Policy to Foster Civility and Support a Healthy Academic Work Environment

Background: Incivility in academic workplaces can have detrimental effects on individuals, teams, departments, and the campus community at large. Alternately, healthy academic workplaces generate heightened levels of employee satisfaction, engagement, and morale. Method: This article describes the development and implementation of a comprehensive, legally defensible policy related to workplace civility and the establishment of a healthy academic work environment. Results: A detailed policy exemplar is included to provide a structure for fostering a healthy academic work environment, a fair, consistent, confidential procedure for defining and addressing workplace incivility, a mechanism for reporting and subsequent investigation of uncivil acts if indicated, and ways to foster civility and respectful workplace behavior. Conclusion: The authors detail a step-by-step procedure and an incremental approach to address workplace incivility and reward policy adherence.