CHAPTER THREE: 3160
EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION CONCERNING FACULTY AND STAFF
July 2000
3160
ACADEMIC FREEDOM, RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITY
PREAMBLE: This section serves as an introduction to
the rights and responsibilities of both faculty and staff employees. The
following declarations embody the essential elements of both the Board of
Regents' policy regarding rights and responsibilities and the 1940
statement of the American Association of University Professors. (As used
in this section "teacher" is understood to include all UI professional
employees who are engaged in teaching, research, or service activities.)
[NOTE: See
4700 C for proscribed subjects of instruction.
For additional
statements pertaining to the responsibilities of faculty members, see 3120
B,
3240,
3260,
4310,
4700,
5100,
5200,
5300,
5400.]
This section appeared
in the 1979 Handbook. Section B-3a/b was added in June 1989 and
B-3-c in July 1996 (reflecting the Board of Education's Policies and
Procedures III-B-3). For further information, contact the Office of
the Faculty Secretary (208-885-6151). [ed 7-97, 7-00]
A. POLICY. The Board of Regents has affirmed its beliefs that academic freedom is
essential for the protection of the rights of faculty members in teaching and of
students in learning; that freedom in research and teaching is fundamental to
the advancement of truth; that, therefore, academic freedom should not be
abridged or abused; and that academic freedom carries with it responsibilities
correlative with rights. (State
Board of Education, Governing Policies and Procedures, IIIB.)
B.
RESEARCH AND TEACHING RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
B-1. Research. Teachers are entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication
of the results, subject to the adequate performance of their other duties, but
research and consulting for pecuniary return should be based on and consistent
with the established written policies of the institution.
B-2. Teaching. Teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their
subjects, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching
controversial matter that is unrelated to their subjects. [ed. 7-97]
B-3. Responsibilities.
a. Membership in the academic community imposes on teachers, administrators,
other institutional employees, and students an obligation to respect the dignity
of others, to acknowledge the right of others to express differing opinions, and
to foster and defend intellectual honesty, freedom of inquiry and instruction,
and freedom of expression on and off campus of the institution.
b. Teachers are citizens, members of learned professions, and
representatives of their institutions. When
they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional
censorship or discipline. However,
as members of the academic community and as representatives of their
institutions, they should at all times be accurate, exercise appropriate
restraint, show respect for the opinions of others, and make every effort to
indicate that they do not officially speak for the institution.
c. Faculty members must refrain from using institutional resources for the
furtherance of their interests or activities which are not a part of their
assigned responsibilities to the institution.
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