Academic Freedom at Western Michigan University

Academic freedom is the liberty that faculty members must have if they are to practice scholarly profession in accordance with the norms of that profession. Academic freedom is not a term or a condition of employment; rather, it is based in the institutional structure of this and other universities and is fundamental to their common mission of promoting inquiry and advancing the sum of human knowledge and understanding. Academic freedom exists as a basic prerequisite for universities to fulfill their mission to our society. Academic freedom is most commonly understood as a right of individual faculty members, but remains first and foremost a professional prerequisite of faculty members as a group.

The concept of academic freedom must be accompanied by an equally demanding concept of academic responsibility. As members of the community, the faculty has the rights and obligations of any citizen. When they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline. The faculty’s special positions in the academic community impose special obligations that should be evaluated in the light of their responsibilities to their disciplines, to their students, to their profession, and to the University. As citizens engaged in a profession that depends upon freedom for its health and integrity, faculty have a particular obligation to promote conditions of free inquiry and to further public understanding of academic freedom.