CWRU Undergraduate Instructor's Manual

University Statement of Ethics

The following statement is also found in the Faculty Handbook and the Student Services Guide. Faculty are encouraged to read Chapter Three of the Faculty Handbook, "Policies and Procedures for Members of the Faculty of Case Western Reserve University," particularly the Introduction and Section IV, "Professional Responsibilities."

Universities seek to preserve, disseminate, and advance knowledge. At CWRU, as elsewhere, we recognize that to fulfill these purposes requires a norm of expected conduct shared by all in the University community, governed by truthfulness, openness to new ideas, and consideration for the individual rights of others, including the right to hold and express opinions different from our own.

The University's mission rests on the premise of intellectual honesty-in the classroom, the laboratory, the office and the solitary examination desk. Without a prevailing ethic of honor and integrity not only in scientific pursuits but in all scholarly activity, the very search for knowledge is impaired. In these respects, each of us-especially but not exclusively faculty-must regard oneself as a mentor for others.

These principles we strive to uphold make it possible for the larger society to place trust in the degrees we confer, the research we produce, the scholarship we represent and disseminate, and the critical assessments we make of the performance of students and faculty, as well as judgments of staff and administrators.

To safeguard the standards on which we all depend, each of us must therefore accept individual responsibility for our behavior and our work and refrain from taking credit for the work of others.

The culture of a university also requires that the rights of all be protected, particularly by those entrusted with authority for judgment of the work of others.

The University, being a human community, is subject to human failings, ambiguities, and errors. It is therefore the responsibility of the bodies regulating the affairs of faculty, students, and staff to maintain processes for judging and resolving instances where these principles may have been violated. However, all such systems depend for their effectiveness, in turn, on the acceptance of common norms of conduct--the ties of trust which bind the university community together.

Academic Freedom

This statement is also found in the Faculty Handbook.

Fundamental to the purposes of the University is the belief that progress in social and individual welfare is ultimately dependent on the maintenance of freedom in academic processes. Especially vital is the protection of expression which is critical toward conventional thought or established interests.

Academic freedom is a right of both tenured and non-tenured faculty members, and applies to University activities including teaching and research. Specifically, each faculty member may consider in his or her classes any topic relevant to the subject matter of the course as defined by the appropriate educational unit. Each faculty member is entitled to full freedom of scholarly investigation and publication of his or her findings.

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