Dear Colleagues,
These are complicated times with many geopolitical challenges across the globe. We are also entering another election cycle here in the United States. In light of these circumstances, I am writing to you again to remind you of our shared obligations as academics working at a public university.
As a public institution we must maintain our strong commitment to academic freedom and constitutionally-protected freedom of expression; however, those freedoms are not absolute and have important limits given our mission of delivering an educational experience that is accessible to all.
Regents Policy 2301 states that in our educational mission we must ensure that the University “remains aloof from politics and never functions as an instrument for the advancement of partisan interests.” This is supported by the Faculty Code of Conduct which notes that it is unacceptable for faculty to conduct their courses in a manner that involves the significant intrusion of material unrelated to the course.
Instructors are also reminded of UC San Diego’s Principles of Community and of the importance of ensuring that students are not made to feel intimidated, threatened, and/or excluded in their classes.
The principal policies that apply to these matters are:
Specific aspects of these policies include:
- Regents’ Policy 2301 prohibits canceling a class session for the purpose of encouraging students to participate in a protest or rally
- Significant intrusion of material unrelated to a course is prohibited under APM 015, Part II, A.1.b, and Section B4(b) of the Unit 18 agreement
Use of the position or powers of a faculty member to coerce the judgment or conscience of a student or to cause harm to a student for arbitrary or personal reasons is prohibited under APM 015, Part II, A.5 and Section B4(h) of Unit 18 agreement
- Misuse of the classroom by, for example, allowing it to be used for political indoctrination, for purposes other than those for which the course was constituted, or for providing grades without commensurate and appropriate student achievement is also prohibited under Regents’ Policy 2301
- Regents’ Policy 2301 stipulates “the right of students to have their classes held on the regularly scheduled basis and to be taught by the instructor whose responsibility it is to teach the course in question is to be upheld”
- APM 015, Part II, A.1.c. defines “significant failure to adhere, without legitimate reason, to the rules of the faculty in the conduct of courses, to meet class, to keep office hours, or to hold examinations as scheduled” to be a violation of the Faculty Code of Conduct.
As members of a public institution, it is our responsibility to ensure that the delivery of instruction does not become a tool for advocacy on the issues of the day, including international events and electoral politics. Instructors who have questions concerning permissible or impermissible actions under these policies should discuss them with their department chair or school dean.
Sincerely,
