Utah Valley University
Policies and Procedures
| Title | Academic Freedom and Information Access | Number | 444 |
| Section | Facilities, Operations, and Information Technology | Approval Date | Oct 14,2004 |
| Subsection | Information Technology | Effective Date | Oct 14,2004 |
I. Policy
POLICY
It is the policy of UVU that the same standards and principles of intellectual and academic freedom used in institution classrooms, libraries, and other aspects of institution life be applied to access for the institution community to resources available through computer networks. While the resources and discussions on such networks are not truly analogous to classrooms or libraries, the standards of academic freedom used in those settings should be applied. The institution's overall principle is that information shall not be censored. This policy is in keeping with the institution's commitment to academic freedom, as described in the Student Rights and Responsibility Policy, and the Employee Rights and Responsibility Policy. UVU is a community of scholars in which the ideals of freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of the individual are sustained. The commitment is also expressed in the Faculty Academic Freedom, Professional Responsibility and Tenure, which endorses the "Statement on Academic Freedom in the 1940 Statement of Principles of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)." The institution's commitment parallels the national "Library Bill of Rights," which affirms the importance of making information and ideas available in an environment free from censorship. It is also the policy of the institution that the same standards of intellectual and academic freedom developed for faculty, student, and staff publication in traditional media be applied to distribution of ideas and information in electronic media. This policy statement on information access through computer networks compliments the institution's overall "Policy on Ethics in Computer Usage," which describes the responsibilities of the institution community to use computer resources in an ethical, professional and legal manner. There may be some instances in which resources on the institution's computer network will be made available on a limited basis. The potential reasons for limited dissemination include licensing agreements that define the audience of a given resource, cost factors, and technological constraints.
It is the policy of UVU that the same standards and principles of intellectual and academic freedom used in institution classrooms, libraries, and other aspects of institution life be applied to access for the institution community to resources available through computer networks. While the resources and discussions on such networks are not truly analogous to classrooms or libraries, the standards of academic freedom used in those settings should be applied. The institution's overall principle is that information shall not be censored. This policy is in keeping with the institution's commitment to academic freedom, as described in the Student Rights and Responsibility Policy, and the Employee Rights and Responsibility Policy. UVU is a community of scholars in which the ideals of freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of the individual are sustained. The commitment is also expressed in the Faculty Academic Freedom, Professional Responsibility and Tenure, which endorses the "Statement on Academic Freedom in the 1940 Statement of Principles of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)." The institution's commitment parallels the national "Library Bill of Rights," which affirms the importance of making information and ideas available in an environment free from censorship. It is also the policy of the institution that the same standards of intellectual and academic freedom developed for faculty, student, and staff publication in traditional media be applied to distribution of ideas and information in electronic media. This policy statement on information access through computer networks compliments the institution's overall "Policy on Ethics in Computer Usage," which describes the responsibilities of the institution community to use computer resources in an ethical, professional and legal manner. There may be some instances in which resources on the institution's computer network will be made available on a limited basis. The potential reasons for limited dissemination include licensing agreements that define the audience of a given resource, cost factors, and technological constraints.