ON GIFTS
WITH CURRICULAR IMPLICATIONS
(And Other Potential External Influence on University
Curriculum)
Selected Background
Information
- Gary H. Jones, Associate Professor,
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
UNC, University Code
502 D. Relation of
the Chancellor to the Constituent Institution.
(2) ...The chancellor shall
be responsible for ensuring that there exists in the institution a faculty
council or senate, a majority of whose members are elected by and from the
members of the faculty. The general faculty, however, which shall include
at least all full-time faculty and appropriate administrators, may function as
the council or senate. The faculty shall be served by a chair elected
either by the general faculty or by the council or senate. However, the
chancellor may attend and preside over all meetings of the council or
senate. The council or senate may advise the chancellor on any matters
pertaining to the institution that are of interest and concern to the
faculty. In addition to
ensuring the establishment of a council or senate, the chancellor shall ensure
the establishment of appropriate procedures within the institution to provide
members of the faculty the means to give advice with respect to questions of
academic policy and institutional governance, with particular emphasis upon
matters of curriculum, degree requirements, instructional standards, and
grading criteria. The procedures for giving advice may be through the
council or senate, standing or special committees or other consultative
means. [emphasis added]
See also, UNC CODE:
Section 600. Freedom and Responsibility in the University
Community
Section 601. Academic Freedom and Responsibility
of Faculty
Reference: http://www.northcarolina.edu/content.php/legal/policymanual/uncpolicymanual_100_1.htm
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
(SACS)
Commission on Colleges
Principles of
Accreditation, Foundations for Quality Enhancement (2008)
3.4.10 The institution places primary responsibility for the content, quality, and effectiveness of the curriculum with its faculty (Responsibility for curriculum)
3.4.11 For each major in a degree program, the institution assigns responsibility for program coordination, as well as for curriculum development and review, to persons academically qualified in the field. In those degree programs for which the institution does not identify a major, this requirement applies to a curricular area or concentration. (Academic program coordination)
See also,
1.1 (Principle of integrity)
3.2.4 (External influence [Governing Board])
3.7.4 (Academic freedom)
3.7.5 (Faculty role in governance)
Reference: http://www.sacscoc.org/principles.asp
On Gifts
Affecting the Curriculum
Table of Contents [This Page—and note UNC Code, above]
Guidelines
on Gifts Affecting The Curriculum [UNC CH]
News
Articles Related to Gifts with Curricular Implications
News
Articles Indirectly Related to this Topic:
Pope Center
Contribution Controversy
The Privatization of Public
Universities [2000,
UC Berkeley, excerpt]
Michigan State External Review of
UC Berkeley [2004, excerpt]
[Cornell] Faculty Statement Of
Principles & Best Practices [2005, excerpt]
Classes for Sale? [2008, Editorial, Charlotte
Observer]
Report of the AAMC Task Force on
Industry Funding of Medical Education
[AAMC, 2008]
UNC Faculty Assembly
Resolution on Potential External Influence of University Curriculum [May 2008]
Eisenhower
Farewell Address [1961, excerpt]
GUIDELINES ON GIFTS
AFFECTING THE CURRICULUM
Exemplar Policy (UNC
[Under “Miscellaneous”]
http://provost.unc.edu/policies
Appalachian State, Letter from Chancellor to Senate Chair (PDF)
UNC Charlotte,
University Letter to BB&T (PDF)
UNC
Charlotte, BB&T Letter of Agreement to UNCC (PDF)
Western Carolina University agreement with BB&T (forthcoming)
WCU Email from Provost and Chancellor to Faculty re
BB&T Gift (PDF)
UNC Chapel Hill (Nov. 2002)
BB&T
Charitable Foundation makes million-dollar gift to philosophy
[Not a copy of the agreement, but a news release with quotes from the agreement]
FACULTY ESSAYS (Permission to post was granted)
Gifts Affecting
the Curriculum; BB&T
Issue Analysis by Gregory Starrett, Associate Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, UNC Charlotte
Response
to Prof. Miller by Prof. Hale (PDF)
NEWS ARTICLES RELATED
TO GIFTS WITH CURRICULAR IMPLICATIONS
Ayn
by Clark Davis
Morning
Edition, May 6, 2008 ·
Since 2005,
the BB&T Charitable Foundation has given 25 colleges and universities
several million dollars to start programs devoted to the study of
The money
would establish a course dedicated to Rand's Atlas
Shrugged and Adam Smith's The
Wealth of Nations, and help create the
But not
everyone at the university is excited by the gift. Rick Wilson, a sociology
instructor at
"[Objectivism]
goes against the collective wisdom of the human race, I think, pretty much
everywhere," says
Inside
Highe Ed
April 28, 2008
Quick Takes: Med Schools Urged to Limit Industry Ties
Academic medical centers should bar professors, students and employees from accepting gifts — including equipment and services — from companies or industry groups, a special task force of the Association of American Medical Colleges recommended in a report released Sunday. The association’s Executive Council will consider the report in June. If the rules are adopted, they would likely be influential, although the AAMC does not control its members. The report follows years of growing concern over possible conflicts of interest created by industry support for medical education.
