Version Information
Fri, 31 Mar 2023
Approved by: Academic Board
Current Version: V1.1
Replaces Version: V1.0
Next Review: Wed, 31 May 2023
Domain:
Institute
Academic Freedom Policy
Purpose
Academic freedom of lawful speech is the foundation for free intellectual enquiry, which is a defining characteristic of Metavision Institute as a higher education provider. Metavision Institute is committed to promoting and protecting academic freedom and free intellectual enquiry, except as restricted by law, and to protecting staff and students from discrimination or harassment that may arise from exercising their right to freedom of speech.
Scope
This policy applies to all Metavision Institute’s staff and students, as well as invited speakers, and all members of Metavision Institute’s governance committees.
Definitions
Academic freedom: The right of academic staff to conduct research, teach, and to pursue research and scholarship in line with scholarly, disciplinary, professional and institutional standards and norms, without interference or penalty.
Free intellectual enquiry: Combines elements of academic freedom and academic integrity, and also describes a culture in which staff and students use critical thinking skills to analyse the assumptions of formal disciplinary knowledge and explore their own ideas.
Relevant TEQSA Threshold Standards
This policy aligns with staffing requirements of Section 3.2 and corporate governance requirements of Section 6.1 of the Higher Education Standards Framework 2021.
Policy
1. Respect for Academic Freedom
Academic freedom and its related responsibilities are recognised and practised by Metavision Institute. Metavision Institute ensures that the rights of staff and students to hold and express their own values and opinions are respected. Scholarly inquiry is encouraged, and Metavision Institute’s academic staff members are free to express a public opinion within the area of their expertise. In these circumstances, staff are expected to demonstrate academic and scholarly rigour by ensuring accuracy, abiding by their professional Codes of Ethics, respecting the opinions of others, and by not suggesting that they are speaking on behalf of Metavision Institute.
Academic freedom carries associated responsibilities to exercise professional care and competence in the conduct of teaching and research in line with disciplinary, professional and institutional standards, to subject academic work to the critical scrutiny of others, to consider the impact that one’s work may have on others, to use inclusive language in oral presentations and written work, and not to impinge on the ability of others to engage freely in teaching and learning, research, and academic debate.
Metavision Institute’s staff members are also free to make public comment when speaking or writing as private citizens, including on social media, without using their institutional affiliation.
2. Commitment to scholarship and academic integrity
Metavision Institute’s Strategic Plan and Teaching and Learning Plan demonstrate a strong commitment to fostering an academic culture that encourages higher order thinking, scholarship and the development of a critical perspective. Academic freedom is integral to this culture.
Metavision Institute’s academic teaching staff are expected to exhibit a strong commitment to the scholarship of teaching and learning and disciplinary and professional scholarship. The pursuit of knowledge through intellectual inquiry is highly valued as a hallmark of scholarly communities.
Metavision Institute takes a serious view of academic misconduct and will undertake disciplinary proceedings with staff and students alleged to have plagiarised the work of others, misrepresented personal achievements, or to have obstructed others in the pursuit of their academic endeavours.
Responsibilities
Metavision Institute is responsible for fostering a scholarly culture through academic leadership, and for having in place policies to protect academic freedom and academic integrity. As a higher education provider, Metavision Institute generates and transfers knowledge and applied skills associated with the discipline and practice of holistic counselling and psychotherapy (French, R. S., 2019. Report of the independent review of freedom of speech in Australian higher education providers).
Academic teaching staff are responsible for demonstrating a strong commitment to the scholarship of teaching and learning and to the professional standards of holistic counselling and psychotherapy as an academic discipline. Staff members are responsible for upholding high standards of academic integrity in research and scholarship activities.
Related Documents
- Strategic Plan 2021-2024
- Teaching and Learning Plan 2021-2024