A. Preface

The faculty of Georgetown University stand among the world’s leaders in their domains of research, service, and teaching. To secure that stature and to fulfill the University’s mission, faculty must be guaranteed the academic freedom and the resources enabling them to shape the character and intellect of our students, to break new ground in research, and to render service of the greatest value to the public as well as the University. The Georgetown model of shared governance recognizes the special role of faculty and ensures that they will be consistently and appropriately involved in the formulation of University policies, especially but not only through the participation of the Faculty Senate and its leadership.

The policies in this Faculty Handbook are the University’s enunciation of the rights and responsibilities of faculty members, as approved by the Board of Directors. Faculty contracts make it explicit that those policies collected here form part of the contractual obligations of University and faculty.

In 1974, the Board of Directors accepted the core principles from the classic 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure of the American Association of University Professors. The policies presented here constitute the University’s implementation of the principles we draw from that and other sources. We commit to continuing in dialogue with the profession and its leading organizations nationally and internationally, to ensure that the highest standards of freedom and responsibility are met by the University and its faculty.

The Faculty Handbook website contains the authoritative version of current policies. In particular, Board-approved policies defining the rights and responsibilities of faculty members are published and will be updated on this site. Faculty members have additional rights and responsibilities set out in other policies approved by duly authorized administrative officers and faculty governance bodies. Some will be published or linked here for convenience and clarity of communication. In case of conflict among policies and their implementation, Board-approved policies shall prevail. Other offices of the University wishing to inform faculty about Board-approved policies are expected to link to this site.