The Faculty Manual defines the instruments by which the Faculty conducts its own business, participates in College-wide governance, and defends its rights, prerogatives, and interests. The Faculty has exclusive responsibility for editing the Faculty Manual. Specific responsibility for editing the Faculty Manual shall be retained by the Academic Freedom Committee in consultation with the Faculty Secretary. The contents of the Manual shall be limited to description of the Faculty powers, rights, benefits, and organizations. (Passed March 17, 1987)

As noted in the Preface to the fourth edition of the Faculty Manual which was published in 1970:

The idea of a Faculty Manual was first proposed by Trinity’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors and persistently pursued by one of its committees under the determined direction of Professor Paul Smith. The proposal received the endorsement of the College administration and the cooperation of Dean Robert Vogel. The first two editions (published in 1966 and 1967) were prepared by the officers of the AAUP Chapter under the direction of Professor Richard Lee. In 1968 a third edition was prepared (again by Professor Lee) for the Trinity Faculty which accepted the Manual's ‘overseeing’ from the AAUP Chapter. During the academic year 1969-70, the numerous changes that were occurring in Faculty organization and status made a new edition seem premature. Accordingly, a short list of ‘corrections’ and subsequent additions was made available to the Faculty. As a result of the Faculty committee reorganization, completed in the spring of 1970, the preparation of the Manual was assigned to the Academic Freedom Committee.

Under the Academic Freedom Committee's auspices, a fourth edition appeared in 1970, a fifth edition in 1975, a sixth in 1978, a seventh in 1983, an eighth in 1988, a ninth in 1990, a tenth in 1993, an eleventh in 1995, and a twelfth in 1998.

The thirteenth edition of the Faculty Manual, published in 2005, placed all Policy Statements that are wholly within the jurisdiction of the Faculty in Appendix B. Accordingly, the matters in Appendix B require a Faculty vote to change while the matters in Appendices A and C do not.

Now published annually, the current edition of the Manual contains all revisions approved by the Faculty through May 2008.

Academic Freedom Committee

Jack Chatfield

Adrienne Fulco

Tom Harrington

Erik Vogt

Johnny Williams