UTMB HANDBOOK OF OPERATING PROCEDURES

Section 5 Faculty Policies Subject 5.1 Academic Freedom, Rights and Responsibilities Policy 5.1.1 Rights and Responsibilities of Faculty Members

11/01/95 - Originated 08/22/03 - Reviewed w/ changes - Reviewed w/o changes President's Office - Author

Rights and Responsibilities of Faculty Members

Audience

The information in this document is for use by all faculty members.

Policy

UTMB is a learning environment that supports academic freedom and values the rights of its teaching staff. As promulgated by the Regents’ Rules and Regulations, members of the teaching staff shall conduct themselves in accordance with the information in this document.

Each member of the teaching staff has a specific and important duty to become acquainted with and to conform to all the rules and regulations relating to faculty and to the proper and orderly discharge of their work that are to be found set forth both in the Regents’ Rules and Regulations and the Institutional Handbook of Operating Procedures manual; in catalogs, announcements of courses, and other official publications; in printed or other material regularly prepared for the use of the staff; and in minutes of the faculties.

Academic Freedom, Rights and Responsibilities

The faculty member is entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication of the results, subject to the adequate performance of other academic duties. The faculty member is entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing his or her subject, but is expected not to introduce into his or her teaching controversial matter that has no relation to his or her subject. The university faculty member is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and an officer of an educational institution supported by the State of Texas. When the faculty member speaks or writes as a citizen, he or she should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but the faculty member's special position in the community imposes special obligations. As a person of learning and an educational officer, the faculty member should remember that the public may judge the profession and the institution by his or her utterances. Hence, the faculty member should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make it plain that the faculty member is not an institutional spokesman.

Political Activities (cont'd)

The Board of Regents recognizes the right of a member of the faculty or staff to participate in political activities, provided such activities are: • not conducted during work hours unless the faculty or staff member uses accrued compensatory or vacation leave; • are in compliance with the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas; • do not interfere with the discharge and performance of an employee's duties and responsibilities; or • do not involve the use of equipment, supplies, or services • do not involve the impermissible use of System or UTMB facilities • do not involve the attempt to coerce students, faculty, or staff to participate in or support the political activity • and do not involve the System or UTMB in partisan politics. With the interest of the institution being given first consideration, a leave of absence without pay may--but need not--be granted to a member of the faculty or staff to participate in political activities. However, a leave of absence without pay shall not be granted to a member of the faculty or staff for the purpose of being a candidate for an elective public office, holding an elective public office, or directing the political campaign of a candidate for an elective public office. A member of the faculty or staff who wishes to engage in political activity that will interfere with the performance of his or her duties and responsibilities should voluntarily terminate employment. If the President finds that the faculty or staff member's political activity interferes with the performance of his or her duties and responsibilities or does not comply with the requirements of this section, the faculty or staff member shall be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, which may include termination.

Greater Duties of Teaching Staff

Common practice has fixed the greater duties of a member of the teaching staff so clearly that many institutions do not even list them among their regulations. They are: • Teaching in the classroom, laboratory, seminar, or ward; • Studying, investigating, discovering, and creating; • Performing curricular tasks auxiliary to teaching and research, e.g., serving on faculty committees, attending to administrative and disciplinary tasks, promoting diligence and honest work in the student body; and, • Influencing beneficially students and citizens in various extracurricular ways. Performance as a faculty member, as a scholar, as an administrator, and as an individual is valued greatly by any university, for in these four ways its work is chiefly done. A state university being a public enterprise of maximum social importance, it is the duty of all persons connected with it to be as civic-minded as possible. It is also a duty to cooperate with the Board of Regents in carrying out the purposes and policies of the Board which are deliberately considered, usually by both the Board and the several faculties, in accordance with law and designed to attain the best educational results with the resources available. The Regents and all administrative officers are entitled to the cheerful acquiescence of all staffs in carrying out the policies duly adopted. At the same time, administrative officers are expected to listen with an open and appreciative mind to criticisms and suggestions coming to them from members of their staffs.

Reference	Rules and Regulations, Series 31004: Rights and Responsibilities of Faculty Members; 2 Rules and Regulations, Sec. 1,2 and 3