Rule 3344-11-05 | Academic freedom.
Cleveland state university subscribes to the 1940 "Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure" of the American association of university professors and the association of American colleges as stated in rule 3344-11-13 of the Administrative Code.
(A) The right to demonstrate and protest on university property.
It is recognized that free speech is essential in a democratic society. As individuals or as groups, the faculty are permitted to demonstrate and protest on university property in opposition to university, city, state, national, or international policy provided they do not violate any applicable local, state or federal law, or, in the case of members of the bargaining unit, provisions of the agreement between CSU and the CSU-AAUP chapter, and no acts are performed that cause damage to property (personal or university); cause physical injury to any individual; prevent any student from attending class, entering or leaving any university facility, or attending any special program on university property; prevent administrative officers, faculty, students, employees, or invited guests of the university from performing duties they are authorized to perform; block the normal business of the university, particularly classroom or laboratory instruction; and block pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
(B) Faculty members are subject to the limitations imputed by law in the exercise of their rights of freedom of speech, protest, and demonstration in support of or opposition to public or university policy. Some of these limitations are set forth in rule 3344-11-16 of the Administrative Code, appended, hereto.
(C) Institutional due process (revised June 28, 2011).
As a principle, the university will operate in such a way that faculty enjoy freedom from arbitrary or discriminatory treatment. Each dean or faculty body, as appropriate, shall establish reasonable criteria and fair procedures pursuant to which decisions significantly affecting faculty, including the assignment of courses, the scheduling of classes, the participation in summer semester instructional programs, and the award of promotional and annual salary increments shall be made.
(D) Academic freedom encompasses the freedom of any faculty member and other members of the full time teaching staff to address any matter of institutional policy or action, whether or not that faculty member is or can be a member of any agency of institutional governance. All faculty and all such members of the teaching staff have the freedom to address both the Cleveland state university and broader communities with regard to any social, political, economic, or other interest. Exercise of these freedoms shall not be subject to institutional discipline or restraint, save for statements or actions that constitute disciplinary incompetence, "good cause" for dismissal, violations of professional ethics, and/or that are disruptive. Academic responsibility includes the good faith performance of professional duties and obligations, the recognition of the demands of the scholarly enterprise, and the candor to make it clear that, when one is speaking as a citizen on matters of public interest, one is not speaking for the institution. Nothing, herein, diminishes the university's existing powers of selecting, retaining and removing from an administrative position a faculty member who jointly holds that administrative position; in the case of joint faculty-administrative appointments, only the person's faculty status is protected by this rule.
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