The institution ensures adequate procedures for safeguarding and protecting academic freedom.

   X   Compliance                    ___Partial Compliance                       ___Non-Compliance

Narrative

St. Petersburg College is in compliance with this comprehensive standard because it has developed and disseminated clear procedures for protecting academic freedom.

St. Petersburg College policy on academic freedom

The Board of Trustees has established a policy on academic freedom, Board of Trustees Rule 6Hx23-3.01 that provides Faculty members with full and complete academic freedom, in and out of the classroom, within the framework of established College Rules and Procedures.

Excerpt from Board of Trustees Rule 6Hx23-3.01 describing the framework for academic freedom at SPC

The policy further recognizes that students have academic freedom in the classroom in discussing their course topic and the research of their course topic.

The College adopted its current policy in 1977; the latest version was approved in 2005.

The College’s policy on academic freedom provides that Faculty members have a responsibility associated with their academic freedom.  They must exercise it with integrity, sensitivity, taste, judgment and conscientious regard for the rights of others and to the best interest of the College.

Procedures to safeguard and protect academic freedom

The development of Curriculum is primarily the responsibility of Faculty.  Faculty members share in the formulation of curriculum, selection of text and the choice of course materials.  They are free to develop their subjects in the classes within the goals and objectives of the curriculum.

The College’s policy protects the Faculty member’s teaching within the legitimate rights of academic freedom and precludes their non-renewal or termination for matters involving the exercise of their academic freedom.  The College further provides continuing contracts to Faculty members upon their successful completion of three years of teaching, as described in State Board of Education Administrative Rule 6A-14-041, which further assures academic freedom.

Faculty participate in the formulation of the College rules related to academic matters through the Faculty Governance Organization (FGO) and through membership on Collegewide committees.  They are directly represented in FGO by elected members of their own choosing and are further represented by at least one member on each of SPC’s Collegewide committees as recommended by the President of FGO to the President of the College.  As a part of the governance model, the President of the FGO and a student representative participate fully as members of President’s Cabinet.  The student representative position rotates among the campuses Student Government Associations (SGA) presidents.

In addition, the President of the College meets monthly with FGO leadership during the academic year to discuss potential issues from the Faculty.  The President of the College also hosts student leadership meetings each fall and spring semester.  Students invited to these meetings include representatives from the honor society for two year college students Phi Theta Kappa, SGA, and other student organizations.  The policy is furthered by the President’s open door policy.  Any employee, student, or other person is encouraged to contact the President’s office whenever there are matters to discuss with the President.  All of these steps help ensure that emerging issues involving academic freedom are resolved promptly.  There have been no academic freedom complaints since the last SACS visit.

Any Faculty grievances regarding academic freedom would be handled through the Employee Grievance Committee in accordance with Board of Trustees Procedure P6Hx23-2.021.  The Committee, consisting of five non-administrative Faculty representatives who are not involved in the matter would hear the petition of the Faculty member within 14 days of their filing a petition.  The Committee would then report its findings as a recommendation to the President’s Cabinet. 

Student grievances regarding academic freedom would be handled in accordance with Board of Trustees Rule 6Hx23-4.36.  The student first would be encouraged to discuss the matter with the other party.  If the student still wished to pursue the grievance, the matter would go to the associate provost for assistance.  The student would file a written grievance with the provost or executive director of the campus or center where the violation of academic freedom took place, stating the reasons and grounds for the appeal.  The grievance would be forwarded to the Campus/Center Appeals Committee, consisting of two instructors, two students and one administrator, on the appropriate campus/center location.  The Committee would convene a hearing within 15 working days after receipt of the grievance petition and record its decision in writing (decision letter) within 2 working days after the conclusion of the proceedings.  The parties directly involved would have the right to appeal the decision to the provost or executive director.  If a person directly involved was not satisfied with the decision of the provost or executive director he or she could appeal the decision to the President, whose decision would be final.

Publicizing policies on academic freedom

The policies and procedures regarding academic freedom are published in the Faculty Manual and the Student Handbook, both of which also reference the Board of Trustees Rules found online.  The Board of Trustees Rules are available to the public through the Prospective Student, Current Student, Potential Employee, and Interested Visitor pages linked from SPC’s Home page.  They can also be reached from the Staff Central page for employees only.

References