This document discusses academic freedom and institutional autonomy at universities. It provides context on the history and importance of these concepts. It notes that while related, academic freedom refers to individual faculty rights, while autonomy refers to institutional privileges. The document examines challenges from the rise of the nation state and increased accountability. It provides principles from the Magna Charta Universitatum and Sabanci University's academic freedom statement. Finally, it discusses the state's changing role from regulator to evaluator in the global knowledge economy.

1. ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND INSTITUTIONAL
AUTONOMY: CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES
ÜSTÜN ERGÜDER
PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT SABANCI UNIVERSITY
Istanbul, Turkey
PRESIDENT, MAGNA CHARTA OBSERVATORY
Bologna, Italy
IAU 2010
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
VILNIUS
JUNE 25, 2010

2. THE UNIVERSITY: ONE OF THE OLDEST
INSTITUTIONS IN THE WORLD

3. CENTRAL IMPORTANCE OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM
AND INSTITUTONAL AUTONOMY FOR THE IDEA OF
UNIVERSITY
The main idea behind the “Humboldtian” concept of university is that
society needs institutions dedicated to the search for truth and
understanding where scholars and students work together in the
pursuit of knowledge. (W. V. Humboldt, On the Spirit and the
Organizational Framework of Intellectual Institutions in Berlin.
Minerva, 1970
Alfred Whitehead: “The justification for a university is that it preserves
the connection between knowledge and the zest of life, by uniting the
young and the old in the imaginative considerations of learning.”
Alfred Whitehead, The Aims of Education and Other Essays. New
York: New American Library,1949.
Michael Oakeshott in his Idea of a Universityemphasizes the
communitarian aspects of learning: “What distinguishes a university
is a special manner of engaging in the pursuit of learning. It is a
corporate body of scholars, each devoted to a particular branch of
learning: What is characteristic is the pursuit of learning as a co-
operative exercise.”

4. MAGNA CHARTA UNIVERSITATUM:
Fundamental Principles (1 and 2)
1. The university is an autonomous institution at the heart of
societies differently organized because of geography and
historical heritage; it produces, examines, appraises and
hands down culture by research and teaching. To meet the
needs of the world around it, its research and teaching must
be morally and intellectually independent of all political
authority and economic power.
2. Teaching and research in universities must be inseparable if
their tuition is not to lag behind changing needs, the demands
of society, and advances in scientific knowledge.

5. MAGNA CHARTA UNIVERSITATUM:
Fundamental Principles (3)
3. Freedom in research and training is the
fundamental principle of university life, and
governments and universities, each as far as in
them lies, must ensure respect for this fundamental
requirement. Rejecting intolerance and always
open to dialogue, the university is an ideal meeting
ground for teachers capable of imparting their
knowledge and well equipped to develop it by
research and innovation, and for students entitled,
and able and willing to enrich their minds with that
knowledge.

6. MAGNA CHARTA UNIVERSITATUM:
Fundamental Principles (4)
4. A university is the trustee of the
European humanist tradition; its
constant care is to attain universal
knowledge; to fulfill its vocation it
transcends geographic and political
frontiers, and affirms the vital need for
different cultures to know and
influence each other.

7. ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND INSTITUTONAL
AUTONOMY OFTEN CONFUSED
Academic freedom and university autonomy
are concepts that have evolved hand-in-hand
over centuries in a mutually reinforcing
fashion.
But they are not identical:
Academic freedom is a personal privilege
accorded to faculty members.
University autonomy, on the other hand, is an
institutional privilege.

8. EMERGENCE OF NATION STATE
The external authority also acted as an agent or
channel for accountability. The various charters,
bulls and edicts it issued alsoserved as a licensing,
accreditation and quality assurance mechanism.
From the 19th century on, the external authority
became the nation-state.
Scott estimates that of the 1,854 universities
founded between 1200 and 1985, three quarters
were established since 1900, and 1,101 were
founded between 1950 and 1985.Thus, the
modern university, especially the modern higher
education system is a creation of the nation state. P.
Scott (ed.) The Globalization of Higher Education. Buckingham,
UK: Open University Press, 1988.

9. MODERN CONCEPT OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM
Academic freedom is the right to teach what one
believes, to espouse unpopular academic and
nonacademic causes, to act upon knowledge and
ideas as one perceives them without fear of
retribution from anyone. Nothing can diminish the
need for academic freedom; its absence has reduced
universities to caricatures in many parts of the
world. (Rosovsky 1990, 179-81)
There are basic differences between the rights of
citizenship in a nation and the rights that are
attained by joining a voluntary organization. Faculty
members are invited to teach and do research and to
set educational policy in their sphere of knowledge.
(Rosovsky 1990, 265-6).

10. MODERN CONCEPT OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM
“The freedom of the individual academic to teach, to
do research and to publish without any external
influence.”
It should be noted that the original German concept
of academic freedom (Lehrfreiheit) was confined
within the university. It did not include any rights for
academics to engage in politics outside their
employment. The encyclopedia of higher education. (Eds. B. R. Clark and
G. Neave, 4 vols.), 1295-6 in vol. 2. Pergamon Press. 1992.
“....to ensure that academic staff have freedom
within the law to question and test received wisdom
and to put forward new ideas and or unpopular
opinions without placing themselves in jeopardy of
losing their jobs or privileges they may have at their
institutions. Article 202 of the Education Reform Act. United Kingdom.
1988

11. Academic Freedom Statement of
Sabancı University
Preamble
The University is, by tradition and definition, an autonomous
center of learning and research devoted to examining,
producing, disseminating and transmitting knowledge for the
public good. The University's obligation to society and to the
world community is to ensure scientific integrity and scholarly
quality of education. To fulfill this obligation, its research and
teaching must be "morally and intellectually independent of all
political authority and economic power," as was expressly set
forth in the "Magna Charta Universitatum" signed by the
Rectors of 29 European Universities in Bologna in 1988.

