Academic freedom statement

Academic freedom is fundamental to the mission common to higher education of fostering inquiry and increasing the sum of human knowledge and understanding.

Academic freedom is the freedom to discuss and present scholarly opinions and conclusions regarding all relevant matters in the classroom, to explore all avenues of scholarship, research, and creative expression, and to reach conclusions according to one's scholarly discernment. It also includes the right to speak or write - as a private citizen or within the context of one's activities as an employee of the university - without institutional discipline or restraint on matters of public concern as well as on matters related to professional duties, the functioning of the university, and university positions and policies.

Academic responsibility implies the faithful performance of professional duties and obligations, the recognition of the demands of the scholarly enterprise, and the candor to make it clear that when one is speaking on matters of public interest or concern, one is speaking on behalf of oneself, not the institution.

Adopted by the faculty senate and incorporated into faculty senate policies on 1/28/16.