Academic freedom is defined as the right to investigate, to instruct, and to publish, within the area of the faculty member’s competence and appointment. The BOT and MTSA administration seek to foster a climate favorable to freedom of teaching and research. In a Christian school, academic freedom is further understood to carry certain responsibilities to one’s God, colleagues, school, students, and the state. Faculty members are expected to exercise their right of academic freedom within a framework of commitment to Christian values and mores. In addition, guidelines from the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs and/or the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges regarding content and hours for CRNA graduate programs must be followed.
- The faculty member should see it both as a right and a duty to maintain a high level of personal integrity and professional competence and to teach his discipline in harmony with Christian principles, keeping in mind the Seventh-day Adventist heritage and principles upon which the School was founded and continues to operate.
- It is the faculty member’s responsibility to use the freedom of his office in an honest and persistent effort to search out and communicate truth.
- The faculty member is entitled to freedom in the publication of his findings, subject to the provisions of the paragraph quoted above, and satisfactory performance of his assigned duties. Research for monetary gain, however, should be based upon an understanding with the President’s Council.
- The faculty member, entitled to freedom in the classroom in presenting his/her subject, should use care, however, in expressing personal views, discussing material not related to the subject taught, or dealing with topics for which he has no special training or competence.
- The faculty member should be prepared both to support the right of his colleagues to academic freedom and to interpret his own freedom in a way responsible to them and to the School. An atmosphere of mutual respect and confidence is thus maintained.
- When the faculty member speaks or writes as a private citizen, he is free to express his views. However, because it is highly likely that the public will judge the School by his statements, he is expected to exercise due restraint and respect for the Seventh-day Adventist Christian traditions of the School.
The School accepts the responsibility for publishing an official statement of educational philosophy, its own policy on employment and academic freedom, and a procedure available to the faculty member who thinks himself aggrieved. The potential faculty applicant accepts the responsibility for informing himself of his obligations as guardian of the distinctive character of the School, as one who personally subscribes to its philosophies and goals.