Academic Freedom

The faculty, administration, and Board of Trustees subscribe to the American Association of University Professors’ 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure:

“Institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution as a whole. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free expression.”

“Academic freedom is essential to these purposes and applied to both teaching and research. Freedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth. Academic freedom in its teaching aspect is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the teacher in teaching and of the student to freedom in learning. It carries with it duties correlative with rights.”

“The teacher is entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication of the results, subject to the adequate performance of his/her other academic duties; but research for pecuniary return should be based upon an understanding with the authorities of the institution.”

“The teacher is entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing his/her subject, but he/she should be careful not to introduce into his/her teaching controversial matters which have no relation to his/her 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 college or university teacher is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and an officer of an educational institution. When he/she speaks or writes as a citizen, he/she should be free from institutional censorship and discipline, but his/her special position in the community imposes special obligations. As a person of learning and an educational officer, he/she should remember that the public judges his/her profession and his/her institution by his/her utterances. Hence he/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/she is not an institutional spokesman.”

This aligns with Title 5 section 51023 and with the standards set forth by the College’s accrediting body; the alignment is evidenced by the adoption of Board Policy 2030.