Academic Freedom Policy

Policy:                   ACADEMIC FREEDOM

Effective date:        July 1, 2017

Review date:          July 1, 2021

Revised:                  

Responsible Party: Office of the Provost

The portion of the 1940 statement of principles on academic freedom and tenure of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) set out below is endorsed by the board of regents of higher education. That statement was revised by the governing bodies of the AAUP and the Association of American Colleges in November 1989 and January 1990, in order to remove gender specific references from the original text. Those revisions have been incorporated into the statement.

"Academic Freedom"

“(a)    [Faculty members] are entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication of the results, subject to the adequate performance of their other academic duties; but research for pecuniary return should be based upon an understanding with the authorities of the institution.

“(b)    [Faculty members] are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject.  Limitations of academic freedom because of religious or other aims of the institution should be clearly stated in writing at the time of the appointment.

“(c)    [Faculty members] are citizens, members of a learned profession, and officers of an educational institution. When they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations. As scholars and educational officers, they should remember that the public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances. Hence they should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking for the institution.”

The regents place particular emphasis on paragraphs (b) and (c) of the above statement relating to the responsibilities as well as the privileges which members of the profession and professional organizations associate with this important concept of American life.