic integrity. Among the core values of academic integrity are honesty and fairness that establish a framework for teaching and learning for both undergraduate and graduate students at Queen’s.

(from the General Statement from the Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning) on ChatGPT and Generative AI, February 2023)

To update academic integrity policy in light of generative AI, the Academic Integrity Subcommittee of the Senate Committee for Academic Development and Procedures has drafted updates to the types of departures from academic integrity in the context of generative artificial intelligence. These are expected to go forward for approval at the first Senate meeting of the academic year (October 2023).

Instructors should indicate if this technology can be used in a course and if so, what the parameters of its use will be. Generative AI has distinct impacts on course assessment practices. Instructors have the most immediate sense of the potential impacts on their courses, and they are best placed to make key decisions about whether generative AI fits with their learning outcomes. It is essential, then, that instructors speak to their classes about their perspectives on generative AI and detail the conditions for its use in their courses.

(from the General Statement from the Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning) on ChatGPT and Generative AI, February 2023)

Instructors should include a syllabus statement to advise students on the use of generative AI tools. The first three statements were developed by the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science and shared with permission. 

• Permitted with citation:
  • Students must submit their own work and cite the work that is not theirs. Generative AI writing tools such as ChatGPT are welcome in this class, provided you cite the material that they generate. Any other use constitutes a departure from academic integrity.
• Permitted in specific assignments, with citation:
  • Students must submit their own work and cite the work that is not theirs. Generative AI writing tools such as ChatGPT are only permissible when explicitly noted in the assignment instructions. In these cases, be sure to cite the material that they generate. Any other use constitutes a departure from academic integrity.
• Not permitted:
  • Using generative AI writing tools such as ChatGPT in your submitted work is not permitted in this class. This type of use constitutes a departure from academic integrity. 
  • Original work, completed wholly by you, is expected to be submitted in this course. The use of an artificial intelligence tool like ChatGPT is not permitted.

(from Update to Faculty Deans and Associate Deans (Teaching and Learning) from Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning) on Turnitin's new AI Detection Tool, April 2023)

Third-party tools designed to detect AI-generative text should not be used to check student work. No current evidence exists that demonstrates that any third-party AI-detection tool reliably works to detect text generated by artificial intelligence. Submitting students’ work to AI detection software without student permission is a breach of the student’s privacy and intellectual property, and as such third-party AI-detection tools should not be used.

(from Update to Faculty Deans and Associate Deans (Teaching and Learning) from Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning) on Turnitin's new AI Detection Tool, April 2023)

As we enter a new academic year, the influence of artificial intelligence tools on teaching and learning will continue to be an area of focus for the Vice Provost, Teaching and Learning portfolio. We will continue to engage in consultation and research with the aim to advise and support the institution, academic units and instructors on the implications and opportunities presented when using this technology in our classrooms.

For further review, the Centre for Teaching and Learning has developed further resources introducing large language AI models and their impact on teaching.

August 2023.

General Statement from the Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning) on ChatGPT and Generative AI - February 22, 2023

Discussions of the impact of ChatGPT and generative AI technologies range from those heralding the opening of an entirely new era of educational innovation to those condemning the emerging technology as something which will bring about the end of the essay, undermine the development of creative thinking and originality, and lead to an epidemic of plagiarism. What is clear from reading even a small sample of these essays, blogs, tweets, and other commentaries is that we must confront, understand and attempt to manage the use of this technology in higher education.

While I am beginning formal discussions across the Faculties and Schools, it is apparent that many members of the Queen's community are looking for some general guidance on our approach to the management of these generative AI technologies. In discussions with Deans, Associate Deans, instructors and staff, I would like to suggest the following principles to guide our initial approach to generative AI:

• Queen’s will not ban the use of generative AI technologies.
  • This technology has already entered the educational system, is very difficult to detect, and is so widespread that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to prevent its use. In addition, many persuasive arguments have been made about the potential positive uses of generative AI
• Instructors should indicate if this technology can be used in a course and if so, what the parameters of its use will be.
  • It is clear that generative AI has distinct impacts on course assessment practices. Instructors have the most immediate sense of the potential impacts on their courses, and they are best placed to make key decisions about whether or not generative AI fits with their learning outcomes. It is essential, then, that instructors speak to their classes about their perspectives on generative AI and the conditions for its use in their courses.
• Inappropriate use of Generative AI would constitute a departure from academic integrity since it involves a misrepresentation of the student’s work and abilities.
  • Among the core values of academic integrity are honesty and fairness that establish a framework for teaching and learning for both undergraduate and graduate students at Queen’s. Honesty is manifest in "presenting one's own academic work" and "acknowledging dependence on the ideas or words" of any other source. Fairness involves a "full acknowledgement" of sources. The use of generative AI instruments without the consent of the instructor or proper acknowledgement of these sources compromises the foundation for a community of open exchange of ideas. In the terms of the departures from academic integrity, it also can potentially be considered a "use of unauthorized materials," depending on how the instructor frames the course requirements. (See the Academic Integrity Policy Statement and the Academic Integrity Procedures -- Requirements of Faculties and Schools).

