3.7.4 Academic freedom

The institution ensures adequate procedures for safeguarding and protecting academic freedom.

Judgment of Compliance

Compliance

Narrative of Justification

Bennett College safeguards academic freedom.  The College has a commitment to the recruitment and retention of an outstanding faculty.   To this end the College promotes faculty development, encourages faculty involvement in research and other creative activities, and endorses the principles of academic freedom.  The statement of Academic Freedom is found in the Faculty Handbook, (p. 10), and every faculty member receives a copy of the Handbook.

Statement of Academic Freedom

Bennett College adheres to the principles of academic freedom as articulated by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).  For faculty members the principal elements of academic freedom include:

• The right as teachers, to discuss in the classroom any material which has a significant relationship to the subject matter as defined in the course syllabus
• The right to determine course content, grading (in keeping with the College’s grading scale), and classroom procedures in the courses they teach
• The right to conduct research and engage in creative endeavors
• The right to publish or present research findings and creative works
• The right to engage in public service activities
• The right to seek changes in institutional policy and procedure through established College procedures and/or by lawful and peaceful means
• The right to initiate or propose changes in College procedures

The AAUP statement on Academic Freedom is as follows:

The faculty member is entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing her/his subject, but he/she should be careful not to introduce into her/his teaching controversial matter which has no relation to her/his 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. The faculty member is entitled to full freedom to research and in the publication of the results, subject to the adequate performance of her/his other academic duties; but research for pecuniary return should be based upon an understanding with the authorities of the institution. The college or university faculty member is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and an officer of an educational institution. When he or she speaks or writes as a citizen, he or she should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but her/his special position in the community imposes special obligations. As a person of learning and an educational officer, he or she should remember that the public may judge her/his profession and her/his institution by her/his utterances. Hence he or she 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 he or she is not an institutional spokesman. When speaking or writing in the area of her/his expertise, the faculty member has the right to identify herself or himself by her/his academic rank and institutional affiliation; however, if he or she identifies herself or himself, he or she must indicate that he or she is or is not an institutional spokesman.

The faculty member, when speaking or writing outside her/his specialty, is bound by the strictures in the proceeding paragraph. If the administration of the College feels that a faculty member has not observed the admonitions of the preceding paragraphs and believes that the extramural utterances of the faculty member have been such as to raise grave doubts concerning her/his fitness for her/his position, the College may proceed to the Dismissal for Cause provisions of the Faculty Handbook, p. 85.

Bennett also accepts the following statement concerning “Professors and Political Activity” made by AAUP:

The college or university faculty member is a citizen and, like other citizens, should be free to engage in political activities so far as he or she is able to do so consistently with her/his obligations as a teacher and scholar. Many kinds of political activity (e.g., holding part-time office in a political party, seeking election to any office under circumstances that do not require extensive campaigning, or serving by appointment or election in a part-time political office) are consistent with effective service as a member of a faculty. Other kinds of political activity (e.g., intensive campaigning for elective office, serving in a state legislature, or serving a limited term in a full-time position) may require that the faculty member seek a leave of absence from her/his college or university. In recognition of the legitimacy and social importance of political activity by faculty members, universities and colleges should provide institutional arrangements to permit it, similar to those applicable to other public or private extramural service. 

Bennett assures that faculty expression is free from internal or external restraints that would unreasonably restrict their academic endeavors. The faculty Grievance process clearly defines the process for a faculty member who believes her/his right, as set forth in the Faculty Handbook, including academic freedom, has been breached to take the grievance through the informal process or the formal process as outlined in the Faculty Handbook, pp. 51-53.  The formal procedure is held before the Faculty Senate Grievance Committee, and the Appeal of the Decision is to the president of the College.  If the president of the college is a direct party to the grievance, the grievant may file an appeal with the chair of the Board of Trustees.  The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees will review the record of the case at its next meeting and will render a final decision

Supporting Documents

SOURCE	LOCATION/Special Instructions
Faculty Handbook	Office of Academic Affairs