Academic Rights and Responsibilities
The freedom and effectiveness of the educational process depends upon the provision of satisfactory conditions and opportunities for learning. The responsibilities to secure, respect, and protect such opportunities and conditions must be shared by all members of the academic community.
The student has both rights and responsibilities as a member of the academic community. The most essential right for the student is the right to learn. The College has a duty to provide for students the opportunities and protections that best promote the learning process. Students play a significant role in fostering and maintaining a quality academic environment for themselves and others. The most important responsibility of the student to the academic community is to refrain from interfering with the rights of others that are equally essential to the basic purposes and processes of the College.
The faculty has the central role in the educational process and has the primary responsibility for the intellectual content and integrity of the College. It is the faculty’s role to encourage discussion, inquiry, and expression among students and to act as an intellectual guide and counselor. They should foster honest academic conduct and evaluate students fairly and accurately.
The establishment and maintenance of the proper faculty and student relationships are basic to the College’s function. This relationship should be founded on mutual respect and understanding and assumes a common dedication to the educational process. If problems arise in this relationship, both student and faculty should attempt to resolve them in informal, direct discussions between well- intentioned and reasonable persons.