UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

BOARD OF REGENTS POLICY

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ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

The Board of Regents (Board) of the University of Minnesota (University) reaffirms the principles of academic freedom and responsibility. These are rooted in the belief that the mind is ennobled by the pursuit of understanding and the search for truth, and the state well served when instruction is available to all at an institution dedicated to the advancement of learning. These principles are also refreshed by the recollection that there is commune vinculum omnibus artibus, a common bond through all the arts.

Academic freedom is the freedom to discuss all relevant matters in the classroom, to explore all avenues of scholarship, research, and creative expression, and to speak or write as a public citizen without institutional discipline or restraint. Academic responsibility implies the faithful performance of academic duties and obligations, the recognition of the demands of the scholarly enterprise, and the candor to make it clear that the individual is not speaking for the institution in matters of public interest.

Supersedes: Academic Freedom and Responsibility dated January 28, 1938; Academic Freedom and Responsibility dated December 14, 1963; Academic Freedom and Responsibility dated January 8, 1971.