Blogging and Academic Freedom
Diverse Issues in Higher Education (formerly Black Issues in Higher Education) explores blogging and academic freedom in a piece about an adjunct faculty member fired because of content on her weblog.
"[Meg] Spohn says she was never told what content was objectionable, never informed of guidelines regarding faculty/staff blogging and never given the opportunity to remove the content in question from her blog. She was told only that the academic dean and the human resources department were aware of her blog and that she was being fired. DeVry [University] officials did not return calls seeking comment."
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"Says Spohn: ‘In my case, if there were particular "firing" words for blogs, I should have been told about them and had access to that information. Barring that, I should have had the opportunity to have a discussion about my blog rather than having been fired outright. I think it’s up to institutions to form fair guidelines about this kind of thing. “Nobody here is allowed to have an Internet presence,” won’t work.’"
The article includes quotes from other academic bloggers and information about blogs in academia.
I like Meg’s words about the need for institutions to form fair policies about blogging and how saying people can’t have Internet presences isn’t appropriate.
