FACULTY GOVERNANCE
Faculty governance is vital to the life of The University of Alabama.
Active and systematic input from faculty members is actively sought in matters pertaining to administrative leadership and academic programs. At The University of Alabama, faculty and administrators operate as collaborative partners in the educational enterprise. The processes guiding pivotal decisions that shape the university’s educational landscape and allocate its resources are a shared responsibility between faculty and administrators. (Refer to Appendix A, “Policies and Guidelines for Faculty Participation in the Selection of Deans and Departmental Chairpersons and in the Review of their Leadership,” and Appendix I, “Principles and Procedures for Discontinuance or Merger of Academic Units” for further details.)
The voting privileges of faculty regarding issues within academic units are determined by each individual school or college, unless specified otherwise in the Faculty Handbook. As an illustration, membership on faculty committees making recommendations on tenure is restricted to individuals holding tenured positions.
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
The academic freedom of the faculty is indispensable to the University in fulfilling its obligations to students, the community, and the State. The University endorses the statement on academic freedom as expressed in the American Association of University Professors’ statement, Academic Freedom and Tenure, 1940 Statement of Principles and explained in its 1970 Interpretive Comments:
• Institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition.
• Academic freedom is essential to these purposes and applies 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 to the teacher in teaching and of the student to freedom in learning. It carries with it duties correlative with rights.
Faculty members are entitled to full freedom in research and publication. However, publication of research results may be subject to requirements of individual research contracts and patent and copyright limitations. Faculty members are free to present relevant material in the classroom without prior censorship but are expected to meet the highest standards of professional integrity.
Any faculty member may speak freely as a private citizen but should make clear the views stated represent personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the position of the institution. In expressing opinions in public, faculty members should realize that the public may judge the teaching profession, as well as the University, based on statements made by individual faculty members.
