Professional Latitude in Performing Work. The Union and MIT recognize that employees work under the supervision, coordination, and authority of faculty, academic staff instructors, principal investigators, and academic and research administrators. Consistent with this guidance and directives from these supervisors and administrators, employees shall have reasonable latitude in exercising their judgment within their area of expertise and in deciding how best to accomplish their job duties within the scope of directions given by their individual supervisor. When providing teaching support under the supervision of a faculty member or other instructor in charge, employees will have reasonable latitude to exercise their judgment in deciding how best to fulfill their duties and to support the learning objectives of a course consistent and commensurate with any guidance or directives of the faculty member or instructor in charge. When working in a laboratory or a research group, employees should participate in discussion with their mentors, advisors, or supervisors, as well as others working on the project, and are free and expected to offer their own views and interpretations in those discussions. When working for a principal investigator on funded or unfunded research, employees should feel free to offer their independent judgment, while recognizing that the grant or project has objectives and that the principal investigator is the final arbiter.
