III. THE FACULTY

A. ACADEMIC RESPONSIBILITY (section 4.1 of the Bylaws of the Board of Regents)

Membership in the academic community imposes certain obligations. These obligations include the following duties of academic responsibility:

1. To respect: (1) the dignity of others; (2) the right of others to express differing opinions; (3) the right of others to be free from fear, from violence, and from personal abuse; and (4) the right of the University community to be free from actions which impede its normal functioning.
2. To enroll, teach, and evaluate the work of students without regard to considerations such as age, sex, race, color, national origin, or religious or political beliefs.
3. To establish and maintain a classroom or laboratory atmosphere that encourages free inquiry and the free expression of ideas by students.
4. To present the subject matter of courses as announced to the students and approved by authorities responsible for the curriculum.
5. To study current developments and maintain competence in the areas of assigned courses; to examine, continually and critically, the subject matter of such courses, as well as teaching techniques and proposals for improving higher education.
6. To: (1) fulfill the assigned time schedule of all classes, including quizzes, laboratories, tests, and other meetings unless absence is caused by an emergency or approved University business. Changes in the scheduled times shall be authorized by the Dean, director, or departmental chairman, with the agreement of the enrolled students and in the interest of an academic objective; (2) be available at frequent, regular, and scheduled times for student consultation; and (3) inform students concerning the requirements, standards, objectives, and evaluation procedures at the beginning of each course.
7. To participate upon request in the activities of the University in the areas of student advising and public service, and as appropriate, in the activities of the department, the college, the campus, and the University.
8. To make every effort to indicate that members of the professional staff are not spokesmen for the University except when authorized so to act.
9. To create and protect an atmosphere of intellectual honesty in the academic community. 

B. ACADEMIC FREEDOM

1. The following is a statement of the American Association of University Professors: The teacher is entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing his subject, but he should be careful not to introduce into his teaching controversial matter which has no relation to his subject.
2. The following statement from the Bylaws of the Board of Regents is pertinent to the issue of academic freedom in the classroom, in research, and in publications:

. . . it is regarded as a breach of professional ethics for a faculty member to make personal criticisms of colleagues to students and the general public except for the purpose of correcting an injustice or wrong. No institution or individual is above improvement, but suggestions for such improvement should be brought to the attention of those bearing the responsibility for making them.

1. The college or university teacher is a citizen, a member of the learned profession and an officer of an educational institution. When an individual speaks or writes as a citizen, the individual should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but the individual's special position in the community imposes a special obligation. As a person of learning and an educational officer, the individual should remember that the public may judge his profession and his institution by the individual's utterances. Hence the individual should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that the individual is not an institutional spokesman.

C. PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

Faculty members have a three-fold professional responsibility.

1. The first is teaching and recruitment/retention and is reflected in the faculty/student relationship within and outside of the classroom. Competence in presenting material effectively and willingness to be available to students for additional direction and counsel are of prime importance.
2. Second, faculty members are obligated to maintain command of current developments in their disciplines and to develop a program of research/creative activities that they can pursue fruitfully.
3. The third area of faculty responsibility is service to the School, College, University, and profession.

D. TYPES OF FACULTY APPOINTMENTS

The University of Nebraska recognizes two categories of faculty appointments: continuous (frequently referred to as “tenure-track”), and contingent (frequently referred to as “non-tenure-track”).

The subdivisions of these categories utilized in the GKSOM are as follows:

1. Continuous:
   1. Probationary (or tenure-track)
   2. Tenured
2. Contingent:
   1. Professor of Practice
   2. Research Professor
   3. Lecturer and Senior Lecturer