CONTROVERSIAL TEACHING MATERIALS Update Delete



As a Christian institution of higher learning, Southern Adventist University finds itself committed to two obligations: the intellectual development of its students; and the nurture of Christian faith as understood by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. These two can conflict at those points where students’ exposure to currents of thought and expression deemed important to a well-rounded collegiate education rub against traditional Seventh-day Adventist standards. The following policy will guide faculty in making decisions on what constitutes appropriate assignments and provide protection for faculty when questions are raised regarding the use of such materials.

  1. Faculty members carefully weigh the benefits of potentially disturbing assignments (e.g., those with explicit sexual or violent content, offensive language, or overtly anti-Christian bias) before adding them to their classes. If alternate assignments can be found that provide similar educational outcomes, it is expected that those assignments will be used.
  2. Faculty who judge controversial materials to be significant enough to include will (a) discuss the assignment with the school dean/department chair, and (b) make it clear that an alternative assignment may be arranged.
  3. When using controversial materials faculty will strive to help students interpret the work in a responsible manner. This would include not emphasizing passages of purely prurient interest, but stressing themes of enduring value. It would also involve helping students think through the often difficult elements of secular life and ponder how such phenomena ought to be understood by Christians.
  4. When people outside the university raise objections to class content, the protocol to follow is:
    1. If such complaints concern a particular faculty member or class, these complaints will be directed to the involved faculty member.
    2. The faculty member may then take the initiative to invite the parent or other individual to discuss the matter and explain the educational goals of the assignment. A third person, such as a colleague, may also be invited to participate in the session. Documentation of what transpired will be in written form.
    3. If serious objections persist, the issue will be referred to the school dean/department chair; then to Faculty Affairs Committee where the assignment will be reviewed.
  5. Southern Adventist University affirms its commitment to academic freedom and to shielding its faculty from external harassment. The university should express confidence in its faculty’s good judgment in choice of assignments and only intercede after careful examination has revealed ill-considered action.