Academic freedom is an imporrtant principle in the Facutly Association—so much so that the 1940 AAUP statement is Appendix B of our contract.
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As a result of the shift to remote teaching and learning, many academic unions have worked to address the ways in which our intellectual property and our teaching have become more “public” than ever before because students are accessing courses from their homes.

We should all be mindful of this fact—as well as the need to understand the parameters of academic freedom. The FA believes in academic freedom so fully that the 1940 AAUP statement is integrated into our contract. As noted there, in Appendix B*,

“The teacher is entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing his subject, but should be careful not to introduce into his teaching controversial matter which has no relation to his subject.

…The college or university teacher is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and an officer of an educational institution. When he speaks or writes as a citizen, he should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but his special position in the community imposes special obligations. As a man of learning and an educational officer, he should remember that the public may judge his profession and his institution by his utterances. Hence he should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinion of others, and should make every effort to indicate that he is not an institutional spokesman.”

Academic freedom is not to be confused with unbounded freedom of speech just because you’re a faculty member.

If situations arise as a result of the more public nature of remote teaching or working, please reach out to us in the FA immediately. Also, the SCCC faculty resource guide makes plain that “the Vice President for Institutional Advancement and the College Director of Communications are responsible for providing representatives of the media with information.”

Any and all media inquiries should be directed to those individuals—Mary Lou Araneo and Drew Biondo, respectively—so you cannot be misunderstood as presenting yourself as an institutional spokesperson.

The FA will continue to work to address issues of how our intellectual property and words are inherently more public during remote teaching and working.

Contact us if you have questions or feedback.

* We are aware of the dated gendered language here, but we are directly quoting from our contract. We will look to update this appendix in future negotiations.