Academic Freedom and Professional Responsibility
The University of Louisiana at Monroe is committed
to the principle of academic freedom and to the concomitant principle
that this freedom carries with it the special obligation to exercise
academic responsibility and to observe professional ethics.
Recognizing the fact that the common good is dependent upon
the free search for truth and its free expression, the University
endorses the principle that the teacher is entitled to full freedom
in research and in the publication of its results, subject to
adequate performance of the other academic duties. The University
recognizes the right of a faculty member to explore fully within
the field of his/her discipline as he/she believes to represent
the truth. The teacher is entitled to freedom in the classroom
in discussing the subject, but should be careful not to insist
upon the adoption by others of any particular point of view as
authoritative in controversial issues. Profanity, off-color jokes,
and similar forms of vulgarity, as well as racist and sexist comments,
will not be tolerated.
Recognizing the fact that the University teacher is a citizen as well as a member of a learned profession and an educational institution, the University endorses the principle that academic freedom includes the right of a member of the academic staff to exercise in speaking, writing, and action outside the University the rights of an American citizen, but emphasizes that this special position does not decrease responsibility and accountability to the University, the State, and the Nation. As a person of learning and as a member of the educational institution, the faculty member must remember that the public may judge the profession and the institution by these expressions and actions. Therefore, at all times when speaking and acting as a private citizen, the faculty member must be accurate, exercise appropriate restraint, show respect for the opinions of others, and make every effort to indicate that he or she is not a spokesperson for the institution.
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