Academic freedom, the free search for truth and its free exposition, is essential to the proper functioning of a college. In both teaching and research, academic freedom is basic for the protection of the right of the instructor to teach and to do original research and of the student to learn. The instructor's right to freedom of discussion in the classroom is fundamental in the search for truth. This right is not to be construed as license to introduce extraneous and controversial material unrelated to his/her subject. The college instructor should at all times remember that the public, the institution, and his/her profession judge him by his/her actions, his/her utterances, and his/her written word. Therefore, he/she must show proper restraint in his/her actions, respect for the opinions of others in his/her speech, and scrupulous regard for the truth in his/her writing. He/she should be free from institutional censorship or discipline when exercising his/her civic rights.
The Board of Trustees expects integrity and responsible judgment in the exercise of academic freedom at Isothermal Community College.
Policy Number: 402-02-00BP
Adopted: April 1965
Reviewed: July 2018
Amended: May 1984; November 1986; November 1987; November 1989; July 1993; August 2005; March 2011