Who is
Paul Krugman
April 12, 2008
“And why is a book about him
being assigned in university courses?
Because businesses are
paying schools to teach the wisdom…
[Referencing, and in
apparently in response to, the Bloomberg News story below]
CEOs
pushing Ayn Rand studies use money to overcome resistance
April 11 (Bloomberg)
- By Matthew Keenan
“Ayn Rand's novels of
headstrong entrepreneurs' battles against convention enjoy a devoted following
in business circles. While academia has failed to embrace
“The charitable arm of BB&T
Corp., a banking company, pledged $1 million
http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=as6BR0QV4KE8&refer=home
BB&T
gifts with Ayn Rand requirements draw criticisms at schools
The News & Observer
(Charlotte)
April 6, 2008
“…But on at least 17 of those
campuses, including UNC Charlotte, N.C. State and
The schools' agreements have
drawn criticism from some faculty, who say it compromises academic integrity.
In higher education, the power to decide course content is supposed to rest
with professors, not donors. Debate about the gifts, which arose at UNCC in
March, illustrates tensions that exist over corporate influence on college
campuses…”
http://www.newsobserver.com/1565/story/1027381.html
Donor gave,
and UNCC winced
Charlotte N&O
(2008-03-23)
As a college student in
He's trying to replicate that
encounter through the charitable arm of his Winston-Salem-based company, which
since 1999 has awarded more than $28 million to 27...
[Available via ‘Archive News
Search’]
http://www.charlotte.com/275/story/548877.html
PAM
KELLEY AND CHRISTINA REXRODE STAFF WRITERS
Buying a
spot on the syllabus
Inside Higher Ed
Feb. 27, 2008
— Scott Jaschik
“…Their concern, they said, is a university accepting a
gift that requires any book to be taught — when book selection should be a
faculty prerogative. “Atlas Shrugged can be taught. It’s the required
part that is problematic,” said Jamie Warner, director of undergraduate studies
in political science.
“…Ken Spenner, a sociology professor who directs the
program, said that Duke “would absolutely reject” any requirement that a
particular book or idea be taught or not taught. In light of the concerns about
BB&T proposed gifts elsewhere, Spenner said that Duke officials thoroughly
reviewed the agreements to assure that there were no such requirements
anywhere, and they found none.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/02/27/marshall
‘Fundamentally
Inconsistent’ With University Values’
Inside Higher Ed
Nov. 07, 2007
— Scott Jaschik
Organizers of the Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Fund hoped to turn their new program at the
But when a faculty committee was able to get all the
details of the agreement that created the new center, it found provisions that
were “fundamentally inconsistent” with university values that are designed to
ensure a diversity of views. Specifically, the panel found that portions of the
agreement would have restricted funds to research designed to reflect certain
points of view, and that donors were given control over matters traditionally
left to academics.
The faculty panel — which was appointed by the chancellor
— said it was “deeply troublesome” that the agreement to accept the center was
made without faculty consultation and that many details were kept secret until
recently. The panel called for Chancellor Richard Herman to renegotiate the
deal for the academy and on Tuesday, a spokeswoman confirmed that he had
pledged to do so.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/11/07/illinois
By Sookhan Ho
BLACKSBURG,
Va., October 23, 2007 -- Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business has
received a $1 million gift from BBandT Charitable Foundation to establish a
teaching program in the college's finance department that explores the
foundations of capitalism and freedom.
