Minutes of a Regular Meeting, June 22-23, 2004 - Digital Collections

REGENTS’ POLICY MANUALSECTION 2—ACADEMICSrespect and defend the free inquiry of associates. In the exchange of criticism and ideas,faculty members show due respect for the opinions of others. They acknowledge academicdebt and strive to be objective in their professional judgment of colleagues. Faculty membersaccept their share of faculty responsibilities for the governance of their institution.4. As members of an academic institution, faculty members seek above all to be effectiveteachers and scholars. Although faculty members observe the stated regulations of theinstitution, provided the regulations do not contravene academic freedom, they maintain theirright to criticize and seek revision. They give due regard to their paramount responsibilitieswithin their institution in determining the amount and character of work done outside it.When considering the interruption or termination of their service, faculty members recognizethe effect of their decision upon the program of the institution and give due notice of theirintentions.5. As members of their community, faculty members have the rights and obligations of othercitizens. They measure the urgency of these obligations in the light of their responsibilities totheir subject, to their students, to their profession, and to their institution. When they speakor act as private persons, they avoid creating the impression of speaking or acting for theircollege or university. As citizens engaged in a profession that depends upon freedom for itshealth and integrity, faculty members have a particular obligation to promote conditions offree inquiry and to further public understanding of academic freedom.ACADEMIC RESPONSIBILITYThe concept of academic freedom shall be accompanied by an equally demanding concept ofacademic responsibility. Nothing in the following statement is intended to abridge in any way theprinciples and procedures advanced in the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom andTenure with 1970 Interpretive Comments of the American Association of University Professors. Thisstatement is derived in substantial measure from the AAUP 1966 Statement on Professional Ethics.Faculty members have responsibilities to their students. They shall encourage in students the freepursuit of learning and independence of mind, while holding before them the highest scholarly andprofessional standards. Faculty members shall show respect for students as individuals, and adhere totheir proper role as intellectual guides and counselors. They shall endeavor to define the objectives oftheir courses and to devote their teaching to the realization of those objectives. This requires judicioususe of controversial material and an avoidance of material which has no relationship to the objectives of acourse.Faculty members shall make every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to assurethat their evaluations reflect, as nearly as possible, the true merit of the performance of their students,regardless of their race, color, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, political beliefs or veteran’sstatus. Faculty members shall avoid any exploitation of students for private advantage and acknowledgesignificant assistance from them.Faculty members have responsibilities to their colleagues, deriving from common membership in acommunity of scholars. They shall respect and defend the free inquiry of their associates. In theexchange of criticism and ideas, they should show due respect for the opinions of others. They shallacknowledge their academic debts and strive to be objective in the professional judgment of theirTHE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 12