Reflections on Professorial Academic Freedom: Second Thoughts on the Third "Essential Freedom"

RE: Reflections and Explorations A Forum for Deliberative Dialogue

“…According to these scholars, academic freedom protects faculty members from administrative discipline for their speech concerning internal university concerns. Other analysts, such as Brest (1988), , Olivas (1993) and Yudof (1988), are not so sure. They have argued that academic freedom shields only the "core" scholarly activities of teaching, research and publication and faculty member rights of public speech as citizens.…”

“…Some scholars have contended that extending academic freedom to the faculty governing role shields "the scholarly enterprise from outside interference …, but only grants limited protection to professors' intramural speech … against institutional interests" (Olivas, 1993(Olivas, , p. 1837. This is so, these scholars argue, because academic freedom applies only to professorial speech that adheres to professional standards and is the product of "training, developed expertise, and scrupulous care" (Ibid, p. 1835).…”

“…Furthermore, when protected, "non-professorial" speech should be shielded for all-scholars and staff alike. In this view, professors engaged in non-academic speech should not be able to claim any more or less protection for such communication than can any other member of the university community (Olivas, 1993).…”

Academic Freedom in Europe: Time for a Magna Charta?

“…Similarly, freedom of speech and academic freedom need to be distinguished for, as Olivas (1993Olivas ( , 1838 rightly points out, '[t]he concepts of free speech and academic freedom are symmetrical and overlapping, not synonymous'. In the majority of EU states, the distinction between freedom of speech and academic freedom is recognised in law, with the former being protected as a basic constitutional right, while the latter is given separate protection either elsewhere in the constitution or within specific legislation on higher education.…”

Accountability, Autonomy, and Academic Freedom in Educator Preparation Programs

“…Institutions themselves may assert academic freedom claims in response to government efforts to regulate them. In the United States, principles of academic freedom have a long history in higher education, arising from the traditions of European universities (Hamilton, 2002;Olivas, 1993). The tradition of academic freedom for faculty exists, in some form, in almost all higher education institutions.…”