The program comprises new
undergraduate and graduate courses as well as the BB&T Distinguished
Lecture Series on Capitalism that will be inaugurated on Wednesday, Oct. 24, by
BB&T Chairman and CEO
http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2007&itemno=593
Advocates
of objectivism make new inroads
Chronicle (7/13/2007)
By DAVID
GLENN
“It is
not every day that a foundation offers to pour tens of thousands of dollars
into a humanities department at a small regional institution. But this past
spring, the philosophy department at the
“…Skeptical
members of the
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i45/45a00701.htm
Ayn Rand’s
Academic Legacy
Chronicle (7/13/2007)
By DAVID GLENN
This week in
Telluride,
At the end of
Atlas Shrugged, as
[Subscription
required]
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i45/45a00601.htm
'Train Your
Mind to Change the World'
A new institution, born out of the individualistic philosophy of
Ayn Rand, has gone its own way
From the issue dated July 13,
2007
By ELYSE ASHBURN
[on
The campus,
tucked away on a former tobacco plantation near the Virginia-North Carolina border,
is the brainchild of Gary L. Hull, a longtime visiting professor of sociology
at Duke University and a proponent of Rand's philosophy, objectivism.
Scheduled to
open in the fall, it won't be the average liberal-arts college. For one thing,
it will be for-profit. And in exchange for forgoing tenure, faculty members
will receive a financial interest in the company that runs the college.
…
This fall the
ghosts may outnumber the students. So far, just 10 have enrolled.
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i45/45a01001.htm
Plan for new college
draws scrutiny
Inside Higher Ed
June 06, 2006
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/06/09/founders
BB&T Gift to Enable
UNCG Students to Study, Debate Philosophy of Capitalism (2006-11-02)
UNCG PR
By Jill Yesko, University
Relations
Contact (336) 334-3890
Posted 11-2-06
The gift will establish the
BB&T Program in Capitalism, Markets and Morality. The program will offer undergraduate
and graduate students from disciplines across UNCG the opportunity to examine
the ethical and philosophical basis for free market economies.
http://www.uncg.edu/ure/news/stories/2006/Nov/UNCGBBTGift110206.html
Concerns about ethics
course
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A30315
12
APR 2006 • by Bob Geary
The faculty at
The
faculty's position: We can't allow donors' money to dictate what we teach. The
vote was 54-34.
Gifts
& Curriculum, BB&T and Meredith College, Raleigh, NC
Excerpt:
April 4, 2006: [Meredith] Academic Council approved the course
along with a resolution (reading in part):
“that the faculty teaching this course … are free to design the course with no
pre-conditions. Faculty teaching the course must have
the freedom to choose appropriate readings and other course materials within
the guidelines of academic freedom and academic
responsibility. Further be it resolved that any funding obtained for
the College that includes conditions that the Faculty interpret to be
restrictions on academic freedom cannot be used to support the development and
implementation of this course or any course.”
$2 million gift to George Mason U,
GM PR
A portion
of the funds will create two chaired faculty positions at the
http://www.mercatus.org/Publications/pubID.4113/pub_detail.asp
WJU Receives Private Gift from BB&T
(2006-02-01)
http://www.wju.edu/about/adm_news_story.asp?iNewsID=1865&strBack=%2Fadmissions%2Fadm_apply.asp
Wheeling Jesuit University (WJU) today
announced the receipt of a $700,000 gift from the BB&T Charitable
Foundation-one of the largest gifts in the University’s history.
Award of the unrestricted funding, which the
University will use to enhance the university’s business curriculum –
especially the teaching of free-market capitalism – was announced by Brent
Robinson, BB&T regional president for northern West Virginia, during a
morning ceremony on the Wheeling campus.
