IV. Responsibility of University to Preserve Rights
The university, through those who administer its affairs, has a special responsibility to ensure that, in pursuance of its functions, the rights of all members of the university community are preserved, including, without limitation, the rights of such persons heretofore specifically enumerated.
The university has a right to expect, and a responsibility to ensure, within the scope of its legitimate functions as an institution of higher education, that all members of the university community fulfill their responsibilities to others as well as their responsibilities to the university.
A. Academic Performance and Personal Conduct: The university has the right and responsibility to set and enforce reasonable standards of academic performance and personal conduct, in order to facilitate and safeguard the educational process, and to provide for the safety of the person and property of members of the university community, the university’s physical property, and the person and property of others, to the extent that they are affected by university-sponsored activities or are engaged in legitimate activities on university property.
B. Validity of Charges: The University has the right and responsibility to provide procedures for determining the validity of charges that a member of the university community is negligent or irresponsible in the performance of their duties.
C. Opportunity to be Heard: TThe University has the responsibility to ensure that the members of the university community have an opportunity to be heard at appropriate levels of the decision-making process about basic policy matters of direct concern. Clearly defined means should be available to ensure this opportunity.
D. Leadership and Administrative Procedures: The University has the responsibility to provide and maintain leadership and administrative procedures responsive to the needs and desires of the university community, consistent with high standards of academic excellence, and to the changing goals and responsibilities of institutions of higher education, including the responsibility:
- To make, from time to time, a clear statement of its purpose and goals.
- To disseminate information relating to the activities of the university, financial or otherwise, subject to the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
- To state the reasons for institutional decisions affecting the university community or individual members thereof, except as required by the provisions of Article I, Section E.2a., or by the advice of legal counsel in instances involving possible litigation.
E. Protection of Integrity and Prevention of Exploitation: The University has the right and responsibility to protect its integrity and to prevent its political or financial exploitation by an individual or group by means including, but not limited to, the following:
- The university has a right to prohibit individuals and groups who are not members of the university community from using its name, its finances, or its physical facilities.
- The university has a right to prohibit members of the university community from using its name, its finances, or its physical facilities for activities not principally for the benefit of the university.
- The university has the responsibility to provide for members of the university community the use of meeting rooms, including use for political purposes, provided that such use is not undertaken on a regular basis and used as free headquarters for political campaigns, and the right to prohibit use of its name, its finances, or its office equipment for any political or other purpose.
