Characteristics that Distinguish the Academic Enterprise

Colleges and universities determine for themselves what core academic values their institutions will work to uphold and pass on.  Traditionally, however, the lists of those values encompass the following items:

• Institutional autonomy; 
• Collegiality and shared governance;
• The intellectual and academic authority of faculty, supported by the process of tenure and professional faculty representation;
• Academic integrity and academic freedom;
• The integrity of the degree (whether associate or professional);
• The integrity of general education;
• The fostering of citizenship;
• The fostering of a community of learning.

(This list combines the “core academic values” cited by Judith S. Eaton, President, Council of Higher Education Accreditation, and those cited by the American Association of University Professors)