WJU Institute Examines Capitalism and Promotes
Examination of a Free Society
(2006-12-11)
BB&T gift to UNC
UNCC Public Relations
BB&T donates $1 million to UNC Charlotte
Gift will create programs focused on moral
foundations of capitalism
“The contribution is payable over five years
and will be used to support the development of a course on ethics and morals in
capitalism for advanced business undergraduates and MBA students. Lilly will be
the first instructor for the course, which will be offered as a business
elective in the spring 2006 semester. Additionally, the gift will fund faculty
research on the philosophical underpinnings of capitalism; create a speakers
series focusing on ethical and core values in business; support the Center for
Applied Ethics at UNC Charlotte; and establish an Ayn Rand reading room on
campus.
http://www.publicrelations.uncc.edu/default.asp?id=15&objId=21
Business gets $1 million to study ethics of capitalism
(2004-03-25)
Issue date: 3/25/04 Section: News
“In light of recent corporate scandals, USC's
Moore School of Business received $1 million from BB&T Wednesday to set up
a faculty position to teach and research the moral foundations of capitalism…
According to Allison, Ayn Rand's unique ability
to depict the purity of capitalism is the reason a new course will be devoted
to her book.
$150,000 to
Unrestricted gift
http://www.guilford.edu/about_guilford/giving_to_guilford/news/bb&t.html
NEWS ARTICLES INDIRECTLY RELATED TO THIS TOPIC:
When Strings Are Attached, Quirky
Gifts Can Limit Universities
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/education/13endow.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Faculty
are liberal, who cares
Inside Higher Ed
(Little to
no evidence of student “indoctrination”)
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/03/27/politics
Where
pharma meets college
News
Observer
Academic
drug discovery centers offer ex-execs a new niche
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1013450.html
Scientists May Have Put Their Names on Papers Written by Drug
Companies
Lila Guterman
The Chronicle of Higher Education
April 25, 2008
Academic scientists
appear to have put their names on papers that are actually ghostwritten by
for-profit companies and then published in medical journals, a new study
indicates. Some of the scientists accused of doing so deny any wrongdoing, but
journal editors are already outlining measures to prevent future breaches of
academic integrity.
In the April 16 issue
of The Journal of the American Medical Association, four scientists
published the results of a search of court documents. The documents are about
to the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx, which has been withdrawn from the market
and has been the subject of hundreds of lawsuits because of concerns about its
safety.
The search revealed
mentions of many articles that were published under academic researchers' names
but appear to have been written by others. Those others worked for Merck &
Company, which is the developer of Vioxx, or for medical-publishing companies.
In an editorial
accompanying the article, Catherine D. DeAngelis and Phil B. Fontanarosa,
editor in chief and executive deputy editor of JAMA, respectively, call
researchers' guest authorship "unprofessional and demeaning to the medical
profession and to scientific research." [more]
[Subscription]
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i33/33a01201.htm
[to
be reworked for format]
Academic Capitalism and the New
Economy: Markets, State, and Higher Education by Sheila Slaughter and
Gary Rhoades (Hardcover - Aug 17, 2004)
Ayn Rand's Normative
Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist by Tara
Smith (
Busch, Lawrence,
Richard Allison, Craig Harris, Alan Rudy, Bradley T. Shaw, Toby Ten Eyck, Dawn
Coppin, Jason Konefal, Christopher Oliver, with James Fairweather (2004). External
Review of the Collaborative Research Agreement between Novartis Agricultural
Discovery Institute, Inc. and The Regents of the
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/07/external_novartis_review.pdf
Cornell Faculty Statement of
Principles and Best Practices Concerning Corporate Strategic Alliances (CSA)
Cornell_FacultyStatementofPrinciples&BestPracticesRECorpStrategicAlliances_2005-Spring.pdf
David C. Montgomery, A Kelvin
Smith Professor of Physics,
Marketing Ourselves. Academe,
Sept/Oct 2003.
Eyal Press and Jennifer Washburn, The Kept University, The Atlantic Monthly, March 2000.
Remaking The
and William F. Massy (Hardcover - Aug 25, 2005)
Robert Rosenzweig, President
Emeritus, Amer.Assoc. Universities, What’s For Sale These Days in Higher
Education?
Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education by Derek Bok (Paperback - Nov 15, 2004)
University, Inc.: The Corporate Corruption of American Higher Education by Jennifer Washburn (Paperback - Aug 17, 2006)
Excerpts from University, Inc. (Washburn): 10
Things You Should Know About Corporate Corruption on Campus
http://firgoa.usc.es/drupal/node/25022
AYN
AR Institute
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index
ARI FAQ
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=faq_index
Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=faq_index#ari_anthem
Second Renaissance, Inc.
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=faq_index#ari_sr
Atlas Society (Objectivist, but has some philosophical disagreements with AR Institute; see Chronicle article, 7/13/07, ‘New Inroads’)
http://www.objectivistcenter.org/
Journal of Ayn Rand Studies
(also on the outs with AR Institute,
according to Chronicle 7/13/07 article [‘New Inroads’])
http://www.aynrandstudies.com/jars/index.asp
The death of the Daily
Objectivist (and many other Ayn Rand related Websites)
http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/web/whatever.html
Whatever Happened To…?
[According to the author of
this page, of 15 Websites related to Ayn Rand and ‘Objectivism’ (that he has
tracked) over the past number of years, 10 no longer exist (including one that
“has not been updated in years”). Of 7 email lists, 6 are defunct, and 1
no longer hosts discussions.]
BB&T
About BB&T
“BB&T
Corporation is the
nation's 12th largest financial holding company with $121.7 billion in assets.
Based in
About BB&T Chairman and CEO
http://www.answers.com/topic/john-a-allison-iv?cat=biz-fin
BB&T Core Values; ethics
http://www.bbt.com/about/corporategovernance/default.html?'':'/'+gDcsId)+
About BB&T
http://www.bbt.com/about/default.html
BB&T Gift of $1 million to UNC CH
Philosophy (No specific curricular requirements)
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov02/bbt110702.html
Summary
Controversy, Pope Center, UNC Chapel Hill
Donations
& Curriculum Development Guidelines, 2006
(See also, UNC-CH Link to “Guidelines on Gifts
Affecting the Curriculum” above)
http://www.popecenter.org/news/article.html?id=1779
UNC FA Resolutions on Academic Freedom (Below)
(Primarily concerned with political influence,
but economic influence also referenced)
Defend
academic freedom against politically motivated legislation (11/04/2002)
http://uncfacultyassembly.northcarolina.edu/html/motions/2004Nov_02.htm
Support academic freedom (9/02/2002)
http://uncfacultyassembly.northcarolina.edu/html/motions/2002Sep01.htm
AAUP on
Academic Freedom (including links to the 1940 Statement of Principles)
Academics for Academic
Freedom (UK)
Academic
Freedom at WCU Summary Statement (With Reference to SACS)
American
Library Association (Links to Academic Freedom Resources)
Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
WCU Faculty Senate Resolution on Academic Freedom, 2002
(PDF)
Wikipedia
article on Academic Freedom
The Privatization of Public Universities [Excerpt]
May 23, 2000
http://cio.chance.berkeley.edu/chancellor/sp/privatization.htm
By Robert M. Berdahl
Chancellor
“First, there is the danger to which Clark Kerr alluded nearly four decades ago, and about which Professor Hollinger has written recently. And that is the loss of common ground, common unity, common purpose within the university. This has already been severely tested by the specialization within the modern research university and it has only intensified as the "two cultures" to which C.P. Snow referred have grown apart. But the university-industrial complex brings market forces into the university to an extent never before contemplated...
Second, with the large market differentials, and the new capacity for
some faculty -- biologists, engineers, computer scientists, and business school
faculty -- to earn substantial amounts outside the university, there can be
corresponding devaluation of the work of humanists and social scientists. …When
the new president-elect of Stanford,
And third, the university-industrial partnership, productive as it is, lucrative and essential as it is for much of the basic research of the university, can undermine the belief in the basic objectivity of the research of our faculty… [There is a danger] that the perception of the objectivity of our faculty may be compromised and with it the confidence that their research is dedicated to the public good.
