University professors and leaders wrote a statement reaffirming the University’s commitment to academic freedom and integrity, President Jim Davis announced Monday.
Davis described the Texas Statement on Academic Integrity as a “visionary statement,” which sets standards for responsible academic practices. The statement discusses three subject areas: academic freedom and citizenship, academic integrity and public trust, and academic integrity and teaching. The statement was signed by 20 members of the Faculty Working Group on Academic Integrity, which the University established last month. The working group represents 12 colleges and schools, but the School of Architecture, College of Fine Arts, School of Information, College of Pharmacy and Dell Medical School are not represented.
“The University of Texas at Austin exists to discover and produce knowledge, to teach it to the next generation, and to help advance the common good,” the authors wrote in the statement. “We seek to serve our state and nation while training the next generation of leaders. This is the Texas Way.”
Academic freedom is defined in the statement as an application of First Amendment rights enabling research and education. The statement defines academic integrity as the responsible exercise of academic freedom, including intellectual honesty and responsible teaching, which forms public trust in universities. Sheridan Titman, a finance professor and member of the working group, said he does not know how the University will enforce the statement.
“Some people have concluded that the statement is fairly ambiguous,” Titman said. “The real question is the devil in the details and how it will be enforced.”
A University spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
The working group recommends that professors protect all students’ academic freedom and create open discussions. Professors should foster classroom trust, present different perspectives, prepare students to use reason to form their own opinions on the course and avoid discussing topics and controversies not relevant to the course material, according to the statement.
Titman said students should feel the classroom is a place where they are open to say whatever they feel, but it should remain relevant to the course. He said, for example, the University does not want a chemistry professor to talk about politics in their class.
“At its core, academic integrity forges a solemn trust between the instructor and the students, and between the University and the state and nation,” the authors wrote in the statement. “It is that trust that we reaffirm here, and it is that trust that will continue to ensure that what starts here changes the world.”
Titman said not much has changed in the University’s view of academic freedom and integrity through this statement. However, he said it is important to “state the obvious” that the University respects professors’ freedom of speech.
“We’re not allowed to say whatever we want in the classroom,” Titman said. “We’ve got a job to do, to educate people, and we’ve got responsibility there.”
