Nearly one year after a student shot and killed three professors in the College of Nursing, a campuswide threat policy will go up for approval at the Faculty Senate meeting today.

Senate members will review the fourth revision of the policy on threatening behavior that outlines specific steps people can take if they feel threatened on campus.

The steps for students and faculty who feel threatened or observe a threat, even if it is not directed at them, include instructions to leave the area, call the police and file a report at the Dean of Students Office.

Professors and other employees must also notify their department if they observe threatening behavior.

Students may be expelled depending on the severity of the situation.

In October of last year, Robert S. Flores Jr. who had a history of making threatening statements shot and killed three professors during class, then turned the gun on himself.

That brought the issue of threatening behavior to the forefront of faculty concerns.

Provost George Davis said he learned that faculty members did not feel they were receiving adequate support from administration and that the communication system was not effective for faculty who did feel threatened.

Davis spoke with faculty after the shootings to get an idea of what they wanted.

"Immediately after the shootings, I know I sat down with faculty," Davis said. "I did get a clear impression that they were really asking the university to be more supportive of them."

Students also feel there is a need for such a policy.

"Teachers shouldn't have to go to class if they feel threatened," said Randy Wagman, pre-physiological sciences freshman.

The policy makes sense following the nursing school shootings, said Stephen Barta, business sophomore.

"It usually takes a circumstance to get it to come out, you don't see the need before something happens," Barta said.

Davis said most of the faculty already knows what should be done in a threatening situation.

"In terms of policies, the faculty understand if they are dealing with a situation that is physically threatening, not to mess around, to go to the police department right away," Davis said.

A policy on disruptive behavior in classrooms will also be reviewed at today's meeting.

Davis hopes this policy will help support faculty, so they can focus on what they are hired to do, teach.

"(When there are disruptions in the classroom) faculty are trying to do two things at once, trying to motivate people to learn, and trying to work out in their minds how to deal with the behavior," Davis said.

Overall, Davis said the main goal of the policies is clarity. The policies will create specific guidelines for dealing with disruptive and threatening students and give professors answers when they experience these behaviors in their classrooms.

The faculty senate meeting is today at 3 p.m. in the College of Law, Room 146.