Posted on 03/13/2026 12:31:45 PM PDT by karpov
In January, a change to UNC System policy that might appear to be merely administrative reopened a longstanding debate about the political oversight of academic knowledge. The issue concerns public access to syllabi—the documents that professors typically prepare for every course they teach, laying out the course’s goals, assignments, and schedule. The new policy stipulates that “each constituent [UNC] institution shall develop an online platform to house syllabi for each course offered in a given semester or session.” Many faculty have objected to the development. The North Carolina Conference of the American Association of University Professors—the main professional organization for American academics—criticized it in a widely circulated petition. The policy, NC AAUP contends, will “endanger students and instructors by inviting political actors to attack the free inquiry on our campuses.”
The NC AAUP petition taps into a very real fear—one to whose genuineness I, as a faculty member, can attest. UNC System president Peter Hans, who supports the syllabus policy, admits that “making course syllabi publicly available will mean hearing feedback and criticism from people who may disagree with what’s being taught or how it’s being presented.” Yet, while the NC AAUP is understandably alarmed (notably due to recent incidents in which faculty have been punished for positions on a range of issues), it goes too far in condemning the syllabus policy out of hand. While making syllabi public will certainly expose them to unproductive criticism, NC AAUP, in raising these concerns, jettisons principles that are essential to academic freedom. The legitimacy of our profession rests, to a significant degree, on our responsibility to the public.
In full disclosure, I have been deeply involved with AAUP on my campus, in North Carolina, and at the national level.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
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Leftists accept no supervision or accountability .
The university must also consider any impact curriculum changes have on accreditation.
Liberal professors didn’t seem to mind this when it was their conservative colleagues being persecuted.
That should Trump any claim of academic privilege.
That’s all right...they won’t put the political indoctrination part in when they write up the syllabus.
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