Academic Freedom

Academic Freedom

Academic freedom is indispensable for quality institutions of higher education. As the AAUP's core policy document states, "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 exposition."

Committee A Procedures

A narrative explanation explaining the process of censuring an institution and the many steps in between.

Freedom in the Classroom

Report assessing arguments made in support of recent legislative efforts to regulate classroom instruction.

Academic Freedom and the First Amendment (2007)

As a legal matter, it can be extremely difficult to determine where faculty members’ rights under academic freedom and the First Amendment begin and end. It can also be difficult to explain the distinction between “academic freedom” and “free speech rights under the First Amendment”—two related but analytically distinct legal concepts. Academic freedom rights are not coextensive with First Amendment rights, although courts have recognized a relationship between the two.

 

State Conference Committee A Resources

Here you will find materials to assist chapters and conferences that are advancing the central mission of the Association through a conference or chapter Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure.  A campus or state Committee A provides advice and counsel to faculty members experiencing problems relating to academic freedom, tenure, and due process. A conference or chapter Committee A also educates its own academic community about AAUP principles and recommended policies, and encourages institutions to incorporate AAUP-recommended standards into their faculty handbooks.

From the General Secretary: What if...?

Posted on my office pegboard is a bumper sticker that reads, “Why Is That?” expressing the scholarly exploration for understanding that has defined my work for nearly thirty years. Inscribed in my consciousness is another query—what if?— invoking the creative posing of possibilities for practice that has also driven my work and will focus it as the AAUP’s general secretary.

Academic Freedom, the Big Picture

Academic Freedom in the Wired World: Political Extremism, Corporate Power, and the University. Robert O’Neil. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2008.

Protecting an Independent Faculty Voice: Academic Freedom after Garcetti v. Ceballos

Report examining the potential impact on academic governance of the Supreme Court Garcetti v. Ceballos decision. It recommends actions to be taken in both public and private colleges and universities to preserve academic freedom in governance even in the face of judicial hostility or indifference.

Cuccinelli v. Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia, 283 Va. 420 (2010)

In a 2012 decision the Virginia Supreme Court rejected attempts by then Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to compel disclosure of university research records.  Cuccinelli who publicly opposes the theory of global warming, used his position to formally request emails and other documents relating to former faculty member and climatologist Michael Mann from the University of Virginia (UVA) arguing that he had authority to subpoena these records pursuant to the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act (FATA). The Supreme Court of Virginia held that state universities, as agencies of the Commonwealth, do not constitute a “person” under the FATA and therefore Cuccinelli had no authority to require release of the records and his appeal was rendered moot. (In another related case, the Virginia Supreme Court rejected a request for these records under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.)

New Academic Freedom Subcommittee

The AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure has established a subcommittee to study and recommend procedural standards to ensure academic freedom in the conduct of politically controversial academic personnel decisions. The subcommittee members are Ernst Benjamin, former AAUP general secretary, chair; Debra Nails, Michigan State University; Ellen Schrecker, Yeshiva University; David Rabban, University of Texas at Austin and chair of Committee A; Cary Nelson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and AAUP president; and Gary Rhoades, AAUP general secretary.

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