More discussion will follow, and there will be further consultation across the university community. It is essential, however, that we all learn as much as possible about generative AI and consider the immediate implications for our courses. I know that the Deans and Associate Deans in each Faculty and School are developing approaches to the use of generative AI as it impacts their particular disciplines.

John Pierce, Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning)

Predictive language models such as ChatGPT are technologies that use large statistical models to generate natural-sounding text. The technology ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is powerful enough to generate text-based responses like letters, recipes, essays, songs, etc. Essentially, it does a very good job of predicting what a human would write next; however, it does not understand the content it generates or determine whether or not the information is misleading (Weidinger, et al., 2022).

Generative AI in Teaching and Learning

The Emergency and Assistance Contacts poster is displayed in classrooms throughout Queen's University. The link to download the template for this poster is below. Please complete the location information at the bottom of the poster before displaying. 

Emergency and Assistance Contacts Poster

Last updated: October 15, 2024

Link to printable PDF  (725.6 KB)

Background

Assessment is a fundamental component of the learning process. Beyond strict evaluative purposes, assessment provides a structured mechanism for providing feedback, enabling instructors to identify student strengths and areas for improvement. Through assessments, educators can also gauge the effectiveness of their instructional methods and adjust instructional strategies to better meet the needs of their students.

Recent advancements in generative AI, particularly in the domain of text generation, have introduced both opportunities and challenges in the practice of education. While tools like ChatGPT have the potential to democratize access to sophisticated writing aids, they also pose significant risks to academic integrity and core principles of teaching and learning. As highlighted in the U.S. Department of Education’s 2023 report on Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning, maintaining a “human in the loop” is crucial to ensure that educators, learners, and other stakeholders retain their agency in educational processes. Moreover, concerns around privacy, intellectual property, and the quality of AI-generated feedback[1] underscore the necessity of clear guidelines.

A recent (2024) Privacy Complaint Report (PI21-00001) by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario further underscores the need for guardrails when utilizing AI technologies. The report recommends that institutions adopting AI tools must ensure these tools are privacy protective, transparent, accountable, and human rights affirming.

Given these complexities, Queen’s University is committed to ensuring that the use of Generative AI in student assessment aligns with our values of privacy, academic integrity, and high-quality, human-centred education.

Guidance

The purpose of this guidance is to recommend the conditions under which the use of generative AI tools by instructors and teaching assistants (TAs) for assessing student work may be appropriate. These recommendations aim to ensure the integrity of student assessment, protection of student privacy, and to maintain a human-centred approach to education.

In teaching teams (e.g., an instructor and teaching assistants), the instructor of record has oversight and responsibility for other graders, including determining if generative AI tools can be used for assessment.

Recommendations

1. Human-centred decision making

Assessment is a crucial element of student learning and instructor feedback. It is essential that human judgement and interaction remain central to this process. Any final assessment and interpretation related to the evaluation of student work needs to involve human judgment and engagement. AI-generated assessment outputs should be critically reviewed and interpreted by humans, with final decisions resting with human evaluators. Throughout the assessment process, humans retain responsibility, ensuring that generative AI serves as a tool and not as a substitute for human oversight.

2. Manage risks to do no harm

Instructors will need to manage the known risks of generative AI tools, such as the introduction of unintended bias from the generative AI tool’s training data and the lack of transparency in how decisions are made by these tools (the “black box” problem). Due to of our emergent understanding of how best to manage these risks, and the significance of grades for students’ future opportunities, it is strongly recommended that generative AI tools not be used for summative assessment at this time. These tools, however, may be used to enhance the formative assessment processes, providing support for student learning.

3. Protect privacy

It is an instructor's responsibility to manage students’ right to privacy. It is recommended that any generative AI tool used for the purposed of student assessment has undergone Queen’s security assessment process (SAP). See Appendix A for a list of AI tools that have undergone Queen’s SAP.

4. Respect intellectual property

Student’s intellectual property must be respected. Current University policies, such as the Intellectual Property Commercialization Policy, state that students retain the intellectual property (IP) of what they create at Queen’s. The terms of service for many third-party generative AI tools may contravene the retention of IP.

5. Seek informed consent

Given the university's IP and privacy policies, it is recommended that students are informed of, and that consent is sought for the planned use of a generative AI tool for any assessment purposes. In cases where a student chooses to opt out, instructors or TAs should evaluate the student’s work without the use of generative AI tools.

Review and updates

This guidance will be reviewed at least annually by the Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning and updated as necessary to reflect changes in technology, risk, pedagogy, and institutional needs.