12. Academic Freedom Statement of Sabancı
University: Statement
With these universal principles in mind, the Board of Trustees, faculty
and administration of Sabancı University jointly take responsibility for
assuring fullest protection of freedom of inquiry, thought, and
expression. Sabancı University's commitment to academic freedom
finds expression as follows:
All members of the University community involved in the practice of
dissemination of knowledge are entitled to freedom in the conduct of
their teaching in the classroom, of their research on or off campus,
and in the publication, discussion and interpretation of research
results.
The faculty and administration of Sabancı University are responsible for
protecting the right of each member of Sabancı University to artistic
expression or to freely expressing his or her personal scholarly
opinion.
The University does not attempt to influence or control the personal
opinion or public expression of that opinion of any member of the
University community.

13. Academic Freedom Statement of
Sabancı University: Statement
The University respects the expression of opinion and choice of
association of members of the University community in their
private, civic capacity.
The right to academic freedom carries with it the duty to use that
freedom in:
• Commitment to ethical obligations and responsibilities to the
University community and to one's profession.
• Commitment to excellence, innovation, and to advancing the
frontiers of knowledge in teaching and research at an individual
level and in a collaborative spirit.
• Making a clear distinction between one's responsibility to the
University and one's rights as an individual, and making sure
that the expression of views does not implicate or commit the
University in any way.

14. UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY
AND THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE
STATE
Before the mid 1980s
o Regulatory state: Prescribes through input
controls
In the global knowledge economy
o Evaluative state: evaluates outcomes and outputs
Emergence of national and supranational
agencies of quality and accreditation.
Accountability becomes the third and
complementary concept to academic
freedom and institutional autonomy.

15. TRADITIONAL UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY:
Freedom from (State) Interference
Who will teach?
Who will be taught?
What will be taught?
Who will be awarded degrees?
What will be researched?
Almost no emphasis on financial matters:
Freedom to (strategic planning, mission
and vision)

16. OECD IDENTIFIES EIGHT CRITERIA
OECD, Education Policy Analysis 2003 .Chapter on CHANGING PATTERNS OF
GOVERNANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Ownership of property: buildings and grounds
Ability to borrow and spend
Ability to make budgets and spend according to
strategic goals.
To be able to make your academic design and set
course structure
Hiring and firing of academic and administrative
personnel.
Determining salaries.
Deciding on student intake
Setting tuition for students

17. RECENT EUA STUDY TO TAKE STOCK
OF UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY IN EUROPE
Thomas Estermann and Terhi Nokkola,” Unıversity in Europe. An Exploratory
Study”.
Organizational Staffing Autonomy
Autonomy Recruitment of staff
Internal Academic Civil servant status
Structures
Governing Bodies Academic Autonomy
Executive leadership Institutonal Strategy
Financial Autonomy Academic Profile
Funding Framework Degree Programmes
Funding Capacity Stdent admission

18. MAJOR RELATED DEVELOPMENTS/CHALLENGES
IMPACTING THE GLOBAL HIGHER EDUCATION
AGENDA
Increasing demand and massification of higher education
Demographic shift – population explosion versus aging
Non-traditional students
The rise of market forces
Impact of technology
New providers, private institutions and increasing competition
Internationalization in response to globalization
Universities in the service of society
Decline in public spending and a corresponding need for
income generation
Fund raising
Diffusion of lay governance : Burton Clark and his concept of
Creating Entrepreneurial University
Rise of lay governance in some European countries.

19. NEW ACTORS/AGENTS IN UNIVERSITY
AUTONOMY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
International quality assurance networks such as
ENQA/EQAR, INQAAHE
National accreditation agencies playing and
international role (ABET)
OECD-UNESCO guidelines
Bologna Process
GATS (General Agreement on Trade and Services)
Magna Charta Observatory (MCO) as a watchdog of
academic freedom and institutional autonomy
Gather information, express opinions and prepare documents
relating to the respect for, protection and promotion of, the
fundamental university values and rights laid out in the Magna
Charta Universitatum

20. ARE THERE TENSIONS BETWEEN ACADEMIC
FEEDOM AND INSTITUTIONAL AUTONOMY?
They are complimentary and reinforce each other.
Yet, leadership of the university may violate
academic freedom whereas leadership must be a
defender of the academic freedom of scholars.
A case study of “best practice” from Sabancı University.
The reverse is also true: academics can sometimes
do violate the autonomy of the institution in the
name of academic freedom.
A case study from Bogazici University

21. CHALLENGES?
Preserving the integrity of the university.
• Research
• Ethical values
• Malpractice
• Income generation
• Intrusive quality processes
Reconciling managerial efficiency with collegialism.
• A distinct type of executive leadership: Burton Clark’s
“academic core.” Burton R. Clark, Sustaining Change in
Universities. New York: Open University Press, 2004.
Need for innovation in technology in Energy and Environment
Era.Thomas L. Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded. London:
Penguin, 2010 .

22. Importance of the Magna Charta
Observatory
Act as a repository of the idea
Monitor and keep values on the agenda of
higher education
Network with other international
organizations
Publications
Participate in conferences
Be a part of reform efforts in different parts
of the world