McMaster University's senate has approved a controversial policy banning faculty members from making reference to their positions at the university if they express opinions that are "unrelated to (their) area of academic and professional expertise."
"This is a serious threat to academic freedom," said CAUT president Victor Catano.
"For years, those who have wanted to restrict academic freedom have attempted to limit its application to one's field of specialty. CAUT has successfully fought against that."
He said if the new McMaster rules applied elsewhere, the Globe and Mail could not make reference to Nobel laureate John Polanyi's position at the University of Toronto, as it recently did in a biographical note following his op-ed article on Canada joining the U.S. missile defence system.
Catano said David Suzuki could talk about genetics, but could not mention his university affiliation when he talked about the environment.
"Society pays a price when knowledge is compartmentalized, and academics are told they only have academic freedom when they stay in some arbitrary and narrowly defined box," Catano said.
He described CAUT policy as long recognizing that academic staff must be careful not to represent themselves as speaking for the university unless specifically authorized to do so.
But he says they have not been asked to hide their university affiliation before.
"Academic freedom is not a license for irresponsible behaviour, but it does bestow protection on academic staff to speak broadly about matters not only within their fields, but also within the university and the larger society," Catano said.
In an article in the McMaster faculty association newsletter, McMaster University Faculty Association vice-president Ken Cruikshank said the university's liability insurer would only defend an academic staff member if the person has been "officially designated as a spokesperson for the university" and "only if there is not malicious intent."
He noted that McMaster had a second policy that would provide coverage for academic staff "so long as the employee was acting 'in good faith, in a reasonable manner, and in accordance with the policies and guidelines established by the university.'"
"That is precisely the danger academic staff face under the new policy," Catano pointed out. "As a result of senate's decision, the university is now relieved of providing any legal support to faculty members unless their remarks are confined to their area of specialization."
CAUT's Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee will be considering the matter at its next meeting in September.