Classroom Disruption Protocols: Guidelines for Instructors and Academic Units

The purpose of this content is to provide recommended, non-mandatory protocols to assist faculty and instructors in navigating classroom challenges. These recommendations are offered solely as guidance; individual faculty members and academic administrators retain full authority to determine the most appropriate responses to issues that may arise in their own teaching contexts. Nothing in these guidelines should be understood to limit academic freedom, constrain intellectual inquiry, or conflict with Penn State’s commitment to student success.

These guidelines are enforced without regard to a student’s viewpoint or identity. Nothing herein authorizes differential treatment based on protected characteristics (e.g., race, sex, religion, national origin) or compels students to affirm particular views. Responses to classroom behavior will be content-neutral and tied to time, place, and manner impacts on teaching and learning.

This resource focuses on academic structures and expectations that support faculty while prioritizing student learning and maintaining safe, respectful classroom environments. Research indicates that faculty may encounter disruptive behaviors that challenge classroom norms of courtesy and respect. Faculty teaching subjects that involve sensitive or controversial issues may experience heightened risks of such disruptions. In these instances, timely and collegial support from peers and leadership can help faculty address disruptions effectively, reduce uncertainty, and sustain constructive learning environments for all students.

Senior Faculty Mentors, hosted by the Office of Educational Equity are a resource especially developed as a point of contact and support for all faculty members, recognizing that instructors may encounter different types of challenges in the classroom.

Classroom Disruption Protocols (Last revision: 09-28-2025) - [ PDF ]

Management of Disruptive and Threatening Behavior
A large majority of Penn State students act in a respectful and polite manner toward each other and their instructors. Most students understand that disagreement and debate are part of robust course discourse and a necessary part of intellectual development. However, not all students will participate with courtesy and respect for their instructors or peers. Every member of the Penn State community has the right to expect respect in the exchange of ideas and perspectives.

Disagreement—even when strongly or offensively stated—does not, by itself, constitute disruption. Disruption means conduct that materially and substantially interferes with instruction, safety, or others’ ability to participate (e.g., repeated talking over others after warning, refusing to yield the floor, targeted harassment, threats).

Minor Disruptions

Minor disruptions may stem from issues of classroom etiquette, learning gaps, or repeated refusal to follow discussion procedures (e.g., time limits, speaking order) after reminder, thereby impeding instruction. Some students may sometimes struggle to distinguish between personal views and academic argumentation grounded in course content. For faculty, these disruptions may provide learning opportunities or be prevented with clear course discussion (or participation) guidelines, which may include a focus on course content and materials. These guidelines should be listed in the course syllabus and reiterated prior to course discussion. This fosters students' ability to engage with course content and practice building arguments that meet disciplinary and academic standards.

Minor behaviors might be addressed through private conversation between faculty and student. This low-level response can reassure the student of their value in the classroom, faculty interest in the student’s success, and build trust, while elevating the issue may have a contrary effect.

We encourage faculty not to ignore or be intimidated by a student who does not follow course discussion guidelines, with consideration for disagreements and frustrations that all individuals experience and have the right to express.

Table 1. Minor Disruption Examples and Faculty Responses

For online or remote courses: Any chat restrictions, waiting-room locks, or video disabling are content-neutral classroom-management tools applied uniformly and lifted when no longer needed to prevent disruption.

Major Disruptions

Faculty, regardless of rank, do not all share the same level of comfort or skill in managing disruptive behavior. Faculty members have varying experiences and backgrounds, and faculty members are encouraged to privately assess their comfort and willingness to address inappropriate behavior with a student. If not comfortable, seek assistance from respective department heads, associate deans, deans, and others outlined in academic unit protocols.

Academic units should develop their own protocols to support faculty response to major disruptive student behaviors. When they present, major disruptions can be unsettling and create fear and anxiety for faculty members, especially if there is little or no clarity on unit processes. Those developed will complement and not override University policies and practices.

The Student Code of Conduct prohibits engaging in behavior that could reasonably be foreseen to cause, or that causes, the disruption of or interference with the process of instruction, research, service, administration, or any other university operation. In some extreme cases of disruptive student behavior, it may be necessary for a faculty member to tell the student to leave the classroom or remove them from the virtual classroom and refer the matter to the Office of Student Accountability & Conflict Response for next steps.

Removal for the day may be used to restore safety or order. Longer-term exclusions follow University procedures and referral to the Office of Student Accountability & Conflict Response; faculty do not independently drop or permanently exclude students. Changes to behavioral expectations are provided in writing pursuant to Faculty Senate Policy 43-00.

Table 2. Major Disruption Examples and Faculty Responses

Documentation
Document behavioral facts (who/what/when), content-neutral steps taken (warnings, seating changes, tech settings), and referrals made. Avoid characterizing a student’s viewpoint; record the impact on instruction.