Academic Freedom, Privileges, Limits and Obligations for Faculty and Graduate Instructors

Sept. 17, 2025
Contact: Christopher Ave, Christopher.Ave@missouri.edu

University of Missouri President Mun Choi and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Matthew Martens sent the following on Tuesday.

Deans and Chairs,

We are living in a period where we are regularly inundated with opinions on major events and key issues of the day.  At times, our faculty and graduate instructors engage with our students on these issues and events via teaching and other interactions.  We write to affirm that we support the foundations and principles of academic freedom, but to remind the faculty and graduate instructors that there are limits of that freedom as it pertains to teaching and interactions with students.  There are also special obligations when speaking or posting as citizens.  Around the country, we’ve seen examples of significant controversies, investigations and suspensions as a result of interactions that were conducted inappropriately (Inside Higher Ed Article). 

We ask you to review and share the privileges, limits and obligations of the University of Missouri CRR on Academic Freedom (CRR 310.010) with your faculty and graduate instructors. CRR 310.010 states that:

1. Institutions of higher education are established and maintained for the common good, which depends upon the free search for truth and its free expression.

2. Academic freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research. Freedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth. Academic freedom in its teaching aspect is fundamental to the protection of the rights of the faculty member in teaching and of the student in learning. It carries with it duties correlative with rights. The following sections are indicative of these rights and duties.

Faculty members are entitled to freedom in research and in the publication of the results (qualified insofar as necessary in the case of sponsored research), subject to the adequate performance of their other academic duties.

Faculty members are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects, but have the responsibility not to depart significantly from their respective areas of competence or to divert substantial time to material extraneous to the course.

College or university faculty members are citizens, members of an educational institution, and members of learned professions. When they speak or write as citizens, they are to be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations. They should anticipate that the public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances and actions. Hence, they should at all times be accurate, exercise appropriate restraint, show respect for the opinions of others, and make every effort to indicate that they do not speak for the institution.

In addition, the MU Faculty Bylaws (CRR 300.010.C.2.a) state:

As a teacher, the faculty member encourages the free pursuit of learning in their students. The faculty member holds before them the best scholarly standards of the faculty member's discipline. The faculty member demonstrates respect for the student as an individual, and adheres to their proper role as intellectual guide and counselor. The faculty member makes every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to assure that their evaluation of students reflects their true merit. The faculty member respects the confidential nature of the relationship between faculty member and student. The faculty member avoids any exploitation of students for the faculty member's private advantage and acknowledges significant assistance from them. The faculty member protects students' academic freedom.

We want our faculty to engage with students on important issues, when appropriate for the curriculum and if they have expertise in that topic. But, it is critical that they always do so in a respectful, responsible manner and ensure viewpoint diversity. Thank you for your support and leadership.

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