Last updated: October 2024

Link to printable PDF (456.6 KB)

While most classes at Queen’s University proceed smoothly, there are occasions when disruptions may occur.

In most of these instances, instructors can effectively draw on their classroom management skills to address these disturbances and maintain a productive learning environment. When significant disruptions occur, they can impact the educational experience and the well-being of those involved. As instructors, when we are faced with a significant disruption our primary goal is to minimize its impact and, if possible, resume planned classroom activities.

While difficult conversations are not considered significant classroom disruptions, they can present challenges in maintaining a respectful and productive learning environment. For guidance on navigating sensitive topics or managing complex classroom dynamics, Queen’s Centre for Teaching and Learning offers valuable resources on Managing Difficult Conversations. These resources provide practical strategies for instructors to support constructive dialogue and foster inclusivity during moments of tension.

This document is intended to provide instructors practical advice on responding to various scenarios and supporting students who may be affected by disruptions. Refer to the Supporting Students in Distress resource for guidance on recognizing signs of student distress, responding with compassion, and connecting students to appropriate support services such as Care Support Services. Instructors are encouraged to use their judgment and choose strategies that are most appropriate for the circumstances they encounter. Although instructors are primarily responsible for managing classroom disruptions, support is available, and this document provides details on where and how to seek it.

General guidance for all incidents:

• Plan ahead: Reflect on the scenarios below and consider how you would respond. Consider adding the Queen’s Emergency Report Centre number (613-533-6111) to a cell phone. Having the SeQure App installed on a mobile device allows you to receive important information about campus emergencies, and report incidents.
• Room location: All centrally managed classrooms have emergency contact posters with the name and location of the room. This is information you will need to share if calling Queen’s Emergency Report Centre.
• Ending class early: Depending on the severity of the incident, it is appropriate to end the class early. If your instruction is disrupted, communicate your contingency plans to your students. These options might include posting asynchronous lecture notes later in the day or shifting to remote instruction.
• Acknowledge and support: After any disruption, immediately acknowledge the incident’s impact. Offer support and resources such as those found on the Care Support Services website.

1. Class disrupted by outside group

External groups may sometimes enter a classroom unannounced to protest or raise awareness of a cause. These disruptions can involve demonstrations, distributing flyers, or making announcements, potentially creating confusion, unease and interrupting the flow of the class.

• Step in: If you judge it safe to do so, assert your leadership over the classroom. A calm but direct response can assist in establishing control and help deescalate the situation.
• Options for response: You may choose to:
  • Engage with the group briefly, offering them an opportunity to speak for a set period of your choosing; or
  • Ask them to leave; “You are interrupting this class. I would like you to stop and to please leave now.” or
  • If the disruption continues, call Queen’s Emergency Report Centre (613-533-6111 for on campus emergency responses).
• Acknowledge and support: After the incident, acknowledge to students that a disruption occurred, and that such disruptions can be unsettling. Offer time to discuss the event and offer information for ongoing supports.
• Non-emergency reporting: After the incident, report the incident to Campus Security (dial 613-533-6080 for non-emergencies)

2. Class disrupted by students

Disruptions may arise from students within the class, such as organized protests, loud disagreements, or behaviour that interferes with the learning process.

• Plan ahead: Consider if it is appropriate to:
  • Include a statement about the Student Code of Conduct in the course outline and review it in the first class.
  • Take time to articulate or co-develop community codes of practice that guide respectful, generous, and patient ways of engaging with members of the classroom community and with challenging academic material.
• Initial response: If the reason for the disruption is unclear, calmly ask, “Why are you interrupting this class?” Request that students refrain from disrupting the session and offer to engage with them outside of class time to discuss their concerns further.
• Respectful environment: Remind students of the class’ community codes and that Queen’s University is committed to fostering a respectful and inclusive learning environment. You may use language such as:

“Queen’s University values respectful and constructive dialogue. Our classroom is a space where all voices should be heard thoughtfully, and it’s essential that we express our opinions in ways that do not disrupt others' learning experiences.”

• Code of conduct: Remind students that their actions should align to the Queen’s University Student Code of Conduct, which emphasizes respect, fairness, and personal responsibility. You may say:

“The Student Code of Conduct outlines expectations for respectful behaviour and integrity within our University community. Actions that interfere with others’ ability to learn, or that violate these principles, may result in sanctions.”

• Escalation: If the disruption persists, politely ask the student(s) to leave. Should the disruption continue or escalate, contact the Queen’s Emergency Report Centre (613-533-6111).
• Consider underlying factors: Reflect on the reasons behind the students’ disruptive behaviour to assess whether a referral to Care Support Services is appropriate. If needed, referrals can be made through Care Support Services, which will be supported by the Student Conduct and Care unit.

