KU’s proposed drone policy ruffles campus drone ‘experts’

Sara Shepherd

Kansas University is in the process of creating a policy to clamp down on drone use on campus, and at least one aerospace engineering professor has big concerns about it.

For one, said Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, a professor of aerospace engineering who has patented multiple drones, none of KU’s aerospace faculty — KU’s experts on drones — were consulted.

“The policy itself has really, really serious problems,” said Barrett-Gonzalez, who brought up the issue at Tuesday’s Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting. “It’ll allow the flight of dangerous items while disallowing the flight of harmless aircraft … It’ll hamper research really unnecessarily. It’ll violate academic freedom.”

KU Public Affairs initiated the policy, intended to ensure operators had the proper FAA approval before flying drones on campus, said Amy Smith, KU Policy Office Director. “They became very concerned when there were drones flying over commencement.” (More recently, I can tell you there were sure a lot of drones that buzzed up into the sky on West Campus right before McCollum Hall imploded last week.)

Deans, provosts and department chairs were informed about the proposed UAS — or unmanned aerial systems — policy via email and invited to share feedback, according to an email provided by Barrett-Gonzalez. The draft policy at this point does not contain an effective date.

The policy would require anyone wishing to operate a UAS on or over campus to get prior written approval from KU, according to a draft proposal. Personal and commercial drone users would have to contact KU Marketing Communications, while users flying drones for university educational and research purposes would go through the Vice Chancellor for Research’s office.

The proposed policy says UAS operators must demonstrate “a baseline level of proficiency in takeoff, landing and maneuvering.” It specifies that operators must comply with all applicable FAA, state and local laws. And it says KU has the right to “immediately terminate” the operation of a UAS that interferes with campus operations, poses hazards to people or facilities, or has not received proper approval. (It does not specify a method for “termination” — is anyone else picturing KU police officers with harpoon nets? — but maybe that could be an engineering class project.)

Barrett-Gonzalez said he believes the proposed policy would infringe on personal freedom — including campus visitors who just want to fly tiny toy drones for fun in an open area — and that unnecessary “encumbrances” would violate the academic freedom of faculty and students working on drones. He also said he believes the policy would duplicate regulatory functions of the FAA.

Barrett-Gonzalez suggested disbanding the policy committee, forming a new one with the Aerospace Engineering Department chairman at the helm, and starting over on the policy.

Fellow Faculty Senate Executive Committee members agreed Barrett-Gonzalez should submit feedback to the policy office and that Faculty and University Senate presidents should also bring up with administrators the issue of KU policymaking without consulting university governance.

“This is part of the problem with ‘university policies’ that suddenly emerge,” said Faculty Senate president Tom Beisecker. “From my point of view it should be reviewed by governance.”

http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/heard_hill/2015/dec/1/kus-proposed-drone-policy-ruffles-campus/