Busch, Lawrence,
Richard Allison, Craig Harris, Alan Rudy, Bradley T. Shaw, Toby Ten Eyck, Dawn
Coppin, Jason Konefal, Christopher Oliver, with James Fairweather (2004). External
Review of the Collaborative Research Agreement between Novartis Agricultural
Discovery Institute, Inc. and The Regents of the
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/07/external_novartis_review.pdf
“A central
principle – perhaps the central principle – of universities is
creativity. Universities can only be successful as organizations to the extent
that they foster and cherish creativity among their faculty, students, and
staff. Creativity can be nurtured by encouraging freedom of inquiry, but it
cannot be created by bureaucratic means. Little evidence suggests that reward
systems for scholarly inquiry actually promote an increase in the quality of
scholarship (although such systems can certainly be used to reward those who
succeed).
The reverse is
not true, however. Creativity can be thwarted by bureaucratic means. (p. 16)
“Without
substantial autonomy, scholarly work is likely to fail to achieve its
objectives. It becomes subject to the political whims of the moment; critical
issues are ignored or papered over. But autonomy does not come easily.
Throughout the history of American universities, there have been those who have
wished to reduce the autonomy of the academic enterprise. (p. 17)
Cornell Faculty
Spring 2005
“In any event, there is broad
Faculty agreement that SCAs must be carefully managed at all stages:
negotiation, initial implementation, ongoing oversight, post-hoc assessment
and, if warranted, policy and practice modification Attention to the principles
and practices of this Statement will help ensure that Cornell retains its
academic integrity as it enters into these new collaborations. Particularly
important are the recommendations concerning monitoring and evaluation of the
SCA experience. Some academic institutions have apparently done SCAs well;
others have had well-publicized problems.11 But there are extraordinarily few
reliable data and rigorous assessments of the actual impact of SCAs on research
quality and academic culture. Ensuring that such data are being collected and
such assessments are occurring here will go a long way towards alleviating
Faculty concerns.
http://theuniversityfaculty.cornell.edu/forums/sca.html
Charlotte Observer editorial
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008
Posted on Sun, Mar. 30, 2008
A public university's faculty
and administration -- not donors -- should have the final say on the content of
courses. Otherwise, the college classroom becomes just another a arena of
commerce, not a place where independent learning and research take place.
That's wrong.
That's why the
The issue has come up at UNC
Charlotte, where a $1 million gift pledge in 2005 from the bank BB&T came
with a stipulation that the book "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand be included
in a course as required reading.
On the surface, that seems
harmless. Ms. Rand's philosophy of Objectivism, which says individuals have the
right to live entirely for their own self interest, is a sound starting point
for debate and learning in courses in business, economics, literature or
philosophy.
This issue isn't about Ms.
Rand's philosophy, or whether her works should be taught in college. It's about
letting -- or appearing to let -- a donor prescribe a university's course
content.
Chancellor Phil Dubois, who
was not at UNCC when the deal was sealed, is not happy with the arrangement.
His discomfort is well-placed. Yet UNCC is not the only state university in
That's why an
across-the-board policy for the UNC system is needed.
Devising one deserves
immediate consideration by President Erskine Bowles and the Board of Governors.
The deal could arise in
either of two ways. The potential donor could demand it, or the university
could promise it to entice the potential donor to give. Either way, it's wrong
to strike fund-raising deals that suggest a university's curriculum can be
shaped by the highest bidder.
http://www.charlotte.com/opinion/story/558868.html
Report of the AAMC Task Force on Industry Funding
of Medical Education [AAMC, 2008]
"An effective and
principled partnership between academic medical centers and
various health industries is critical in order to realize fully the benefits of
biomedical research and ensure continued advances in the prevention, diagnosis,
and treatment of disease. Appropriate management of this partnership by both
academic medical centers and industry is crucial to ensure that it remains
principled, thereby sustaining public trust in the proposition that both
partners
are fundamentally dedicated to the welfare of patients and the improvement of
public health.
"Over recent decades, medical schools and teaching
hospitals have become
increasingly dependent on industry support of their core educational missions.
