Professional Conduct

7.01.01 Statement on Professional Conduct

As members of the University of Arizona community, we are committed to sustaining an academic community that advances learning and innovation. We recognize our responsibilities and obligations as representatives of the University, and we hold ourselves and each other accountable for the following:

We are inclusive and respectful

We are committed to freedom of expression, academic freedom, and collaborative inquiry. We support creativity and innovation by valuing all voices and engaging in respectful discourse. While we may not always agree with the ideas and opinions of others, we honor their right to express them.

We demonstrate integrity and follow established standards

We follow established standards and strive to maintain the highest level of quality as recognized in our various fields. We honor our commitments and demonstrate fairness and honesty in all of our professional duties. We follow laws and University and Arizona Board of Regents policies, and avoid real and perceived conflicts of interest. We ask questions when we are unsure about the appropriate course of action

We protect University assets

We are good stewards of the University resources entrusted to us and do not use these resources for personal gain or benefit. As University ambassadors and advocates, we recognize our obligation to represent the University well.

We provide a safe environment for those who work, learn, and visit with us

We do not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or behavior that intimidates, threatens, demeans, or harms another person. We work to resolve differences constructively, look out for each other and promptly address or report issues of concern. We recognize our individual obligations to make the University a safe and inclusive environment by abiding by the University’s Workplace Violence policy and Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy.

7.01.02 Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech

Learning requires concentrated attention and happens best in environments where a wide range of perspectives are welcome and encouraged. Allowing space for opposing views is central to academic inquiry, and that responsibility rests with all of us. Academic freedom, which is essential to the advancement of knowledge, is rooted in and regulated by the norms of the disciplinary communities within which the faculty are credentialed. In research, this means we are free to pursue areas of inquiry, wherever they may lead. In education, it means the freedom to teach from our disciplines, and the freedom of our students to engage within the parameters of the discipline openly and fully. Academic freedom also allows us to comment on University or unit governance without fear of retribution. ARS §15-1601(B) and our Guidelines for Shared Governance: Memorandum of Understanding entered into by the Faculty and the Administration of the University of Arizona describe the statutory and mutually agreed upon role of faculty in the governance of the University.

While academic freedom governs the pursuit of knowledge in the classroom and in our individual fields of study, freedom of speech applies elsewhere on campus and throughout the public sphere, as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. As private citizens, faculty, students, and staff may invoke their freedom of speech, subject to UHAP 2.10 Political Activity Policy (Interim), ABOR-PM 6-905 Political Activity, and ARS §15-1633. On December 3, 2018, the Faculty Senate endorsed the Chicago Statement of Freedom of Expression to underscore our commitment to freedom of expression at the University of Arizona.

As faculty and academic professionals, we bear special responsibilities to contribute to informed deliberations on academic issues. Our primary responsibility to our academic discipline and to our society is to seek and state the truth based on available evidence. Guided by recognition of the value of evidence-based inquiry to our community and an informed citizenry, we recognize our shared obligation to exercise critical judgment and self-discipline in using, extending, and transmitting knowledge. To this end, we devote our energies to developing and improving critical thinking and scholarly rigor through teaching, research, and engagement with the University’s broader constituencies.

7.01.03 Instructional Commitments

Instructional excellence inspires student curiosity and reinforces students’ belief in their ability to make a difference in a diverse world. As teachers, we create and sustain inquisitive, inclusive, and respectful learning environments, both inside and outside the classroom. We recognize that high-quality teaching can take many forms, including lecture, collaborative learning, laboratory work, independent study, and many other teaching styles and formats. The University provides us the academic freedom to choose the styles that best support the objectives and outcomes of our courses as well as the instructional excellence that serves to enrich our local, national and international campuses and communities.

To accomplish these goals, we assume specific responsibilities as faculty members. We commit to:

1. conduct our teaching and instructional activities in a responsible, ethical, and timely manner;
2. abide by the University’s established course syllabus policies for all graduate and undergraduate courses;
3. provide access and support to those with disabilities and create a safe and supportive learning environment that does not discriminate on any basis; and
4. reflect on feedback regarding assessment of our teaching from our students and peers, and consider whether and how it may be used to achieve instructional excellence.

7.01.04 Commitments with Regard to Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities

High-quality scholarship changes how we think, act, and view our diverse world. As scholars, artists, and researchers, we create new knowledge that challenges others to reconsider what they think and how they think. Our academic work provides critical building blocks for shaping our relationship with the environment around us, forging connections with people and communities, and making this world a better place. The University community recognizes that high-quality scholarly and creative work takes many forms, including theoretical and applied research and creative expression in various modalities, public performances, and original design.

To accomplish these goals, we assume specific responsibilities as faculty members. We commit to:

1. conduct our research, scholarship, and creative activities in a responsible and ethical manner to maintain public trust in the University’s research, teaching, and outreach mission;
2. acquire training on research integrity and research misconduct, conflict of commitment, conflict of interest, and plagiarism;
3. provide access and support to those with disabilities and create a safe and supportive work environment that does not discriminate on any basis; and
4. uphold our obligation to report sexual harassment and hostile work environments.

7.01.05 Service and Outreach Commitments

As Arizona’s land grant university, we have a special obligation as faculty and academic professionals to engage in activities that benefit the local, regional, and global community. Engagement with these various communities—as individuals, through Cooperative Extension, or through other university programs—is vital to the University’s land-grant mission.

7.01.06 Tutoring by Appointed Personnel

Appointed personnel are not permitted to tutor University students for pay. With the approval of the department head, graduate and undergraduate assistants may tutor individuals or groups for pay provided that the students who are tutored are not enrolled in regular University sections or classes taught by the tutor, that the tutor has no advance knowledge of any examination to be given to the students being tutored, and that the tutor has no part in determining grades for any student whom they have tutored. University facilities used by persons tutoring for pay are subject to a nominal rental charge. The University does not furnish facilities for tutoring by persons who are not members of its faculty or staff.