Academic Freedom Education Initiative

This initiative is endorsed by the LAUC Executive Board and is designed to educate and spark discussion about APM-011. This important new policy launched just before the COVID-19 shutdown, and details academic freedom rights and responsibilities for librarians and thousands of others working under 60 academic titles in the UC system.

AF Reading list

• It is important to read the following sections of the Academic Personnel Manual (APM), where you will find all the policy language relevant to AF for LAUC librarians:

• APM-010: Academic Freedom

• APM-011: Academic Freedom, Protection of Professional Standards, and Responsibilities of Non-Faculty Academic Appointees

• APM-015: The Faculty Code of Conduct

• APM-140: Non-Senate Academic Appointees/Grievances

• APM-011 was announced in November 2019 and became part of UC policy on February 1, 2020.  Read the Provost’s issuance letter and its accompanying FAQ.

• APM-011 applies to more than just librarians - it also covers all UC employees working under the academic titles listed in APM-112-4-b.

• The APM’s definition of academic freedom can be traced back to the milestone definition fromm the American Association of University Professors (AAUP): The 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure

Webinar Series

Introduction to Academic Freedom and APM-011

Presented Wednesday, March 24th, 2021

• Watch Webinar Recording
• View Webinar Slides

This panel discussion, featuring Professor Robert May and several LAUC members, explores the creation of the newest section of the APM. It explains the policy’s definition of academic freedom, describes the framework for formally addressing disputes through the policy, and begins to explore LAUC’s role in the process.

Robert May is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Philosophy at UC Davis.  As a former Chair of the UC Academic Senate, as well as the co-Chair of the working group that composed the initial draft of APM-011, he offers unique insights into the impetus and goals of this groundbreaking policy.  

Coming up next: The LAUC Statewide Assembly 2021 will include the next two webinars of this series:

• Monday May 3^rd at Noon Pacific:Academic Librarians’ lived experiences with Academic Freedom
  • Featuring Danya Leebaw and Alexis Logsdon, authors of “Power And Status (And Lack Thereof) In Academe: Academic Freedom And Academic Librarians”
  • Watch Event Recording
• Thursday May 6^th at 3PM Pacific:Exploring Academic Freedom challenges through scenarios 
  • Please review these hypothetical scenarios around academic freedom challenges – they will drive the interactive discussions in this session

Whenever possible, links to recordings of events will be shared in this space.

Stay tuned for further events in this series.

LAUC members: we need your help

Throughout this initiative, we will be gathering volunteers to help us accomplish the following tasks:

• Gathering Campus-specific pathfinders for adjudicating Academic Freedom disputes
• Collaborative preparation of a formal LAUC statement on Applicable National Professional Standards and Responsibilities
• Defining scope and qualification criteria for LAUC division-level ambassadors to provide confidential AF consultation and adjudication support to LAUC members
• Creating portable educational materials on APM-011, for the benefit of the thousands of UC colleagues in the 60 other academic titles covered by APM-011.

Feel free to approach any member of the AF Education Initiative Taskforce to pitch in to our efforts:

• Martin Brennan, UCLA
• Anna Chen, UCLA
• Dawn Childress, UCLA
• Gerardo Colmenar, UCSB
• Peggy Tahir, UCSF