Our Work

Protecting fair and principled disciplinary processes

Faculty discipline is one of the areas in which the University’s commitments to academic freedom, professional responsibility, and shared governance most directly meet. UCIFI is concerned both with protecting the University’s legitimate interest in addressing misconduct and with ensuring that disciplinary procedures are not used in ways that chill protected speech, bypass faculty review, or deny faculty members meaningful due-process protections.

Our work considers the standards governing administrative action on faculty speech, the role of the Academic Senate in disciplinary decisions, and the procedures used to investigate and resolve complaints. We are particularly attentive to the importance of clear rules, timely processes, transparency, and safeguards against frivolous or improperly administered complaints.

UCIFI’s Faculty Discipline Committee has developed recommendations and is continuing to examine disciplinary practices across the UC system. The goal is not to prevent accountability, but to help ensure that accountability is administered consistently, fairly, and in a manner that preserves the intellectual independence essential to a university.

In Fall 2025, UCIFI members submitted the two statements at right to the UC Regents. They address proposed revisions to the Academic Personnel Manual, expressive-conduct guidelines, and broader concerns about due process and shared governance in faculty disciplinary matters.