TexasCHLforum.com

TEA wrote:

TEA wrote:The survey will ask respondents to select: a) strongly agree, b) agree, c) no opinion, d) disagree, e) strongly disagree with regards to the following statements:

1. I support only faculty and staff CHL holders being allowed to carry concealed handguns on
campus.


2. I support faculty, staff and students who are CHL holders being allowed to carry concealed
handguns on campus


3. I do not support faculty, staff or students carrying weapons or guns of any kind on college
campuses regardless of whether or they have a CHL or not.

UPDATE: The vote did not go well.

Q1 - 26 to 24 against
Q2 - 40 to 10 against
Q3 - 33 to 17 in favor

:(

While the results for the first question are fairly evenly split, the results for the second and third are downright disheartening. Not sure where to go from here

• 1) You failed to educate the voters before embarking on the poll.
  • Many faculty have no clue what a CHL is. Nor do they have any concept of the process of obtaining one or of the required qualifications. That lack of knowledge combined with their observations of the maturity level of their students will guarantee failure of your proposition #3. It is critical to emphasize that CHL holders must pass a criminal background check and be 21 or over.
  • Most faculty perceive that maintaining the safety of their students is an essential responsibility of their job. However, the fact that events and circumstances that can nullify their abilities to control their classroom may be outside of their purview.
  2) The wording of your poll was problematic.
  • The phrase " regardless of whether or they have a CHL or not" in question #3 guarantees failure.
  • Your respondents perceive faculty and staff to be a separate group than students. Your poll should have been designed accordingly. Two questions would have sufficed.
    • 1) I support faculty and staff CHL holders being allowed to carry concealed handguns on campus. (yes or no)
      2) I support student CHL holders being allowed to carry concealed handguns on campus. (yes or no)
  3) A general rule in academia is that whenever you want something not to be done you form a committee to study it.
  • Seriously. If any proposal you make ends up in committee take that as a sign that you needed to lay more support and manage expectations going into the proposal.
  • As aside, I would encourage any new faculty (read new as having fewer than 20 years post-podium) to read the 1908 treatise, Microcosmographia Academica, http://www.cs.kent.ac.uk/people/staff/i ... nford.html. This ancient tome, although somewhat unintelligible to uninitiated, should be required reading for anyone wishing to dabble in the art of academic politics.