Academic Freedom

In institutions of higher education, like American Trinity University, the principle of Academic Freedom is essential to the search for truth and its exposition. Freedom in research is fundamental to the advanced knowledge. The right to Academic Freedom in teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty and of the students in the educational process. These concepts of Academic Freedom are promoted at American Trinity University and are elaborated as follows:

Any faculty member who believes that his/her rights have been abridged or ignored by an administrative officer or employees of American Trinity University and who is unable to obtain redress which is satisfactory to the faculty member within his/her own department, shall have the right to appeal to the President of the University.

The teacher is entitled to full freedom in research and in publication of the results; subject to the adequate performance of the teacher’s other academic duties. The faculty member may take on additional employment, including research for pecuniary return, without the approval of the University’s officer or President of the University provided, it does not interfere with his/her duties at the University.

Teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom to discuss their subject, but should exercise this freedom in a responsible manner.

Faculty members may exercise their rights as citizens when speaking or writing and should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but the faculty member’’s special position in the community imposes special obligations. As a member of the teaching profession, and as a representative of an educational institution, the faculty member should remember that the public may judge his/her profession and his/her institution by his/her utterances. Hence, the faculty member should at all times be accurate, exercise appropriate restraint, show respect for the opinion of others, and make every effort to indicate that (s)he is not speaking for the University.