PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
(slightly adapted from the 1987 AAUP ethics statement)
I. De Anza Community College faculty members, guided by a deep conviction of the worth and dignity of the advancement of knowledge, recognize the special responsibilities placed upon them. Their primary responsibility to their subjects is to seek and state the truth as they see it. To this end faculty members devote their energies to developing and improving their scholarly competence. They accept the obligation to exercise critical self-discipline and judgment in using, extending, and transmitting knowledge. They practice intellectual honesty. Although faculty members may follow subsidiary interests, these interests must never seriously hamper or compromise their freedom of inquiry.
II. As teachers, faculty members promote the free pursuit of learning in their students. They hold before them the best scholarly standards of their discipline. Faculty members demonstrate respect for students as individuals, and adhere to their proper role as intellectual guides and counselors. Faculty members make every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to assure that evaluation of students reflects their true merit. They respect the confidential nature of the relationship between faculty member and student. They avoid any exploitation of students for private advantage and acknowledge significant assistance from them. They protect the academic freedom of students.
III. As colleagues, faculty members have obligations that derive from common membership in the community of scholars. Faculty members do not discriminate against or harass colleagues. They respect and defend the free inquiry of associates. In the exchange of criticism and ideas faculty members show due respect for the opinions of others. Faculty members acknowledge their academic debts and strive to be objective in their professional judgment of colleagues. Faculty members accept their share of faculty responsibilities for the governance of De Anza.
IV. As members of an academic institution, De Anza faculty members seek above all to be effective teachers and scholars. Although faculty members observe the stated regulations of De Anza, provided the regulations do not contravene academic freedom, they maintain their right to criticize and seek revision. Faculty members give due regard to their paramount responsibilities at De Anza in determining the amount and character of the work done outside it. When considering the interruption or termination of their service, faculty members recognize the effect of their decisions upon their program and the college and give due notice of their intentions.
V. As members of Cupertino and other communities, De Anza College faculty members have the rights and obligations of all similar citizens. Faculty members measure the urgency of these obligations in the light of their responsibilities to their subject areas, to their students, to their profession, and to De Anza College. When they speak or act as private persons they avoid creating the impression that they speak or act for the college. As citizens engaged in a profession that depends upon freedom for its health and integrity, faculty members have a particular obligation to promote conditions of free inquiry and to further public understanding of academic freedom.
Adopted by the faculty Spring, 1991