School of Law: Academic Freedom

Summary

This policy document affirms the UNC School of Law's commitment to academic freedom as essential to its educational mission, supporting faculty and students in freely pursuing teaching, research, scholarship, and public service without unreasonable restraint.

Body

Unit Policy

Title

School of Law: Academic Freedom

Introduction

Purpose

This policy document affirms the UNC School of Law's commitment to academic freedom as essential to its educational mission, supporting faculty and students in freely pursuing teaching, research, scholarship, and public service without unreasonable restraint.

Scope

This policy applies to faculty members and students at the UNC School of Law.

Policy

Policy Statement

  1. The University of North Carolina School of Law (SOL) is dedicated to the transmission and advancement of knowledge and understanding. Academic freedom is essential to achieving these goals. The SOL therefore supports and encourages freedom of inquiry for faculty members and students so that they may, responsibly and without internal or external restraints that would unreasonably restrict their academic endeavors, pursue the SOL’s goals through teaching, learning, research, discussion, and publication. 
  2.  The SOL supports and encourages full freedom, within the law, of conducting research; publishing scholarship; engaging in SOL governance; participating in law-related public service activities; curating library collections and providing information services; and exercising teaching responsibilities, including those related to client representation in clinical programs. 
  3. In any official claim involving a potential violation of academic freedom, a faculty member shall have the process afforded under University policies (currently found in Chapter 603 of the UNC Policy Manual and Section 3 of the Trustee Policies Governing Academic Tenure in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).    

Related Requirements

External Regulations

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Name: F. Andrew Hessick, Dean

Email: law_dean@unc.edu

Details

Details

Article ID: 163639
Created
Mon 7/20/26 6:39 PM
Modified
Mon 7/20/26 7:12 PM
Responsible Unit
School, Department, or other organizational unit issuing this document.
School of Law
Issuing Officer
Name of the document Issuing Officer. This is the individual whose organizational authority covers the policy scope and who is primarily responsible for the policy.
Andy Hessick
Issuing Officer Title
Title of the person who is primarily responsible for issuing this policy.
Dean
Next Review
Date on which the next document review is due.
07/20/2029 12:00 AM
Last Review
Date on which the most recent document review was completed.
07/20/2026 12:00 AM
Last Revised
Date on which the most recent changes to this document were approved.
08/14/2024 12:00 AM
Effective Date
If the date on which this document became/becomes enforceable differs from the Origination or Last Revision, this attribute reflects the date on which it is/was enforcable.
08/14/2024 12:00 AM
Origination
Date on which the original version of this document was first made official.
08/14/2024 12:00 AM