...
In higher education, faculty and students have the fundamental and well-established right to “academic freedom,” which grants freedom in research, teaching, and learning. This right values and protects free inquiry and intellectual discourse in a democratic society, and it is made possible by our shared commitment to professional ethics and standards for professional conduct. While not a constitutional right, academic freedom has been established in case law, most often drawing on The American Association of University Professors (AAUP)’s “1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure.” Academic freedom entitles members of disciplinary communities to determine parameters of inquiry and knowledge in their field, appropriate methods of research, how to disseminate and evaluate that research, and how to teach their subjects in the classroom. As such, academic freedom does not protect all forms of faculty speech but rather speech tied to subject matter and disciplinary expertise in the classroom and in their research. Rowan University supports faculty’s academic freedom in research and teaching, as these are the fundamental activities that define a research institution and higher education. The First Amendment and freedom of expression more broadly cover other kinds of expression, and that constitutional right also protects the speech of non-faculty employees.
...
VI.
...
ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND DISCIPLINARY EXPERTISE
- Faculty speech is protected by academic freedom in three broad areas:
...