University Public Statements

Policy Number: DOS-8100-005

Policy Title: University Public Statements

Vice Chancellor/Associate Chancellor: Provost, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

Responsible for Policy: Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, Human Resources, and Dean of Students

Effective Date: 10/3/2024

Contacts: Strategic Marketing and Communications

Reason for Policy:
The policy aims to provide clear guidance for UIC institutional entities (colleges, schools, departments, centers, units, labs, or hospitals and clinics) regarding such entities issuing public statements on behalf of the university about local, state, national, or international issues. This policy does not address statements made by individual members of UIC on their own behalf. UIC fully supports academic freedom and individual students, faculty, and staff's constitutional right to express their opinions on political or social issues. This policy ensures that all public statements align with the university's mission, uphold its values, and reflect its commitment to respectful and inclusive dialogue.

Policy Statement:
The policy intends to define who speaks on behalf of the university and delineate a protocol for stakeholders interested in making public statements. The policy upholds academic freedom and constitutionally-protected free speech and outlines the appropriate use of university resources for public statements.

The primary purpose of an institutional entity’s university-owned or university-affiliated channels is to be associated with administrative, recruiting, admissions, academic, research, and teaching activities. An institutional entity should only post on university-owned and university-affiliated channels consistent with university guidelines and requirements.

Minority Impact Statement:
Because this policy is written and will be applied in a content-neutral manner, it does not have any disproportionate or unique impact on UIC’s minority students, staff, or faculty.

Who Should Read the Policy:
All members of the UIC community.

Definitions:

Public statement
A public statement is any statement made explicitly or implicitly by or on behalf of an institutional entity directed to or reasonably anticipated to reach students, faculty, staff, alumni, media, the public, or other institutional stakeholders from a university-owned or university-affiliated channel (social media, email, website, webpage, etc.) regarding a local, state, national, or international issue.

Institutional Entity
An institutional entity is any college, school, department, institute, center, unit, lab, or clinic formally recognized within the university operating structure.

University-owned channels in relation to an institutional entity
University-owned channels are those that make direct use of university resources (e.g., a UIC-hosted website).

University-affiliated channels in relation to an institutional entity
University-affiliated channels are those that are university-branded websites, social media channels, emails, etc., regardless of whether or not they operate with the support of university resources.

Guidelines and Requirements:

• If a public statement is issued by the president or chancellor, an institutional entity is encouraged to share the statement rather than issue their own.
• If an institutional entity wishes to issue a public statement, it must:
  a)  Clearly set out a process to be followed before issuing a statement expressing the position of the institutional entity. The process should follow shared governance and represent all members of the institutional entity. The dean or vice chancellor of the institutional entity must review and approve the process.
  b)   Follow the process laid out in (a).
  c)  The approved institutional entity process should include provisions for reporting identified process violations within the institutional entity.
  d) Include an explicit disclaimer at the top of the statement stating it does not represent UIC or any other UIC institutional entity and does not reflect the views of all faculty, staff, and students within the institutional entity. The disclaimer should read: “This statement by [college, school, department, institute, center, unit, lab, or clinic] does not represent the University of Illinois Chicago, nor is it the university's official position, nor does it represent the views of all faculty, staff and students within [college, school, department, institute, center, unit, lab, or clinic].”

• Institutional entities may create an internal policy not to issue any public statements. This decision must follow shared governance and represent all members of the institutional entity. The dean or vice chancellor of the institutional entity should be informed of this decision.

Related Laws, Regulations, Statutes, and Policies:

All statements should adhere to the policies established by the Board of Trustees, University Statutes and Guiding Principles.