- As individual members with the rights of academic freedom and freedom of association, academic staff have the right to support collective departmental statements espousing beliefs about political or social issues. Academic freedom includes the right to such extramural speech and freedom of expression. These are individual rights; institutions, departments and other academic units do not enjoy academic freedom. The chair of a department should refrain from issuing departmental statements unless authorized by collegial processes.
- When making statements, members of departments or sub-units have an obligation to consider the primacy of individual faculty members’ academic freedom and to ensure such statements do not create a climate of compulsion or implied coercion. Particular care should be taken to protect the individual academic freedom of pre-tenure and contract academic staff. Individual members of departments may use their academic freedom to express views that differ from a departmental statement.
- Joint/departmental statements should note on whose behalf the statement is issued (e.g., an academic unit) and how the statement’s content was determined (e.g., by a vote at a unit meeting). Where a collective statement does not reflect unanimity, this should be reflected in the statement.
- Students and support staff have the right and opportunity to express their views through their associations or as individuals. Because of potential power imbalances, academic staff should refrain from soliciting student and support staff participation in departmental statements.
- It is understood that academic staff and collectives of academic staff are not speaking on behalf of the institution unless specifically authorized to do so. The post-secondary institution should respect the right of individual members to participate in collective statements in accordance with the principles above.
Approved by the CAUT Council, May 2025.
