Current through Register Vol. 24-18, September 15, 2024
(1)
General: Evergreen is an
institution and a community that continues to organize itself so that it can
clear away obstacles to learning. In order that both creative and routine work
can be focused on education, and so that the mutual and reciprocal roles of
campus community members can best reflect the goals and purposes of the
college, a system of governance and decision-making consonant with those goals
and purposes is required.
(2)
Purpose:
(a) Evergreen can thrive
only if members respect the rights of others while enjoying their own rights.
Students, faculty, administrators, and staff members may differ widely in their
specific interests, in the degree and kinds of experiences they bring to
Evergreen, and in the functions which they have agreed to perform. All must
share alike in prizing academic and interpersonal honesty, in responsibly
obtaining and in providing full and accurate information, and in resolving
their differences through due process and with a strong will to
collaboration.
(b) The Evergreen
community should support experimentation with new and better ways to achieve
Evergreen's goals. Specifically, it must attempt to emphasize the sense of
community and require members of the campus community to play multiple,
reciprocal, and reinforcing roles in both the teaching/learning process and in
the governance process.
(3)
Freedom and civility: The
individual members of the Evergreen community are responsible for protecting
each other and visitors on campus from physical harm, from personal threats,
and from uncivil abuse. Civility is not just a word; it must be present in all
our interactions. Similarly, the institution is obligated, both by principle
and by the general law, to protect its property from damage and unauthorized
use and its operating processes from interruption. Members of the community
must exercise the rights accorded them to voice their opinions with respect to
basic matters of policy and other issues. The Evergreen community will support
the right of its members, individually or in groups, to express ideas,
judgments, and opinions in speech or writing. The members of the community,
however, are obligated to make statements in their own names and not as
expressions on behalf of the college. The board of trustees or the president
speaks on behalf of the college and may at times share or delegate the
responsibility to others within the college. Among the basic rights of
individuals are freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly and
association, freedom of belief, and freedom from intimidation, violence, and
abuse.
(4)
Individual and
institutional rights: Each member of the community must protect:
(a) The fundamental rights of others in the
community as citizens;
(b) The
right of each member in the community to pursue different learning objectives
within the limits defined by Evergreen's curriculum or resources of people,
materials, equipment and money;
(c)
The rights and obligations of Evergreen as an institution established by the
state of Washington; and
(d)
Individual rights to fair and equitable procedures when the institution acts to
protect the safety of its members.
(5)
Society and the college:
(a) Members of the Evergreen community
recognize that the college is part of the larger society as represented by the
state of Washington, which funds it, and by the community of greater Olympia,
in which it is located. Because the Evergreen community is part of the larger
society, the campus is not a sanctuary from the general law or invulnerable to
general public opinion.
(b) All
members of the Evergreen community should strive to prevent the financial,
political, or other exploitation of the campus by any individual or
group.
(c) Evergreen has the right
to prohibit individuals and groups from using its name, its financial or other
resources, and its facilities for commercial, or political
activities.
(6)
Prohibition against discrimination: There may be no discrimination
at Evergreen with respect to race, sex, age, handicap, sexual orientation,
religious or political belief, or national origin in considering individuals'
admission, employment, or promotion. To this end the college has adopted an
affirmative action policy approved by the state human rights commission and the
higher education personnel board. Affirmative action complaints shall be
handled in accordance with state law, as amended (e.g., chapter 49.74 RCW; RCW
28B.16.100; chapter 251-23 WAC).
(7)
Right to privacy:
(a) All members of the college community have
the right to organize their personal lives and conduct according to their own
values and preferences, with an appropriate respect for the rights of others to
organize their lives differently.
(b) All members of the Evergreen community
are entitled to privacy in the college's offices, facilities devoted to
educational programs, and housing. The same right of privacy extends to
personal papers, confidential records, and personal effects, whether maintained
by the individual or by the institution.
(c) Evergreen does not stand in loco parentis
for its members.
(8)
Intellectual freedom and honesty:
(a) Evergreen's members live under a special
set of rights and responsibilities, foremost among which is that of enjoying
the freedom to explore ideas and to discuss their explorations in both speech
and print. Both institutional and individual censorship are at variance with
this basic freedom. Research or other intellectual efforts, the results of
which must be kept secret or may be used only for the benefit of a special
interest group, violate the principle of free inquiry.
(b) An essential condition for learning is
the freedom and right on the part of an individual or group to express
minority, unpopular, or controversial points of view. Only if minority and
unpopular points of view are listened to, and are given opportunity for
expression will Evergreen provide bona fide opportunities for significant
learning.
(c) Honesty is an
essential condition of learning, teaching or working. It includes the
presentation of one's own work in one's own name, the necessity to claim only
those honors earned, and the recognition of one's own biases and
prejudices.
(9)
Open forum and access to information:
(a) All members of the Evergreen community
enjoy the right to hold and to participate in public meetings, to post notices
on the campus, and to engage in peaceful demonstrations. Reasonable and
impartially applied rules may be set with respect to time, place and use of
Evergreen facilities in these activities.
(b) As an institution, Evergreen has the
obligation to provide open forum for the members of its community to present
and to debate public issues, to consider the problems of the college, and to
serve as a mechanism of widespread involvement in the life of the larger
community.
(c) The governance
system must rest on open and ready access to information by all members of the
community as well as on the effective keeping of necessary records.
(d) In the Evergreen community, individuals
should not feel intimidated or be subject to reprisal for voicing their
concerns or for participating in governance or policy making.
(e) Decision making processes must provide
equal opportunity to initiate and participate in policy making, and Evergreen
policies apply equally regardless of job description, status or role in the
community. However, college policies and rules shall not conflict with state
law or statutory, regulatory and/or contractual commitments to college
employees.
(10)
Political activities: The college is obligated not to take a
position, as an institution, in electoral politics or on public issues except
for those matters which directly affect its integrity, the freedom of the
members of its community, its financial support, and its educational programs.
At the same time, Evergreen has the obligation to recognize and support its
community's members' rights to engage, as citizens of the larger society, in
political affairs, in any way that they may elect within the provision of the
general law.
Statutory Authority:
Chapter
34.05 RCW. 89-21-073,
§
174-121-010, filed 10/17/89,
effective 11/17/89.