• Reporting: If the incident contravenes university policies, report the details to your Department Head (or Associate Dean in non-departmentalized units) for follow-up, and if appropriate, it may be escalated through the university's non-academic misconduct process. After a non-emergency incident, you can also report the incident to Campus Security (dial 613-533-6080 for non-emergencies).

3. Online Class Disruptions

In online learning environments, disruptions may occur through unauthorized individuals joining a class or session and interfering (e.g., “Zoom Bombing”) or through disruptive students. These intrusions, such as inappropriate content sharing or interrupting discussions, can derail the learning experience.

• Plan ahead: Before the session, familiarize yourself with the platform’s security features, such as enabling waiting rooms, restricting screen sharing, and disabling participant renaming.
• Control measures: Suspend the disrupter’s participation using available security controls, remove them if necessary, and continue with the class if possible.
• Acknowledge and support: After the incident, acknowledge to students that a disruption occurred, and that such disruptions can be unsettling. Offer time to discuss the event and offer information for ongoing supports.
• Reporting: If interruption is a threat, contact Queen’s Emergency Report Centre (613-533-6111). Use the appropriate “report user” tool to report the disruptive participant to the tool’s trust and safety team.
• Consider underlying factors: If disrupted by a student, reflect on the reasons behind the behaviour to assess whether a referral to Care Support Services is appropriate. If needed, referrals can be made through Care Support Services, which will be supported by the Student Conduct and Care unit.

4. Medical Incident in Class

A student experiencing a medical situation during class, such as a seizure or fainting, can be alarming in the moment. Prompt action is required to ensure the student receives proper care while maintaining a calm atmosphere in the classroom.

• Contact Emergency Services: For life-threatening situations or acute medical emergencies, such as anaphylactic allergic reactions, call 911 directly. For less serious incidents, such as slips, falls, or other non-life-threatening issues, contact Queen’s 24-hour Emergency Report Centre (613-533-6111). Centrally managed classrooms have emergency contact posters with the name and location of the classroom.
• Provide or coordinate aid: If you have first aid training, provide basic first aid. If not, ask if anyone in the class with first aid training can assist.
• Manage bystanders: Create space by asking people to move back. Consider asking students to leave the classroom during the event.
• Acknowledge and support: After the incident, acknowledge to students that a disruption occurred, and that such disruptions can be unsettling. Offer time to discuss the event if appropriate. Provide information about available support services.

5. Unannounced arrival of Campus Security or Police

Police or campus security may enter a classroom without prior notice, typically as part of an active investigation or when immediate safety concerns arise. This can cause confusion or alarm, requiring a calm response from the instructor while following directions.

• Assess and engage: Identify yourself as the instructor, so that information about the situation and the needs of campus security or the police can be communicated to you. Remaining calm helps set a tone for the class that can reduce the impact of the disruption.
• Respond: Follow the guidance provided by security or police, and assist, as directed, in communicating and providing direction to students.
• Acknowledge and support: After the incident, acknowledge to students that an interruption occurred, and that such incidents can be unsettling. Offer time to discuss the event and offer information for ongoing supports.

6. Potentially dangerous incidents

Situations involving a potential threat to the safety of students or instructors in the classroom require immediate action, and instructors need to be prepared to alert emergency services and take precautionary measures.

• Immediate Action: If an active threat arises, call 911 immediately, followed by Queen’s Emergency Report Centre (613-533-6111).
• Acknowledge and support: After the situation is safe, acknowledge to students that a disruption occurred, and that such disruptions can be unsettling. Offer time to discuss the event and offer information for ongoing supports.

Further Resources

• Campus Security: 613-533-6111 (24-hour emergency contact)
• Queen’s Student Wellness Services: 613-533-2506
• Queen’s Care Support Services: Online Resources
• Verbal Intervention Training: Contact the Manager, Security Risk and Training (613-533-6733) for information on this half-day course, which equips staff with skills to manage crisis behaviours.
• Student Wellness Services Training: SWS offers workshops such as ASIST, safeTALK, and sessions on responding to students in distress.
• Employee and Family Assistance Program: Available to all employees, TELUS Health One offers confidential, professional, and personalized wellness services.
• Emergency preparedness: Queen’s Emergency Preparedness website.

onQ Announcements for students are to be used judicially – it is meant to be infrequent and for announcements directly in support of teaching and learning activities. The request to use should be sent to CTL-edtech@queensu.ca at least a week in advance of the desire date of being sent out. The decision to use the onQ announcements will be based upon the criteria below and sent to the VPTL for final approval when necessary. 

1. Academic in nature which has relevance to students courses/academic success. Non-commercial use only.
2. Relevant to all students. *recognizing Smith School of Business is on different instance of Brightspace and some School of Medicine courses do not use onQ.
3. Time sensitive that requires attention by students – although not for emergency notifications.
4. Has considered other communication channels.