Regents Policy 2301: Policy on Course Content

Approved June 19, 1970
Amended September 22, 2005

Students who enroll on the campuses of the University of California are parties to a moral and contractual relationship in which the University, on its side, is obligated to provide quality education, to recognize student achievement with grades and degrees which have an accepted meaning for transfer to other institutions, for graduate work, and for careers. The Regents are responsible to the people, to the faculty, and to the students to see that the University is faithful to this contract. They have the responsibility to see that the value of the diploma is not diluted, that it maintain its meaning to graduates and to future employers. They are responsible to ensure that public confidence in the University is justified. And they are responsible to see that the University remain aloof from politics and never function as an instrument for the advance of partisan interest. Misuse of the classroom by, for example, allowing it to be used for political indoctrination, for purposes other than those for which the course was constituted, or for providing grades without commensurate and appropriate student achievement, constitutes misuse of the University as an institution.

It should be understood that the Board of Regents has always recognized the importance of an "open forum policy" on the campuses, of a free exchange of ideas, and of pursuit of the truth wherever it may lead--popular or unpopular though that may be. There are many hours available during the daily activities of students and faculty for free discourse on matters of concern to them as citizens. It cannot be argued successfully that it is necessary to interrupt progress of an academic course or to modify grading procedures to provide such discussion. It is the Regents' responsibility to the very concept of a University to protect the institution from the misuse of the classroom and to ensure the rights of all to teaching and learning.

Therefore, it is The Regents' policy that no campus, no academic college, no department, and no instructor distort the instructional process in a manner which deviates from the responsibilities inherent in academic freedom. The right of students to have their classes held on the regularly scheduled basis and to be taught by the instructor whose responsibility it is to teach the course in question is to be upheld.