This reliance raises concerns because such support, including gifts, can
influence
the objectivity and integrity of academic teaching, learning, and practice,
thereby
calling into question the commitment of academia and industry together to
promote the public’s interest by fostering the most cost-effective,
evidence-based
medical care possible. [Exec Summary]
http://www.aamc.org/research/coi/industryfunding.pdf
Resolution on Potential External Influence of University Curriculum
UNC Faculty Assembly
APPROVED MAY 2 2008
Whereas the principle of
integrity is essential to fundamental precepts of academic freedom and shared governance
in American higher education, and
Whereas this principle of
integrity is declared by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
(SACS) as “essential to the purpose of
higher education” and that “failure
of an institution to adhere to the integrity principle may result in a loss of
accreditation or candidacy” [SACS, 2008, 1.1, in the context of
self-reporting], and
Whereas academic freedom in
higher education, specifically described by the AAUP 1940 Statement of Principles, is generally recognized by a wide
range of governing boards, accrediting bodies, university policy statements,
and faculty governance councils, and
Whereas these established
principles of academic freedom include the prerogative of faculty and faculty
curriculum committees to determine academic curricula and select curricular
materials free from influence exerted by external entities, and
Whereas the University of
North Carolina accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools, specifically declares that “The
institution places primary responsibility for the content, quality, and
effectiveness of the curriculum with its faculty” [3.4.10; 2008], and
Whereas in the University of
North Carolina this prerogative is recognized by the University Code, which states
in part that “…the chancellor shall
ensure the establishment of appropriate procedures within the institution to
provide members of the faculty the means to give advice with respect to
questions of academic policy and institutional governance, with particular
emphasis upon matters of curriculum…” [502D], and
Whereas, to be meaningful, such procedures must be
formalized as part of an institution’s decision-making structure and must
ensure that faculty are involved in any process related to proposed curricular
change as early as possible, and that faculty consensus around such proposed
changes be incorporated except in the most unusual of circumstances as
determined according to The UNC Code, and
Whereas UNC Chapel Hill, one of the most prestigious
public universities in the country, has adopted a published set of guidelines
and recommendations that embody many of the considerations above, and
Whereas in recent years a number of UNC campuses
have engaged in negotiations and concluded agreements with external entities
that resulted in curricular changes through various processes that essentially
ignored many of the principles stated above,
Be it resolved that, by
whatever process deemed most efficient, the UNC Faculty Assembly approach
representatives of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and work
with UNC General Administration Academic Affairs, and other relevant UNC
divisions to establish a set of guidelines for the UNC system
constituent campuses that shall be adhered to in any case where—regardless of
how initiated—entities external to the University of North Carolina, by means
of a donation or otherwise, might influence UNC academic program planning,
course offerings, specific course requirements, or other material aspects of
university curriculum. Such guidelines
shall stipulate, at a minimum:
·
the earliest possible
consultation with faculty concerning discussions with external entities that
implicate curriculum, and
·
that faculty so consulted include
members sensitive to issues of shared governance and academic freedom as
evidenced by service on university faculty governance bodies, college
curriculum committees, or institutional accreditation committees, and
·
that, with appropriate
consideration of any temporary need for confidentiality during negotiations,
the university faculty governing body be provided with as much information as
possible, as soon as possible, throughout such negotiation processes, and
·
that any new course offerings,
specific course requirements, faculty appointments, or other material aspects
of university curriculum proposed under such conditions shall undergo the
normal and established processes of campus-level review, revision, and
approval, and
·
that in such cases, the
documentation submitted through the normal and established processes of
campus-level review shall include a detailed description of the origins and the
conditions, if any, attached to the curricular proposal.
[See http://uncfacultyassembly.northcarolina.edu/html/meetings/2007-08/May2008.htm ]
*********************************************************************************************************************************
“Today,
the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task
forces of scientists in laboratories
and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the
fountainhead of free ideas and scientific
discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly
because of the huge costs involved, a government
contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every
old blackboard there are now hundreds of
new electronic computers.
The
prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project
allocations, and the power of money
is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet,
in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must
also be alert to the equal and opposite
danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a
scientific-technological elite.
It
is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and
other forces, new and old, within the principles
of our democratic system – ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free
society.
Another
factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into
society’s future, we – you and I, and our
government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our
own ease and convenience, the precious resources
of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren
without risking the loss also of their political and
spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come,
not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1961)
[Excerpt from Farewell Address]
http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/speeches/farewell_address.html