Faculty academic freedom at private colleges and universities: Knowledge assessment of chief academic officers

The purpose of this study was to assess the level of knowledge of the chief academic officers in private higher education in the United States concerning faculty academic freedom in private colleges and universities.; The investigation employed a survey instrument which included 10 demographic questions: 5 were individually oriented and 5 were institutional in nature. Twenty questions assessed the level of knowledge of the subjects concerning faculty academic freedom.; The subjects included the chief academic officers from all private colleges and universities within the North Central Association's directory of currently accredited schools that offer at least a bachelor's of arts and sciences and no more than a master's of arts and sciences and professional degrees on the master's level.; The officers demonstrated an inadequate level of knowledge concerning faculty academic freedom at private colleges and universities. The average percentage of correct answers for the administrators was only 64.4. When the total number of incorrect answers was subtracted from the number of correct answers, a mean "Test Score" of 10.0 out of a possible 20 was the result. Analysis of the scoring on individual questions indicated that chief academic officers involved in this study were not well grounded in foundation principles and legal background pertaining to faculty academic freedom at their respective schools.; Conclusions could not be reached pertaining to the relationship of levels of knowledge of faculty academic freedom and years of administrative experience, highest degree earned, and administrators' self-rating about their knowledge of higher educational law. The results did show a positive relationship between higher levels of knowledge and the following sources of legal information: attend conferences, seminars, and workshops on education law; consult with an attorney; and read articles on education law.; No relationship was shown between levels of knowledge concerning faculty academic freedom and the institutional variables of type (church affiliated or non-church affiliated); mission; institutional endorsement of academic freedom; or litigation involving the institution with the last five years. But a relationship was noted between institutional student body size and level of knowledge of faculty academic freedom.