Academic Rights and Responsibilities
The Ohio State University's Reaffirmation of Academic Rights and
Responsibilities and Processes for Addressing Concerns
April, 2006
In June 2005 a statement on academic freedom and intellectual diversity on American campuses was released by the American Council on Education (ACE), the major coordinating body for the nation's higher education institutions, of which Ohio State is a member. The ACE statement includes the following principles:
- Academic freedom and intellectual pluralism are core principles of America's higher education system.
- Government's recognition and respect for independence of colleges and universities is essential for academic excellence.
- Colleges and universities should welcome diverse beliefs and the free exchange of ideas.
- Grades and other academic decisions should be based solely on considerations that are intellectually relevant to the subject matter.
- Neither students nor faculty should be disadvantaged or evaluated on the basis of their political opinions.
- Any member of the campus community who believes he or she has been treated unfairly on academic matters must have access to a clear institutional process to address grievances.
Ohio’s Inter-University Council (IUC), a statewide consortium of public universities, endorsed these principles in October 2005. It then passed a resolution recommending that all four-year public universities in Ohio communicate these principles to their campus communities. OSU President Karen A. Holbrook was among the fifteen presidents of those Ohio universities to sign the resolution. In supporting the IUC resolution, President Holbrook reaffirmed Ohio State’s unwavering commitment to these principles of academic rights and responsibilities.
University rules provide clear mechanisms for addressing the complaints of students who believe they have experienced treatment that is inconsistent with OSU's commitment to freedom of thought and expression, respect for multiple points of view, and the civil and open discussion of these views. As determined by the Executive Vice President and Provost, and as confirmed by the University Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility (CAFR), those mechanisms are as follows.
- Students who are concerned that their grade in a course has been affected by a consideration not intellectually relevant to the subject matter should refer to the faculty rule associated with alteration of marks located at http://trustees.osu.edu/rules8/ru8-22-231.php. An undergraduate student may choose to consult an academic advisor or the student advocacy office for advice on this process. A graduate student may choose to consult the graduate studies committee chair for advice on this process.
- Students who are concerned about unfair academic treatment on the basis of political opinions or other personally-held tenets or points of view should refer to the faculty rule associated with complaints against regular, regular clinical, and auxiliary faculty members located at http://trustees.osu.edu/rules5/ru5-04.php. An undergraduate student may choose to consult an academic advisor, the student advocacy office, or the department chair or school director for advice on this process. A graduate student may choose to consult the graduate studies committee chair or department chair or school director for advice on this process.
