Academic freedom is basic to the institutional mission of the American University of Armenia. As an institution committed to academic freedom, AUA subscribes to the following principles:

• the right to pursue knowledge for its own sake and to follow wherever the search for truth may lead
• the tolerance of divergent opinion and freedom from political interference
• the obligation, as a social institution, to promote, through teaching and research, the principles of freedom and justice, of human dignity and solidarity

1. In accordance with those principles, members of the AUA community shall enjoy freedom to inquire, study, publish, teach, and learn. Attendant to that freedom are certain responsibilities that pertain to all members of the AUA community, and to faculty members in particular, namely, the obligation to be bound by professional standards, to be accurate, to exercise restraint, to show respect for the opinions of others,  and to indicate that they do not speak  for the institution.

2. No AUA faculty member or student shall be subject to any penalty or threat for exercising his or her academic freedom.

This Statement on Academic Freedom shall be implemented in accordance with the appended guidelines.

Implementing Guidelines for the AUA Statement on Academic Freedom Oversight

The Faculty Senate shall have the responsibility for monitoring and evaluating the status of academic freedom at AUA. The Senate shall submit to the Provost and the President an annual report on the status of academic freedom at the American University of Armenia. That report shall identify any relevant issues and recommend specific actions as needed.

Based on the annual report of the Faculty Senate, the President shall make an annual report to the Board of Trustees on the status of academic freedom at the American University of Armenia.

Grievance Procedure

Any AUA faculty member or student who believes that his or her academic freedom has been infringed shall have the right to file a grievance in accordance with the established institutional grievance procedure.

1. International Association of Universities. Statement on Academic Freedom, University Autonomy, and Social Responsibility, 1950. Preamble.

2. American Association of University Professors. Academic Freedom, 1940.