An Act To Create an Academic Bill of Rights
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1194
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: BOWEN, BOWLES, DAVIS, JOY, STEDMAN, TARDY, TRAHAN, WESTON
Amends: 20-A MRSA §10009

Legislative Document 
No. 1194 
H.P.823 
House of Representatives, March 8,2005 
An Act To Create an Academic Bill of Rights 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative BOWEN of Rockport. 
111~ 
1h.1lltt£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Representatives: BOWLES of Sanford, DAVIS of Falmouth, JOY of Crystal, 
STEDMAN of Hartland, TARDY of Newport, TRAHAN of Waldoboro, Senator: WESTON of 
Waldo. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of'the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §10009 is enacted to read: 
§I0009. 
Academic bill of rights 
1. 
Rights 
for 
students. 
A 
student 
enrolled 
~n 
a 
postsecondary institution under this Part has the right to expect: 
A. 
A learning environment in which the student has access 
to a broad range of serious scholarly opinion pertaining to 
the subjects the student studies 
and in which, 
in the 
humanities, the social sciences and the arts, the fostering 
of 
a 
plurality 
of 
serious 
scholarly 
methodologies 
and 
perspectives has a significant institutional purpose; 
B. 
To 
be graded solely on the basis of the student's 
reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge of the subjects 
the student studies and to not be discriminated against on 
the basis of the student's political or religious beliefs; 
C. 
That the student's academic freedom and the 
~uality of 
education will not be infringed upon by instructors who 
persistently 
introduce 
controversial 
matter 
into 
the 
classroom or coursework that has no relation to the sUbject 
of study and that serves no legitimate pedagogical purpose; 
D. 
That the 
freedom 
of 
speech, 
freedom 
of 
expression, 
freedom of assembly and freedom of conscience of students 
and 
student 
organizations 
are 
not 
infringed 
upon 
by 
administrators, 
student 
government 
organizations 
or 
institutional policies, rules or procedures; and 
E. 
That 
the 
student's 
academic 
institution distributes 
student fee funds on a viewpoint-neutral basis and maintains 
a 
posture 
of 
neutrality 
with 
respect 
to 
substantive 
political 
and 
religious 
disagreements, 
differences 
and 
opinions. 
2. 
Rights for faculty and instructors. 
A faculty member or 
instructor of a postsecondary institution under this Part has the 
right to expect: 
A. 
Academic freedom in the classroom in discussing subjects 
while 
making 
the 
students 
aware 
of 
serious 
scholarly 
viewpoints 
other 
than 
that 
of 
the 
faculty 
member 
or 
instructor 
and 
encouraging 
intellectual 
honesty, 
civil 
debate and the critical analysis of ideas in the pursuit of 
knowledge and truth; 
Page l-LRI452(1) 
• 
B. 
To be hired, fired, promoted, denied 
tenure or denied tenure on the basis 
QPpropriate 
knowledge 
in the field of 
faculty 
member 
or 
instructor 
and 
not 
political or religious beliefs; and 
promotion, granted 
of competence 
and 
expertise of 
the 
on 
the basis 
of 
C. 
To 
not 
be 
excluded 
from 
tenure, 
search 
and hiring 
committees on the basis of political or religious beliefs. 
3. 
Publishing of rights. 
A postsecondary institution under 
this Part shall fully inform students, faculty and instructors of 
the rights under this section and of the institution's grievance 
procedures 
for 
violations 
of 
academic 
freedom 
by 
notices 
prominently displayed in course catalogs or student handbooks and 
on the institutional publicly accessible site on the Internet. 
4. 
Prot~tiQ.LjLLCi~l;iQelJl.i.c~re!!...dom and rights of facult~d 
students. 
The governing board of each postsecondary institution 
under 
this 
Part 
shall 
develop 
institutional 
guidelines 
and 
policies 
to protect the 
academic 
freedom 
and the 
rights of 
students 
and 
faculty 
under 
this 
section 
and 
shall 
adopt 
a 
gLievance procedure by which a student or faculty member may seek 
redress 
of 
grievance 
for 
an 
alleged 
violation 
of 
a 
right 
specified 
in 
this 
section. 
A 
governing 
board 
under 
this 
SUbsection shall publicize 
the 
grievance 
procedure 
developed 
gyrsuant to this subsection to the students and faculty on every 
campus that is under the control and direction of the governing 
board. 
Sec. 2. Hiring policies of postsecondary institutions. 
A public 
postsecondary institution under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 
20-A, Part 5 shall include in the institution's hiring policies 
that the institution endeavors to ensure a diversity of political 
and philosophical viewpoints in faculty members and instructors 
and that the institution may 
not discriminate in its hiring 
]6 
policies 
against 
applicants 
for 
a 
faculty 
position 
or 
instructorShip 
for 
reasons 
of 
political 
or 
philosophical 
viewpoints. 
SUMMARY 
This bill creates an academic bill of rights that ensures an 
academic environment for both students and faculty members that 
allows 
freedom 
of 
political 
viewpoint, 
expression 
and 
instruction. 
This 
bill 
requires 
all 
public 
postsecondary 
institutions in the State to publish this bill of rights and to 
adopt a grievance procedure to address complaints of violations 
of these rights. This bill also requires public postsecondary 
~)O 
institutions in the State to include in their hiring policies 
that the institutions endeavor to ensure a diversity of political 
and philosophical viewpoints in faculty members and instructors 
and that the institutions may not discriminate in their hiring 
policies 
against 
applicants 
for 
a 
faculty 
position 
or 
instructorship 
for 
reasons 
of 
political 
or 
philosophical 
viewpoints.