6.10 Ethics and Academic Responsibility
Purpose:
To outline ethical standards of responsibility for faculty members to
scholarship, students, colleagues, the university, and the larger community
which the university serves.
Policy Statement:
The basic functions of the university are the advancement and dissemination
of learning, the development of critical intelligence, creative talent,
aesthetic sensibility and moral awareness in its students, and the training
of citizens and professional workers for the society of which the university
is a part.
The indispensable condition for the successful discharge of these functions
is an atmosphere of intellectual freedom. Unless the faculty member is
free to pursue the quest for knowledge and understanding, wherever it
may lead, and to report and discuss findings, whatever they may be, the
university faculty member cannot perform properly. The university, therefore,
must provide such an atmosphere of intellectual freedom for its faculty.
The faculty, in turn, must uphold this freedom in all its actions.
Freedom entails responsibilities. Every faculty member must accept the
responsibilities which are concomitant with the freedom which is enjoyed.
Those responsibilities are to: (1) scholarship, (2) students, (3) colleagues,
(4) the university, and (5) the larger community which the university
serves.
1. Scholarly Responsibilities
The faculty member's responsibilities to scholarship derive from the
university' s commitment to knowledge and the advancement of learning.
Thus the faculty member must strive to keep abreast of the research and
scholarship that is being carried forward.
a. In their teaching and research, faculty members have an obligation
to appropriately acknowledge contributions made by students, colleagues,
and others.
b. The faculty members have the responsibility of being unfailingly
honest in research and teaching, taking precautions against common causes
of error, and avoiding dogmatic assertion.
c. In all research, including contract research, the faculty member's
responsibility to scholarship remains unqualified. It is inappropriate
to selectively marshal evidence for a preconceived result. The faculty
member's commitment to academic honesty must not be compromised.
d. There are times when the national security requires that certain
research be carried on in secret and requires further that the results
of that research be classified as secret or confidential. In these circumstances,
it is proper for the university, or for a faculty member of the university,
to carry on secret research and to permit the results of that research
to be classified. In all other circumstances, however, secrecy of research
and classification of knowledge are incompatible with the university's
commitment to the advancement of learning.
e. In the face of increasing commercially sponsored research, faculty
members should identify potential conflicts of interest and maintain
a tradition of disinterested inquiry.
f. When the object of study is a human being, the faculty member should
take all due effort to protect and preserve the dignity of the person
or persons involved in studies conducted by the faculty member or under
the faculty member's supervision. To this end, all research conducted
by UNI faculty, students, and staff that involves human subjects --
questionnaires, surveys, interviews, observations -- must be reviewed
by the University institutional review board before the research begins.
g. Research done using animals should proceed in the most humane fashion
possible.
2. Faculty Responsibilities to Students
Faculty members have the responsibility for creating in their relations
with students a climate that stimulates and encourages students to learn.
Faculty should exemplify high scholarly standards and respect and foster
students' freedom to choose and pursue appropriate academic goals.
a. Faculty members have the obligation to make clear the objectives
of each course or program, to establish requirements, to set standards
of achievement, and to evaluate student performance fairly and impartially.
b. Students are entitled to the same intellectual freedom that faculty
members enjoy. Faculty should respect that freedom, and encourage students
to explore alternative perspectives.
c. The student's freedom to learn must be protected. Repressive or
disruptive actions on the part of some individuals must not be permitted
to interfere with the learning activities of others.
d. Faculty members have the obligation to meet their classroom and
other instructional responsibilities.
e. Faculty members should teach their courses consistent with the
course description in the catalogue and the syllabus. They should make
course objectives and requirements clear, and not persistently interject
irrelevant views and material. Because learning is furthered when students
are adequately prepared to deal with course materials, faculty members
should set course content within an appropriate context. The University
is also bound by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, policy on Notification
of Students of Class Content (6.28), which reads:
Faculty members may decide for sound pedagogical reasons that it
is necessary to use course materials that include representations
of human sexual acts. When such materials involve photo or film depictions,
information sufficient to enable individual students to make a knowledgeable
choice about whether to take that course, or attend a specific class
session must be available. Students will not be penalized for not
attending a specific class session if such material is to be shown,
but students are responsible for learning the content of the class
session. (Board of Regents Minutes October 20, 1993, p.288)
f. Faculty members have a responsibility to make themselves reasonably
available to students and should make known the times and places of
their availability.
g. Because it is important for the timely achievement of the students'
academic goals, faculty members should take care to advise students
accurately.
h. Faculty members must respect the confidentiality of information
provided by students, except in cases where disclosure is required by
law.
3. Responsibilities to Colleagues
The faculty member's responsibilities to colleagues derive from their
common membership in the community of scholars.
a. Faculty members must defend academic freedom and show respect for
intellectual inquiries of colleagues.
b. When called upon by appropriate authority to evaluate a colleague,
the faculty members should be candid. The faculty members should be
careful to confine their evaluations to professionally relevant matter.
4. Responsibilities to the University
The faculty member's primary responsibility to the University is to
be an effective scholar and teacher. In addition, the faculty member is
expected to actively participate as a citizen of the University community.
a. Faculty members who present information publicly should be careful
to clarify whether they are representing official University policy.
b. In their private activities, faculty members should take care to
make clear which activities are not a part of their university responsibilities
and are not sponsored by the university.
c. Participation by faculty members in any work or activity outside
the university should not infringe on their responsibilities to the
university and the students.
d. The faculty member has the duty of constant effort to insure that
the regulations of the university are designed to achieve the university's
goals and that they shall be in accord with the principles of academic
freedom. Recognizing the importance of order within the institution,
faculty members should not encourage acts of destruction or violence
on campus. This in no way limits the right to attempt to reform regulations
by appropriate means.
5. Responsibility to the Community
As members of the larger community, faculty members have the rights
and prerogatives, and the obligations and duties of any citizen. These
include the right to join political or other associations, to convene
and conduct public meetings, and to publicize opinions on political and
social issues. In any public discourse, faculty members should take care
to make clear when their comments represent personal opinions and when
their comments represent official University positions.
Faculty Senate approved, 5/00
President’s Cabinet approved, 9/25/00 | 
