July 13, 2016

UT Faculty, Staff and Students,

Today, the University of Texas System Board of Regents gave final approval to the UT Austin campus rules for implementing Senate Bill 11 — the state’s “campus carry” law — which takes effect Aug. 1.

I’d like to update you on some of the measures we are taking to prepare.

As you may recall, President Gregory L. Fenves in February submitted to the UT System Board of Regents his proposed policies for implementing campus carry at UT Austin. He appointed the Campus Carry Implementation Task Force to develop the specific policies needed for these new rules. I chair that task force, which includes students, faculty members and staffers and which has been meeting regularly for more than four months.

Among other actions, the task force has:

Evaluated floor plans for all university buildings to determine how each space is used (e.g., general-purpose classrooms, offices, laboratories, animal research, patient care, etc.) and decided which buildings, floors and rooms will be designated as gun exclusion zones. Individual deans, administrators, and principal investigators for research have been notified about their space, and the university will begin posting signage in the excluded areas in the coming days.

Developed communications tools to educate the university community about the specific requirements of the law and the campus rules. These include explanations to be included on certain university websites as well as language for residence hall and apartment manuals and housing contracts. Overviews of the law for faculty, staff members, students, parents and visitors are available online. Include link to one pagers

Worked with the university’s Compliance Office to develop an online training module for employees to learn about the new rules and coordinated with the Texas Parents association on a webinar that can help educate community members about the requirements.

The task force has also updated the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures to reflect these new policies, and the Board of Regents approved the changes today. Under these policies, faculty and staff members who are solely assigned to an office may prohibit the concealed carry of a handgun in that office. If they choose to exercise this discretion, they must provide oral notice that the concealed carry of a handgun is prohibited in their offices. Oral notice is the only legally effective way to provide notice about the prohibition.

The regents rejected one of the 26 proposed rules, which would have prohibited license holders from storing rounds of ammunition in the chambers of semiautomatic weapons. License holders are allowed to carry concealed handguns in classrooms.

I want to emphasize that once the new law takes effect, license holders will have the responsibility for properly carrying their concealed handguns on or about their person at all times while on campus. Although they may be at ease carrying a handgun, I ask that license holders remember that many people on our campus are not familiar with handguns and are uncomfortable in their presence.

Additionally, the open carry of handguns will remain prohibited on campus.

UT Austin is obligated to follow this law to the letter and is not at liberty to enact policies or provisions that violate it. Any changes to the law must come through the state legislative process.

If you have questions, I encourage you to visit our campus carry website and review a list of Frequently Asked Questions that we have developed.

Sincerely,

Bob Harkins