Policies and Procedures

Section III Postsecondary Affairs

B. Academic Freedom and Responsibility

In adopting the following policy statement concerning academic freedom and responsibility, the State Board of Education and Board of Regents of the University of Idaho affirms its belief that academic freedom should not be abridged or abused.

Institutions of higher education are operated for the common good and not to further the interests of individual faculty members or the institution as a whole. Academic freedom is essential to protect the rights of the faculty member in teaching and the student in learning. Freedom in research and teaching is fundamental to the advancement of truth. Academic freedom carries with it responsibilities as well as rights.

1. Teaching
   
   The faculty member is entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing the subject material but should not introduce matters not germane to the subject.



2. Research
   
   The faculty member is entitled to freedom in research and the publication of the results. However, research for pecuniary return, when that research is a part of the faculty member's assigned duties or when the research involves use of institutional facilities or resources not usually available to the general public, may be undertaken only with prior written approval by the chief executive officer or his or her designee.



3. Responsibilities
   
   Membership in the academic community imposes on administrators, faculty members, 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 free expression on and off the campus of an institution.
   
   Each faculty member of the institution is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and a representative of the institution. When speaking or writing as a citizen, the faculty member should be free from institutional censorship or discipline. However, as a member of the academic community and a representative of the institution, the faculty member should at all times be accurate, exercise appropriate restraint, show respect for the opinions of others, and make every effort to indicate that he or she is not an official spokesperson for the institution. Furthermore, each faculty member must refrain from using institutional resources to further his or her interests or activities which are not a part of the assigned responsibilities to the institution.

Additional Resources

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