Frequently Asked Questions
General
| ASPECT | ACADEMIC FREEDOM | FREEDOM OF SPEECH |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A professional right grounded in disciplinary expertise, recognized within academic institutions. | An individual right protecting the ability to express ideas publicly without government interference. |
| Scope | Pertains to teaching, research, and expression within an academic context. | Applies to all individuals expressing ideas in the public sphere. |
| Context | Limited to academic and educational settings, involving scholarly discourse and critique. | Broadly applicable across various public and private contexts. |
| Protection | Protects educators from institutional censorship and allows critique of institutional policies. | Protects individuals from government censorship or punishment for expressing their ideas. |
| Focus | Related to academic subjects and expertise, ensuring intellectual exploration and discourse. | Focused on personal beliefs and opinions, regardless of truth or falsity. |
| Responsibilities | Carries duties correlative with rights, such as maintaining relevance to subject and academic rigor. | Provides the right to express ideas but may not guarantee protection from all forms of social backlash. |
| Key Examples | Freedom in teaching and research; ability to criticize institutional practices. | Public protests, social media postings, and opinion articles. |
Academic freedom applies to educational contexts and professional expertise, whereas freedom of speech is a broader constitutional right that applies to everyone. Academic freedom is centered on subject-matter expertise and does not protect hate speech or inflammatory language.
Adapted from Academic Senate for California Community Colleges
According to AAUP, the academic freedom of faculty members consists of four interrelated elements:
- Teaching: freedom to discuss all relevant matters in the classroom;
- Research: freedom to explore all avenues of scholarship, research, and creative expression and to publish the results of such work;
- Intramural speech: freedom from institutional censorship or discipline when addressing matters of institutional policy or action; and
- Extramural speech: freedom from institutional censorship or discipline when speaking or writing as citizens.
Faculty
For faculty members, academic freedom attaches to research and teaching. The Laws of the Regents broadly define academic freedom as the “freedom to study, learn, and conduct scholarship and creative work within their discipline, and to communicate the results of these pursuits to others, bound only by the control and authority of the rational methods by which knowledge is established in the field.” This definition embraces academic debate as the means to advance knowledge and embraces the “fullest exposure to conflicting opinions” limited only by disciplinary standards and evidence.
Faculty members have the responsibility to maintain competence; to devote themselves to developing and improving their teaching, scholarship, research, creative work, clinical activities, writing, and speaking; and to act with integrity, in accordance with the highest standards of their profession. Faculty members are responsible for requirements (e.g., course content, topic order, course schedule, assessment mechanisms) specified by responsible faculty bodies, such as curriculum committees. Faculty members should be able to justify, in terms of evidence, curriculum and student learning, all materials introduced into the classroom. In order for faculty members to practice academic freedom in its fullest sense, they have a responsibility to conduct their scholarship and pedagogy in an inclusive manner.
Finally, it’s important to note that academic freedom does not protect improper, exclusionary, or unethical conduct. All members of the university community remain subject to the standards of ethical conduct stated in the Laws of the Regents and regent policy, as well as Administrative Policy Statements and campus policies, such as the UCCS Policy 200-001.
Student
Academic freedom also protects students. While faculty have the right to establish classroom procedures to ensure orderly discussion and progress towards the goals of a class, students have the freedom to raise questions and express reasoned opinions on the matters being discussed. Students also have the ability to discuss matters related to their courses with faculty during office hours and take reasoned exception to the views or methods offered in any course of study. Following the AAUP (1967) Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of Students, academic freedom for students stipulates that professors and instructors should foster and support free inquiry and discussion in class and in related educational spaces. Students should be evaluated solely on academic performance, which shall be assessed according to the published requirements established by the instructor or academic unit. If students believe their academic freedom rights have been violated , the campus will investigate complaints and remediate confirmed violations.
But it’s always important to remember that the instructor has the right to determine the standards of scholarship for a class.
The university and its faculty establish the standards of academic performance for students who are enrolled in their classes. A student who enrolls in a course is responsible for meeting those standards of performance, and academic freedom does not allow a student to avoid the course requirements or fail to meet standards of academic performance, even if the student disagrees with those requirements or standards.
Students are also responsible for maintaining the integrity of the academic environment. The instructor for each course has the ability to establish standards of conduct and reasonable procedures for classroom discussion. Academic freedom does not provide students with the right to disrupt the class, disregard the classroom procedures for discussion, or to raise discussions that are unrelated to the topic of the class or course. UCCS is committed to educating its students to solve complex problems, think critically about a diverse world, and endeavor to contribute to the public good. Such important capacities must always be informed by evidence, knowledge, and inquiry.
Adapted from University of Colorado Boulder FAQs