Academic Bill of Rights - RI

Here's a jewel. RI is proposing an Academic Bill of Rights. Essentially to ensure that students have some recourse in situations where there view opposes that of the professor.

The bill includes a clause directing the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education to "adopt an academic bill of rights designed to ensure the academic freedom of students and faculty at the state's institutions of higher learning, such that grading and hiring will not be tainted by consideration of the political, religious, or nonreligious beliefs of students or faculty, and designed to ensure that the state's educational campuses are an environment of open discourse lacking any quality of indoctrination."

Of course the professors are flipping out about it:

One organization opposing the bill is the American Association of University Professors. The AAUP released a statement in December 2003 condemning SAF's draft legislation as a threat to academic freedom.

Frank Annunziato, executive director of the University of Rhode Island chapter of the AAUP, said the bill would curtail the very freedoms it claims to protect. "We oppose this bill, because it's not what it says it is. It is designed to create academic chaos and invite attacks on professors," he said.

He cited the clause "quality of indoctrination" in the bill as something that could be misconstrued to "prevent professors from raising tough questions."

Annunziato also said there was no need for additional legislation, as most universities already have internal policies governing academic freedom. "Every institution has policies in place to protect students. We don't need more legislation enshrining this. We do not need to be monitored in this way. This bill is designed to make everyone into milquetoast," he said.

Oh, I see. Raising the tough questions. Failing students who disagree with you, even when they have valid reasoning is raising tough questions? "Academic chaos and inviting attacks on professors?" Not a knee jerk reaction?

I saw a report on the idiot box on the topic and there were professors advocates stating that this would instill fear in the professors and thus limit their right to academic freedom. I love that. In any other business, if you take exceptional actions against a co-worker that you disagree with, you get sanctioned or fired. Only in academia is repression of opposing views justified as being academic freedom.

I don't know the full details of the bill, but from this reaction I'd say they may be on to something.